First impressions always matter, and science fiction books are no exception. When it comes to virtually any book, an opening line that instantly hooks the reader and makes them crave knowing what comes next is absolutely vital. But as far as sci-fi in particular goes, a great opening line is especially important. These are books that most often create an entirely unfamiliar environment, and the gap between the reader’s world and that imagined realm must be bridged early on. The best possible way to do that is a great opening line.
But while an unmeasurable number of sci-fi books throughout history have delivered some great opening lines, there are ten in particular whose first sentence is among the most memorable and iconic in the history of speculative fiction. If these books got the chance to ever become as pop-culturally significant as they did, it was largely because they didn’t wait long to capture the reader’s attention. The only opening that can qualify for this list is the first grammatically complete sentence of a book’s story.
10
‘The Martian’ (2011)
Image via Ballantine Books
“I’m pretty much f—d.” There aren’t very many sci-fi books that open with swear words, and there certainly aren’t any that use a swear word quite as brilliantly as Andy Weir‘s The Martian does. It’s short, simple, and to-the-point, but oh so effective in instantly defining the book’s tone, setting the stakes high, and establishing Watney’s voice. Sometimes, less is more, and this perfect opening line is irrefutable proof of that.
All in all, The Martian is one of the best books of the last 20 years, so it’s only fitting that its opening is so instantly captivating. Where many hard sci-fi books tend to open things up with an emotionally detached lore or exposition dump, Weir does something completely different. It’s a downright genius subversion of expectations which shows how profanity can be cleverly used in a story’s favor instead of just feeling gratuitous.
9
‘Seveneves’ (2015)
Image via William Morrow
“The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.” Neal Stephenson‘s Seveneves<em> </em>is a quintessential modern hard sci-fi masterpiece, and hard sci-fi is all about explaining a story through the lens of plausible laws of science. As such, a hard sci-fi book that opens with an event as cataclysmic as the Moon exploding and casually waves away the scientific cause of that event is nothing if not brilliantly subversive.
It’s a deeply unsettling opening line which makes it immediately clear that this nearly 1,000-page epic will be far more focused on the human logistics of survival than anything else, and it definitely works. With a jaw-dropping sense of scale and commendable commitment to the laws of physics, Seveneves enshrines itself as one of the most thematically complex and narratively ambitious hard sci-fi novels the world has seen in years.
8
‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy‘ (1979)
Image via Pan Books
“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” It’s an unusually elaborate and long opening line, but that’s the whole point. It’s not particularly funny in a vacuum, but that’s also kind of essential to this opening being so brilliant. With it, Douglas Adams introduces the reader to what will soon become one of the most hilarious works of science fiction literature ever.
In a single sentence, Adams establishes the novel’s vast cosmic scale, its central philosophical attitude toward Earth and humanity, and the subversive sense of humor that makes this one of the most fun sci-fi books of all time. It’s not just about making humanity seem insignificant but also about finding the absurd humor inherent to that premise. There is no opening line that better demonstrates why Adams was one of the most beloved satirists of his generation.
7
‘A Deepness in the Sky’ (1999)
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