#OpeningSentence

Captain Darian Frey was accustomed to long odds; his whole life, he’d been an outside chance. Lacking the ability to win in a fair fight, he survived instead by guile and the illogical optimism favoured by gamblers and drunks, which made the riskiest of plans seem like a good idea at the time.

— The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding

‘On reflection,’ Crake said to Frey, as they huddled behind an upturned table, ‘this wasn’t one of your better plans.’

— The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding

Darian Frey was a man who understood the value of a tactical retreat.

— The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding

The smuggler held the bullet between thumb and forefinger, studying it in the weak light of the store room.

— Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

Somewhere in Jal’s file was a note from an old crewmate that read, Jalsen Red will either be the reason you die, or the reason you live. Good fucking luck.

— Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas

Standing next to his step box, Baxter hovers: immobile and elastic, ready to spring forward to lift a suitcase, dissect a timetable, point to the conductor, nod, lift more suitcases, now hat boxes, answer more questions, and nod, nod, nod.

— The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr

On activation each morning Charles’ first duty was to check his master’s travel arrangements for the day.

— Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

What do you do when you meet an alien in Central Park?

— Exordia by Seth Dickinson

A crack echoed through the boreal landscape, a momentary chaos in the still afternoon air.

— Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

The moment Fetter is born, Mother-of-Glory pins his shadow to the earth with a large brass nail and tears it from him.

— The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

A man was loitering outside the bookshop.

— Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, Shanna Tan

Anything at the mercy of such a divine female must, to them, necessarily be a man.

— Steelflower at Sea (The Steelflower Chronicles) by Lilith Saintcrow

The fat-sailed high-prowed Taryam’ajak of Antai bit salt swells, singing of rigging and canvas strained by pressure, bound for home across the wide blue desert of the Lan’ai.

— Steelflower at Sea (The Steelflower Chronicles) by Lilith Saintcrow

I woke from a fuzzy trance with my mead-filled head ringing and four Hain Guards seeking to separate said head from my shoulders.

— Steelflower by Lilith Saintcrow

Nobody ever believed murders “just happened” around Mallory Viridian.

— Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty