First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
First Lines:
One day after the emperor had died and been eaten, the call went out to select his successor.
Emilia of the Aurun considered this on dragonback as she hovered one hundred feet above the rocky coastline. Frothing waves surged against the cliffs so violently she swore the spray speckled her cheek, even at this height. Salt-choked wind tautened her dragon’s wings with a snap and tumbled her heavy red hair into her face.
Do you recognize the lines?
Hint: It’s the first book in a YA series.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
Dragons!!!
The First Lines Friday book is:
Title: House of Dragons
Author: Jessica Cluess
Series: House of Dragons (Book 1)
Page Length: 448
Publication Date: May 12, 2020
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Synopsis: Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win? Three Dark Crowns meets The Breakfast Club with DRAGONS.
When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year these five outcasts will answer the call…
THE LIAR: Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death.
THE SOLDIER: Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again.
THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.
THE THIEF: Ajax knows that nothing is free–he must take what he wants.
THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.
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LINKS: Goodreads Amazon Book Depository
I love stories with dragons and have requested this one at my local library. I’m hoping to get it soon, but I’m on a waiting list. Have you read this book? What first lines do you love? Comment below!
This looks like a really interesting book!
I also have this on request!!!! Sounds great!
Nice! I hope you get it!
Thank you!
This sounds really good! I feel like I don’t read enough books with dragons in it so I’m definitely going to keep this one on my radar 😀
I haven’t read it yet, but I’m all about dragons lately! 🙂