Comparing the Opening Pages of Fantasy Novels (Writing Advice)

Get ready to break down and analysis the first pages of fantasy novels--including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and more!

LINK TO BOOKS & THEIR SAMPLES PAGES:

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Get Brandon's horror/thriller novel BAD PARTS:

Get Brandon's supernatural thriller novel ENTRY WOUNDS:

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[asonzegreat]

That wasn’t mistborn's first page. That was the first chapter's first page.
Saying it cause you used GOT prologue's first page

[Arrow-Odd]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort"

The best intro to a fantasy story ever ever written, in my opinion

[ufnfyim]

Props to you Brandon for giving lesser known books and authors some attention.

[stratoplayer]

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” ~ George Orwell’s 1984

Author Jerry Jenkins cites this as a great example of an opening line because it helps establish the environment of the story. In this case, it’s about a world where established truth is contradictory to facts that we, the readers, are used to.

[andrewteichroeb]

I wasn’t expecting the sarcasm. But it made the video more entertaining.

[laurafreeman]

"Once there was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."

[DadCanInJapan]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a wonderfully irrelevant tone with:

"Far Out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

However he topped that in the sequel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" with:

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another which states that this has already happened."

[WilliamReginaldLucas]

03:30
“It’s one of those books that never really caught on”
Oh how different the world of fiction would be 😅

[Maddolis]

"The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel."
Brilliant way of capturing the mood so succinctly, while injecting tech into the opening line of a book based around technology. Plus, who doesn't love clear blue skies? :P

[drErakidos]

I've almost spat my breakfast at Elden Ring punchline. Great lessons with lot of humor. Love you Brandon. Great to see the channel growing.

[mattphillips]

Oh man, I thought I was the only one who read Harry Potter

[susanbibeault]

You hit on mine. The Gunslinger is one opening I actually remember just pausing after I read and thinking how awesome it was.

[Maria_Bar]

Amazing how much more information Rowling deliveres with the smallest amount of words.

[sarahsander]

"The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone." - Peter S. Beagle: "The Last Unicorn"

It's one of the few opening sentences I know by heart and it's the perfect opening sentence imho. It encapsulates somehow the whole story, it's theme, feeling, setting and character.

[erakfishfishfish]

The Inverted World by Christopher Priest opens with an absolute banger of a line: “I had reached the age of six hundred and fifty miles.”

[danieldubei]

I love the beginning of The Eye of the World: "The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened."

I think that's a great hook. Something just happened that seems traumatic.

[ellennewth]

Love the way you compared these 4 novels, Brandon. They are all different but each one draws the reader in. Well thought out commentary and extremely helpful! I always liked the opening of David Copperfield; 'Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.' A question which can only be answered by reading the novel.

[premium_chicken_nuggy]

I love how you start chapter 1 of Entry Wounds.

The way you described the alleyway by the Ramen Emperor restaurant and how ambient and atmospheric it was.

It also added tension when Catherine saw the armed burglars at the street next to her but then she pulled out her cursed gun hand.

And all of this happened before she was even let in to the restaurant.

Entry Wounds is a certified Brandon classic.

[richardgurney]

"Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world." - Eragon, Christopher Paolini

I've always liked that opening line; and the rest of the prologue is similarly engaging too!

[errantwinds-upuu]

your tone today was really entertaining! loved the "obscure Harry Potter" and the "I love to promote authors named Brandon" bits :D