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:
The sun begins its descent beyond the Taygetus mountains, filling the sky with a golden glow as the honor of my family balances upon my shoulders.
Lykou’s challenge hangs in the air. The usual cheers of Carneia have dulled to mere whispers, the crowd surrounding us waiting for my response.
Lykou flashes me a crooked grin and accepts the dory, a whole three meters of bone-shattering wood and metal that Paidonomos Leonidas hands him. His challenge isn’t malicious, but rather a test. We’ve always jested about who would win in a single-combat duel.
Do you recognize the lines?
Hint: It’s the first book in a new series rich with mythology.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by by Claire M. Andrews
The First Lines Friday book is:
Daughter of Sparta
About the Book:
Series: Daughter of Sparta #1
Page Length: 400
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Synopsis: Sparta forged her into a deadly weapon. Now the Gods need her to save the world!
Seventeen-year-old Daphne has spent her entire life honing her body and mind into that of a warrior, hoping to be accepted by the unyielding people of ancient Sparta. But an unexpected encounter with the goddess Artemis—who holds Daphne’s brother’s fate in her hands—upends the life she’s worked so hard to build. Nine mysterious items have been stolen from Mount Olympus and if Daphne cannot find them, the gods’ waning powers will fade away, the mortal world will descend into chaos, and her brother’s life will be forfeit.
Guided by Artemis’s twin-the handsome and entirely-too-self-assured god Apollo-Daphne’s journey will take her from the labyrinth of the Minotaur to the riddle-spinning Sphinx of Thebes, team her up with mythological legends such as Theseus and Hippolyta of the Amazons, and pit her against the gods themselves.
A reinterpretation of the classic Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo, Daughter of Sparta by debut author Claire Andrews turns the traditionally male-dominated mythology we know into a heart-pounding and empowering female-led adventure.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
Are you excited to read this one? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
