20 Powerful First Lines To Get You Hooked On A Story

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Children's reading lists

18 powerful first lines to get you hooked on a story

The Price of Valour

An epic, heroic fantasy - Game of Thrones meets Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe.

The Price of Valor is a very enjoyable epic fantasy, and a damned good book. And if you’re not reading Wexler’s “The Shadow Campaigns” yet… Well, what the hell are you waiting for?

Django Wexler has delivered a highly entertaining debut that mixes elements of Bernard Cornwall–esque military adventure with an original take on magic and a keen eye for action, dialogue, and character....Succeeding volumes may end up doing for the Napoleonic Wars what George R. R. Martin did for the Wars of the Roses. Highly recommended.

Anthony Ryan, New York Times Bestselling Author of Blood Song

With The Price of Valor, Django Wexler continues to prove that he’s got a great story to tell. Great characters painted on a fascinating backdrop with military and political conflict make for an excellent novel, and an excellent installment in a thoroughly entertaining Military/Flintlock Fantasy saga.

Django Wexler is the author of flintlock fantasy series The Shadow Campaigns, middle grade fantasy The Forbidden Library, and YA fantasy The Wells of Sorcery. His latest is the fantasy comedy How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. In his former life as a software engineer, he worked on AI research and programming languages. He currently lives near Seattle with his wife, daughter, four cats, and a teetering mountain of books. When not writing, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts. 
 
www.djangowexler.com @DjangoWexler

In the wake of the King’s death, war has come to Vordan. 
 
The new queen, Raesinia, is nearly powerless as the government tightens its grip and assassins threaten her life. Together with Marcus D’Ivoire, she sets out to turn the tide of history. 
 
But as all the powers of the continent rise against Vordan, Janus bet Vhalnich and Winter Ihernglass face a bloody battle against enemies not just armed with muskets and cannon, but dark priests of an ancient order, wielding forbidden magic.

The Palace of Glass

Django Wexler's third story featuring the inimitable Alice Creighton, in this fabulous fantasy series destined to become a modern classic.

Wexler is an able builder of magical worlds and creatures, with labyrinths, an enchanted library, and a feisty, swashbuckling heroine at the centre. A story rich in action and allegory.

For Alice, danger threatens from inside the library as well as out. Having figured out the role her master and uncle, Geryon, played in her father's disappearance, Alice turns to Ending – the mysterious, magical giant feline and guardian of Geryon's library – for a spell to incapacitate Geryon. 
 
But, like all cats, Ending is adept at keeping secrets and Alice doesn't know the whole story. Once she traps Geryon with Ending's spell, there's no one to stop the other Readers from sending their apprentices to pillage Geryon's library. 
 
As Alice prepares to face an impending attack from the combined might of the Readers, she gathers what forces she can – the apprentices she once thought might be her friends, the magical creatures imprisoned in Geryon's library – not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust.

The Shadow of Elysium

A thrilling fantasy novella with muskets and magic from the author of The Thousand Names.

Like 'The Penitent Damned', it serves as a fantastic introduction to Wexler’s writing and gives a taste of what The Shadow Campaigns has to offer, and it’s an even better novella. A wonderful place to get started.

To anyone who’s not read any Wexler yet, I highly recommend THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS novellas as an excellent introduction to Wexler’s works and the series in general...

From the author of The Thousand Names, The Shadow Throne, and The Price of Valour comes a new novella set in the world of the Shadow Campaigns. 
The wagons travel north across the mountains, carrying cargo of great value: Hamveltai glass and porcelain; Deslandai jewelry in heavy iron strongboxes; fine cloth from the cities of the Old Coast. And Abraham. 
Bound and tied, guarded day and night, Abraham has been stolen from his village, from the arms of the man he loved. He is being sent to the fortress-city of Elysium to serve a dark and ancient order, the Priests of the Black. They have discovered the secret he kept all his life: that inside him dwells a demon which allows him to heal…and to kill. 
But Abraham is not alone. A young woman named Alex, similarly possessed, rides with him. And as a bond grows between them, they begin to wonder if they can turn the demons that have damned them into their salvation. 
Also contains an extract from The Thousand Names, Book One of The Shadow Campaigns.

The Shadow Throne

It is, in truth, a cracking read and I very much look forward to the next installment.

Mike Brooks, author of Dark Run and Dark Sky

The Shadow Throne is easily one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read in years.

I was full of praise for The Thousand Names and am so once again for The Shadow Throne, obligatory fantasy right here. Managing to create such strong start and building upon it requires skill. I can only imagine what Django Wexler will show next. MUST READ

I can recommend it sincerely: The Shadow Throne is fun.

The Coolest Fantasy Story You'll Read This Week

I absolutely loved it.  Wexler balances the actions of his very human characters with just the right amount of imaginative "magic" to keep me wanting more

Taylor Anderson, National Bestselling Author of the Destroyerman Series

Wexler has produced something unusual in the fantasy line, with a setting reminiscent of the early Victorian period, out on the bleeding edge of Empire, a world of dust and bayonets and muskets... and magic.  The characters are fascinating and - all- of them have secrets ...  I read it at a gulp and look forward to more

S.M. Stirling, New York Times bestselling author of LORD OF MOUNTAINS

Extremely strong debut, flintlock fantasy at its best ... there’s a new military fiction cowboy in town and his name is Django.

"An immensely entertaining novel" (Tor.com) from the author of The Thousand Names... 
 
The King of the Vordan is on his deathbed. Soon his daughter, Raesinia will be the first Queen Regnant in centuries-and a target for those who seek to control her. The most dangerous is Duke Orlanko, Minister of Information, and master of the secret police. He is the most feared man in the kingdom, and he knows an arcane secret that puts Raesinia completely at his mercy. 
 
But Raesinia has found unlikely allies in the returning war hero Janus bet Vhalnich, and his loyal deputies, Captain Marcus d'Ivoire and Lieutenant Winter Ihernglass. As Marcus and Winter struggle to find their places in the home they never thought they would see again, they help Janus and Raesinia set in motion events that could shatter Orlanko's powers, but perhaps at the price of throwing the nation into chaos. But with the people suffering under the Duke's tyranny, they intend to protect the kingdom with every power they can command, earthly or otherwise.

The Mad Apprentice

Anyone can get lost in a book. But it's a lot more dangerous when it happens to Alice . . .

Old Readers are supposed to live for ever, magically inhabiting the spaces between stories. They’re not supposed to die. 
 
But they can be murdered. 
 
When an ancient Reader is killed, seemingly by his own apprentice, the hierarchy of the magical world tumbles and its spider web of alliances begin to unravel. 
 
Now it’s up to Alice and the remaining apprentices to sort out the mess and catch the murderer. But the world is changing all around them. Things are not as they seem. It’s almost as if they are trapped in a strange sort of labyrinth . . .

The Forbidden Library

Alice always thought fairy tales had happy endings – until the day she met her first fairy . . .

Compulsive fantasy with a brave, brilliant heroine.

Reminiscent of Corneila Funke's Inkheart and Neil Gaiman's Coraline . . . Wexler ingeniously creates an inventive world with interesting creatures and frightening situations.

The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler is a dream come true for book lovers, child and adult alike . . . certainly deserving of becoming a classic in the future.

Working in the grand tradition of children’s fantasy, Wexler’s off to a promising start

A charming, adventuresome fantasy from a promising new author

Will gratify book lovers and fantasy experts alike

A refreshing and unique tale – one that rises above the clichés it could so easily have fallen into – that entertains on every level. It’s pitched perfectly to its audience (as well as those who are a few years older...) and, while only time will tell if it becomes a classic, it treats the familiar tropes with care and respect, leaving the reader wanting more after the final page has been turned.

This is a brilliant story, and Django Wexler is a name to remember - as if you could forget it!

Books Monthly, Children's Book of the Month

Late one night Alice Creighton hears her father having an argument with a fairy – a snarling, bald beast with warts and needle-like teeth. 
 
The next day her father disappears, never to return. And Alice is sent to live with Master Geryon, an uncle she never even knew existed. 
 
Geryon has a dark, mysterious library which is strictly off-limits to Alice. But after meeting a talking cat who is willing to sneak her in, Alice opens a book and suddenly finds herself inside it – and the only way out is by conquering the dangerous creatures within . . .

The Thousand Names

A bold new direction for epic fantasy with muskets, demons and magic.

National Bestselling author of The Darwin Elevator

I absolutely loved it. Wexler balances the actions of his very human characters with just the right amount of imaginative "magic" to keep me wanting more

Wexler has produced something unusual in the fantasy line, with a setting reminiscent of the early Victorian period, out on the bleeding edge of Empire, a world of dust and bayonets and muskets... and magic. The characters are fascinating and - all- of them have secrets ... I read it at a gulp and look forward to more

...Django Wexler does what needs to be done in the opening volume of a fantasy epic: he introduces the characters and sets the scene, then successfully peels back the layers and raises the stakes. If you enjoy military fantasy and/or flintlock fantasy, The Thousand Names is definitely worth a look.

And such detail on the military life! ... From camp conditions to battle tactics, to the lines of grand strategy, the authenticity of the military fantasy is here in full flower. We get set piece conflicts of all sorts, drills, the perils of trying to form a fighting force from raw units, and believeable campaigns, even given the genius of the commander. This is far and away the best and strongest selling point of the book.

The Thousand Names is an assured debut from Django Wexler and a must-read if you enjoy an action-packed, page-turner.

...an ambitious, well-written opening act. I can’t wait for book two, and I think most readers will feel likewise after reading this.

... I was very impressed with The Thousand Names and immediately dove into the sequel The Shadow Throne. Recommended.

Wexler’s polished military fantasy, first in the Shadow Campaign series, distinguishes itself from other epic doorstops with its unique setting, intricate plotting, and layered characters…This excellent series debut is for fans of Peter Brett, Daniel Abraham, and Joe Abercrombie.

The scenes of military life and combat tactics are well crafted.

Set in an alternate nineteenth century, muskets and magic are weapons to be feared in the first "spectacular epic" (Fantasy Book Critic) in Django Wexler's Shadow Campaigns series. 
 
Captain Marcus d'Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire's colonial garrisons, was serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost-until a rebellion left him in charge of a demoralized force clinging to a small fortress at the edge of the desert. 
 
To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must lead her men into battle against impossible odds. 
 
Their fate depends on Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich. Under his command, Marcus and Winter feel the tide turning and their allegiance being tested. For Janus's ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural-a realm with the power to reshape the known world and change the lives of everyone in its path.

Django Wexler

Set sail for the stars in this official Dungeons & Dragons novel set in the worlds of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space! 
 
In the colossal void of Shatterspace, besieged by bloodthirsty marauders and brimming with monstrous aberrations, the only constant is power: The deft will escape the slow. The clever will outwit the naïve. The strong will take from the weak. 
 
Axia wishes she could be grateful to have spent her life—or what little she remembers of it—on an asteroid so far from anything of interest that even the greediest spacers see fit to pass it by. Her days may not be as exciting as the swashbuckling stories of her favorite books or as dramatic as the pasts she’s imagined for herself, but they’re as safe as Shatterspace can manage. So why does something inside her long for the stars every time she sees a spacefaring spelljammer vessel? 
 
When Axia survives a sudden assassination attempt, she is cornered by Kori and Nia, a pair of pirates who offer her two options: flee with them to Wildspace, where they can keep her hidden among their crew, or die. It’s an easy choice with death at her doorstep. But even in the vastness of the Astral Sea, Axia quickly realizes that her new friends haven’t been entirely honest about their motivations. 
 
It turns out, Axia is the spitting image of Blacktongue, the long-disappeared captain of one of the deadliest pirate crews in Shatterspace. And Kori and Nia have a plan to claim the mysterious treasure that the pirate queen vanished while pursuing. To survive, Axia will have to fill Blacktongue’s bloodstained boots and embark on a more perilous and thrilling adventure than any she’s dared to dream.

Django Wexler

Books by Django Wexler

Series by Django Wexler

The Forbidden Library3 Books

The Shadow Campaigns4 Books

Articles featuring Django Wexler

18 powerful first lines to get you hooked on a story

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