#OpeningSentence

Damira followed the blood down the hill.

— The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

There was a vulture on the mailbox of my grandmother’s house.

— A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

At one point they tried to calculate when time began, when exactly the earth had been created.

— Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, Angela Rodel

A sentient space station should have perfect temperature, Mallory Viridian thought.

— Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty (The Midsolar Murders, #2)

Let’s go to the baths today, Miss Ikuko said, so we all got ready.

— Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami

Each year when Shesheshen hibernated, she dreamed of her childhood nest.

— Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

They asked me, “When was the last time you saw Doctor Fell?” and the memory hole I tripped into was ridiculous.

— Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There was a fly walking on Cordelia’s hand and she was not allowed to flick it away.

— A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

The world roared.

— Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Here is what I remember most about the months I spent searching for dark matter: there are some things in the universe you can only find by looking away from them.

— In Universes by Emet North

I’d thought the jungles of the eastern Empire to be oppressively hot, but as I sat in the prow of the little canal boat and felt the sweat slip down my brow, I decided the north was, without question, far worse.

— A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)

Abe Kalotay died in his front yard in late February, beneath a sky so pale it seemed infected.

— Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

Why do you feed the cats, othala?

— The Tomb of Dragons by Sarah Monette

I want to feel everything, the light, the noise, the dark, even the cold and fear.

— Dual Memory by Sue Burke