Some Fantasy Books radiate excellence from the opening scenes of their respective stories. Fantasy novels don’t always start with compelling sequences – They may end up being excellent stories, but their beginning is slower. Some fantasy novels fail to pick up the pace until a good chunk of the story is over. However, some of the best fantasy books of the last 10 years need the space to establish the story before things get interesting. This is often the case, especially in multi-genre stories, including books that blend fantasy and horror.
On the other hand, there are fantasy books that do the opposite. These stories start strong but eventually crash and burn, turning into significant disappointments. But there is a third kind of fantasy story – Books that are excellent from their opening scene and remain stellar throughout the narrative. These fantasy books are often ambitious, without fail, and make an impact from the first scene. Whether the opening scene is vague and unclear, jumps right into the action, or features an iconic quote, it hooks readers right away.
10
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Opening scene: Men of the Night’s Watch encounter White Walkers
A Song of Ice and FireThe hugely successful epic high fantasy series by ​​George RR Martin, has one of the best opening scenes in a fantasy series. While each Song of Ice and Fire The book has an intriguing prologue, the in A game of thrones stands out. Three men from the Night’s Watch search for the bodies of the wildlings that Gard claims to have seen – but the bodies have mysteriously disappeared. The Three Rangers—Gared, Waymar Royce and Will – also meet the others, resulting in Waymar becoming a White Walker, Will dying, and Gared fleeing for his life.
After the prologue, A game of thrones joins the Starks in Winterfell; The Lord of Winterfell, Ned Stark, must execute Gared, who escaped the Night’s Watch and betrayed his vows. While the characters are puzzled as to why someone as loyal as Gared could leave the Night’s Watch, the prologue answers the question – it has something to do with the mysterious White Walkers. It’s a bone-chilling opening scene that begs to learn everything possible about the other And like these Song of Ice and Fire Storytelling will build to them.
9
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Opening scene: Percy Jackson’s field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the most memorable first lines in a fantasy book is from Rick Riordan The Lightning ThiefThe first installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series. Not only is it an iconic first line for fantasy, but it is one of the most striking excerpts from literature in general. After the opening scene does not stop there. After Percy’s famous introduction, he recounts the time he accidentally killed his algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodd, who was a harpy.
Shortly after this incident, the story unfolds as Percy learns the truth about his heritage, but the epic story begins with the illustrated first line: – Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Books are still among today’s best fantasy books. They are timeless classics and not just like kids’ fantasy books. It’s hard to beat The Lightning Thiefs epic opening scene because It has everything an ideal opener needs – Iconic quotes, riveting action and a perfect story.
8
The fifth season by NK Jemisin
Opening Scene: The Boy at the End of the World
The fifth seasons opening scene alternates between two characters in the prologue. The narrator speaks to the protagonist – later revealed to be Esun – when she stumbles upon her son’s lifeless body, beaten to death by her husband and his father. On the other hand, another character – Alabaster – is in the center of their continent, the silence, accompanied by a stone ether. Alabaster cracks the entire continent in half, triggering a fifth season, The deadliest type of catastrophic natural disaster the Earth can endure. This scene is the beginning of a great novel for two reasons.
First, the illustration of the prologue of the contrasting scenes foreshadows how these two characters are inextricably linked in their past, present and future. They are both orogens, people who can manipulate earth textures. Essun deals with the aftermath of her husband’s bigotry against Orogens after discovering his own son is one. Alabaster was devastated by orogeny, which faced oppression from the Fulcrum for hundreds of years. However, no character tells the chilling third person passage of the prologue, the other reason why The fifth seasons opening scene kickstarts an excellent narrative:
This is what you must remember: the end of one story is just the beginning of another. This was before. People die. Old orders pass. New societies are born. When we say “the world has ended,” it’s usually a lie, because the planet is good.
But that’s how the world ends.
This is how the world ends.
This is how the world ends.
for the last time.
This passage suggests that the earth was finished many times before, but there is something different about this occasion. When the world ends this time, it has a tone of finality it lacked beforeMaking it much more catastrophic. Therefore, the opening scene raises several questions about the identity of the character, how the world will end, and how it ended before.
7
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Opening Scene: Guards demand taxes from Mama Agba and the Maji
Children of blood and bone by Tomi Adeyemi is an action-packed novel from start to finish, But it’s still surprising that a simple opening scene is so effective in the overall story. The protagonist, Zelie, is training under Mama Agba when King Sarn’s guards suddenly arrive to collect taxes. The guards eventually leave, but not before Zelie illustrates her disdain for them because of how they treat Maggie, The oppressed class in Arisha, of which Zelie is a part. The Magi used to do magic, but they have lost the ability for over a decade.
Related
The purpose of the opening scene is to establish the world in which Zelie lives and what she must combat if she is to defeat the oppressive regime. Zelie’s character, her presence in the narrative and her place in the world are also determined. The most riveting factor in Children of blood and bones opening scene is the final lineWhen Zelie’s brother, Zain, suddenly arrives and says. “It’s Baba,” referring to their father. It’s an excellent way to end the first chapter and begin a compelling story.
6
Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Opening scene: The Blood Queen forces Simon to flee with her newborn
Furyborn is the first book in the Empirium trilogy by Claire Legrand, with the prologue depicting Queen Riel giving birth to her daughter. It provides crucial narrative information, establishing Rielle as the Blood Queen and noting her betrayal of humanity to the angels. The stakes grow when Rielle realizes that someone is coming for her child, so she races to protect her with the help of a boy named Simon. The opening scene has non-stop action, an excellent way to dive into the world’s chaos and illustrate how it fell apart under Rielle.
5
The Poppy War by RF Kuang
Opening Scene: Fang Runin takes the Keju Test
The poppy war is a monumental high fantasy trilogy loosely based on the opium wars between China and Britain. It revolves around Fang Runin as she enters a secondary education institution with war looming on the horizon. However, before these events occur, Rin takes the Keju, an entrance exam for the school she hopes to attend. The prologue illustrates Rin’s entire process, from devoting herself to her studies, taking the exam, and getting the top score. In her area. The prologue is gripping because of the extreme lengths Rin endures to be the Keju.
4
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Opening scene: Niklas Rose hides a stranger
The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy novel about a broken, divided realm that must come together when a dark force rises again after a thousand years. The opening scene takes place in the East, where a woman notices an outsider sneaking into Eastern territory. She brings the man to the house of Niklais Rose, an alchemist, who previously escaped from the light’s borders. It is a serious crime if the authorities catch a foreigner secretly hiding when his kingdom’s borders are closed for a thousand years.
Related
The Priory of the Orange Tree Has an excellent opening scene because high stakes are automatically established When Niklas takes in the stranger. It begs the question of what might have happened a thousand years earlier that prompted his kingdom, Seiki, to fear the draconic plague so much that any outsider caught would be executed, along with anyone who helped them. The short chapter ends with Niclays seeing a dragon fly overhead, which is the introduction of mythical creatures in The Priory of the Orange Tree.
3
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Opening scene: Emperor Chandra attempts to burn his sister Malini
The Jasmine Throne is the first novel in the Burning kingdoms Trilogy, a riveting story from the first page. The prologue is a very short opening scene, but it uses the right formula that dives into the story in the most compelling way possible. Emperor Chandra ordered his sister, Princess Malini, to be burned alive On the bur to save her purity. Emperor Chandra also accuses Malini of betraying her family and purpose. The prologue immediately poses several questions, due to the vagueness of the events that unfolded.
2
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Opening scene: Évike poses as a seer for the woodsmen
The Wolf and the Woodman is a historical fantasy fiction novel based on Jewish and pagan mythology. It’s about a Jewish and pagan girl named Évike, who doesn’t have the same magical abilities as her people because she’s also Jewish. The opening scene makes for a great story because it wastes no time jumping into the action. Évike and her fellow villagers are preparing for the Woodsmen to arrive until their seer, Katelyn, realizes that the Woodsmen are coming for a seer. The village of Évike then betrayed her by disguising her as a seer But Kathleen wondered.
The opening scene reveals a lot about Évike’s character, her life and the stakes at hand. This book describes the terrible violence that both the pagan and Jewish communities suffered from the European monarchies. However, Évike doesn’t fit in anywhere, and as a result, she must make her own way in the world, as evidenced by her village’s betrayal. There’s a lot to unpack in the first scene alone, but the story continues in an epic journey for Évike.
1
The Acquaintance by Leigh Bardugo
Opening scene: Lucia magically fixes the burnt bread
The familiar From Leigh Bardugo revolves around Luzia, a Spanish Jewish girl who hides her identity in 16th century Spain. The Opening scene is a short chapter about Dona Valentina’s cook burning the bread. Valentina checks on the kitchen staff every morning, and one particular day, she smells burnt bread coming from the kitchen. After seeing the bread, she has to answer the door before she can find her cook. When Valentina returns to the kitchen, she is shocked to discover that the same loaf of bread is perfectly baked.
Related
The opening scene seems ordinary, but it establishes a compelling narrative immediately because of the first line: “If the bread hadn’t burned, it would have been a completely different story.” This is how Valentina discovered that her servant could perform miracles. However, Luzia’s miracles are spoken magic words, rooted in her Sephardic Jewish culture. The opening scene suggests that the novel will revolve around Luzia and her magic, and It begs the question of what disastrous chain of events could result from simple burnt bread.