Nothing beats Neuromancer's "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

You guys should totally do a book cover list ranked

Shocking that Austin doesn’t want Richard to get cancelled…. Happy New Year 🎉🎉

I think the first line in the first letter should Officially count as Frankenstein’s first line: “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” not my absolute favorite of the bunch but I think it’s way better than the first line of chapter 1!

Video Idea: Fantasy Weapons Tier list, Fantasy creatures tier list

‘This is Frankenstein’ ‘…oh shoot’ 😂

I liked this format because I would try to guess the book first as well. Nice! HNY

I haven’t read most of these (planning to start reading more regularly this year!) but I have an incredibly ambivalent reaction to recognizing the first line of Brave New World despite reading it once. Over 4 years ago.

This channels going places. The editing is really good and you two have great energy together.

In a short time these 2 fools have grown so dear to my heart

Another amazing video!! Absolutely love this channel

Neuromancer deserves to make the second list. Its first line can have many different interpretations depending on the time you were born.

Got into your channel recently from the first lines in fantasy videos. Such convenient timing with this one releasing just now.

Happy new year! It was fun to try and guess what books without knowing their titles. I’m excited to see which ones show up in the next video. Hope you guys have a great year and your channel continues to grow!

It would be great if you do this for choose at least one or two books for reading, books that you haven't readed it . And later tell us how it was 🤭. Happy new year🎉

Great way to start the new year! I need to read some more sci-fi

you guys should do one of these videos but with the last line ps. looooove your podcast and happy new year!!

New Year, New 2ToRamble!

I love you guys keep it up u guys are the only reason i started reading 3 months ago❤❤❤

Another fun one, gentlemen. Well done

ok but now I want to read Hyperion!

Much better format! Loved it. Tier ranking list of all books read in 2023?

I’m so curious-are there any upcoming books in 2024 you guys are excited to read/check out? Also I feel like I need a video on you guys rating book world maps/or if you would read the book based only on the map or something? 🤔 I’ve been super into looking at book maps lately when I go out and sometimes they even determine my next read lol

We neeeee a full spoiler Hyperion discussion. I just finished the first book last night and I’m dying to hear your full thoughts.

I love these first lines videos so much ❤❤

I'm glad you're enjoying Empire of Silence Richard. I adore the series and the first book can be divisive for some people. It just gets better in Book 2 and onward!

Oooh I guess I’m reading Ender’s Game now. That first line is A tier for sure! The interesting thing about it is the narration implies omnipotence. Like only a deity could listen through someone’s ears, but then it’s interesting because then “he is the chosen one” meaning they NEED him. So why would a world with a deity capable of listening through someone’s ears need a chosen one? I’m hooked

Love these 🎉

I decided to not show up at the hospital of the birth of my first born to listen to this podcast.

Richard your jokes this episodes toe'd the line repeatedly. I laughed, repeatedly.

Hey guys! I just started watching your podcast and I'm enjoying watching you guys find your way! The passion you guys come with is the most important ingredient! I wanted to drop something that you guys may be able to reference and couple with your rating system: This is the newest video, so it doesn't quite fit, but I assume you're more likely to see it. Bear with me! I was watching your "scifi v fantasy" episode and found you guys trying to put a few things into words that I believe Tolkien has said PERFECTLY! It struck me, when you started talking about dragonfire penguins...or something. I think this is paramount, for anybody who is writing, or reading fantasy. This is an excerpt from his essay "On Fairy Stories." "Children are capable, of course, of literary belief, when the story-maker's art is good enough to produce it. That state of mind has been called “willing suspension of disbelief.” But this does not seem to me a good description of what happens. What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful “sub-creator.” He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is “true”: it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside. If you are obliged, by kindliness or circumstance, to stay, then disbelief must be suspended (or stifled), otherwise listening and looking would become intolerable. But this suspension of disbelief is a substitute for the genuine thing, a subterfuge we use when condescending to games or make-believe, or when trying (more or less willingly) to find what virtue we can in the work of an art that has for us failed."

Happy new year 🎆🎈🎊

"word efficiency" describes Hyperion so well. It's crazy to think how many experiences, emotions, and content exist in this ~500 page book

That Hyperion opener is amazing! I’m excited that Hyperion is finally on my TBR this month

Also like how Brave New World describes a squat building as 34 stories

Happy new year guys!!🎉🎉

Great video it would be nice if you show the lines on screen, especially when it is a longer one

Richard- " A little odd, April shouldn't be as cold..." Me- Confused Minnesotan noises

Can't wait to hear the Empire of Silence thoughts. I enjoyed it, but book 2 and 3 really step into amazing territory

Y’all should read horror books first lines even though y’all don’t read them there’s some crazy first horror book lines

Terry Goodkind bottom tier 🤣🤣 I am going to pretend I didn't have 4 of his books in my 2023 recap

"I wanted peace, but my enemies brought me war."

I'm going to throw this out there though I'm sure most will not agree. My single favorite opening line from a sci-fi book comes from "Heart of The Comet" by Gregory Benford and David Brin. "Kato died first." I'm biased though because I adore the book...

I really enjoy your tier ranking videos ✨️ Maybe do a challenge? Rank first lines from some WIPs... you'll get to rank with absolutely 0 bias... and it can be fun. Maybe? 🤷🏻‍♀️ And happy new year 🪄 (Not you, Richard. [50:30] How dare you? ⚔️)

I just recently got back into reading and was wondering what you guys would recommend to someone who’d consider themselves a “beginner” in the sci-fi/fantasy! Maybe even turn it into a tier list of your guys’ top books/series if it’s too much for a comment?

Almost to 20k subs. Nearly time for another Q&A lol. Also, Richard, you called Austin your significant other. Glad to see your Friends to Lovers character arc is progressing well. It's going to be so hearbreaking when you guys duel at Urithiru. Also, can you guys grade the first line of a book I'm thinking about writing? What tier would you put it at? “The nature of your greatest friend is not judged by the depth of his loyalty, nor by his good deeds worn like shining armor, but by the words he speaks when he pierces your heart with his blade.”

Praying the Lives of Tao is in part two. It is such a good series that needs more eyes

You should do top sci-fi lines vs top fantasy lines.

I would love to see you guys do the last line of a book

If only the first line of Empire of Silence was "My mother was late to my birth".

Liked. Subscribed. Hit that bell button. Leaving a comment, and will leave another comment.

Could we have a ranking of last lines too?

28:59 I really hope this is a real future episode. I've never read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and I've always been extremely curious how Bladerunner was similar/different from it.

I have to rant and ramble. I do not get the love for Gideon the ninth, it's like reading a black and white movie that was filmed on a Nokia, I just never got an image of the setting in my mind. I did somehow finish it however but what a chore

I definitely recommend the sequel to Hitchhikers Guide: "the restaurant at the end of the universe". I think it's better than the first even, or at the very least just as much fun.

Damn. Hyperion seems awsome and just jumped up to the top of my TBR

These are fun videos, but where the next Wot review? I've been waiting since last year

So I need to know where Richard got that shirt because it's 🔥

Just discovered you guys and think you're great! 'Red Rising' trilogy currently on its way to my door. Have either of you read 'The Will of The Many' by James Islington? Just started it and intrigued to hear your thoughts :)

When I read the line from Hyperion I put the book down and looked up the piece of music and listened to it through.

Light. The light of that murdered sun still burns me. S! It's poetic, it's intriguing, and I'm asking questions. I'm in. I want more. I've been set up for something epic.

You should read the shadow rising now

What about red rising: I would have lived in peace but my enemies brought me war

I think Velocity Weapon has my fav opening line: "The first thing Sanda did after being resuscitated was vomit all over herself." 🤣

Richard was right about the Ender’s Game line IMO it deserved A

The inner pyromaniac in me want to place Fahrenheit's first line in S tier. 😂🔥

I basically had opposite reactions to Richard with the first lines of Hyperion and I, Robot. I have read Hyperion and I thought it was just ok, but I feel like his opinion was at least as much colored by his love of the book. I haven't read I, Robot, but I really enjoyed the first two of Asimov's robot detective novels. I didn't like Foundations though. (Sorry Richard's mom.)

Can ye review "empire of silence" if ye haven't already ❤

Grey New World is a C at best. Biased because I don't like dystopian narratives (maybe I haven't read the right ones). While the prose "squat grey building" is intensely descriptive, it also signals to me what kind of story this will be: one that I'm not very interested in. Dystopian future feels like the "zombies" of sci-fi, how different can the stories really be? There are unlimited possibilities in terms of narrative devices and the author chose "East Berlin with robots".

This is a Richtatorship

Happy New Years, guys! But no Leviathan Wakes? Not only is The Expanse a fantastic series, it has a great first line!

"I would have lived in peace, but my enemies brought me war"

Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series was good. Sure, some of the books were way better than others, you could say that about wheel of time as well.

I love Dune but the first line doesn’t do much for me in and of itself

1984 is S tier. Clearly.

Imho the Hitchhiker's first line, even the first 2 lines aren't very good. It's just using facts about Earth's location to make an overly wordy sentence that really took little imagination. It was a decent movie, but it's not a book I would choose to read.

How dare you with this Isaac Asimov hate. :)

Asimov is bursting with evocative ideas...but...he can't write. I just finished Foundation and Earth - which is, in theory, a breathtaking story - but I want to...fix it for him.

Both of you trying to frame each other for sexism LMAO

I robot movie is pretty bad. It’s not even close to truthful adaptation.

All terrible first lines.

Ngl the whole "female protagonist" bit almost made me click off the video. ...and now the female author bit.

The best first line from sci fi is from William Gibson's Neuromancer's "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" Also from Gibson: "When Hiro hit the swithc, I was dreaming of Paris, dreaming of wet, dark streets in the winter. The pain came oscilating up fro mthe floor of my skull, exploding behind my eyes in a wall of blue neon; I jackknifed up out of the mesh hammock, screamning. I always scream; I make a point of it" (from his absolutely brilliant short story, Hinterlands. Probably one of my favorite short stories ever) P.s. Hyperion is mediocre at best. The fall of hyperion is absolute and utter, irrideemable garbage. NAAAHHHHGGG... man's put hyperion on the list but no neuromancer in sight. unsubbed

Terry Prichett is ridiculous. Fight me.