#OpeningSentence

In the early sun-swept hours of the morning, when purples and pinks smeared across the sky like blood, Firuz-e Jafari looked for a job.

— The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

Humans often say that they are made of stardust.

— The Old Goat and the Alien by Veo Corva

Wolfe Studios released a tarot deck’s worth of stories about me over the years.

— Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Every morning just after dawn, Lin Chong taught a fight class for women.

— The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

It was much, much worse at night.

— Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss (The Wess'har Wars, #2)

The bot was immune to the snow, and so was Aras.

— City of Pearl by Karen Traviss (The Wess'har Wars, #1)

By the time Professor Richard Lovell found his way through Canton’s narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one in the house left alive.

— Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

The bells of the Palace of Stars were barely audible outside its walls.

— At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard (Lays of the Hearth-Fire, #2)

“Eighteen!” bellowed Viv, bringing her saber around in a flat curve that battered the wight’s skull off its spine.

— Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

And so it was that my mother went into labor while sitting astride the donkey that was carrying her from the city to our village.

— Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr, Marcia Lynx Qualey

A few years back I was running out of money so I volunteered for a research study at the University of Pennsylvania.

— Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Stella Wallace met her family’s god when she was nine years old.

— Revelator by Daryl Gregory

Onna Gebowa had always liked numbers.

— Unnatural Magic by C. M. Waggoner

I was standing on a stranger’s doorstep and wishing my feet were nailed to the ground.

— Non-Player Character by Veo Corva

That morning, God was complaining again.

— City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky