Tuesday, June 4, 2019

First Chapter Tuesday: The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey


First Chapter Tuesday is hosted every Tuesday by Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach. This is meme in which bloggers share the first chapter of a book that they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Join the fun by making your own post and linking up over at Vicki's blog, or simply check it out to find more new books to read!

For this week's First Chapter Tuesday I thought I would share an intro from The Grand Dark, which I've just started reading and am so far really enjoying!

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey
 
The Grand DarkExcerpt:

CHAPTER 1

"THE GREAT WAR WAS OVER, BUT EVERYONE KNEW ANOTHER WAR WAS COMING and it drove the city a little mad. 

Near dawn, Largo Moorden pedaled his bicycle through the nearly deserted streets of Lower Proszawa. It was exactly one week since his twenty-first birthday. Fog from the nearby bay and smoke from the armaments factory left the center of the city looking like a flat, ashen mirage. As Largo sped over the Ore Bridge, the edges of Gothic office buildings, dwellings, and cafés coalesced into view. Streetcars gliding atop silent magnetic tracks in the street and above, old church spires—shadowy outlines a second before—solidified and were gone.

At the bottom of the bridge, where Krähe Vale crossed Tombstrasse, a line of Blind Mara delivery automata sat waiting for the crossing signal to change. Some of the larger contraptions—the Black Widows carrying machine parts for the factory—resembled wrought iron spiders the size of pushcarts, while the little tea and breakfast Maras were wooden bread boxes decorated with wings and carvings of flying women. Largo was tempted to veer into the line of machines and kick over one or two of the smaller ones. He knew that someday soon the Maras were going to put human couriers like him out of business. Each time he thought about it, a little wave of panic bubbled up from his stomach because, aside from a strong set of legs, the only things Largo possessed that were worth money were his bicycle and an encyclopedic knowledge of every street and alley in the city."


I really love the descriptions of the city and the hints at what the society and technology is like. Plenty to pique my interest!

Buy the book: Amazon Book Depository | IndieBound


What do you think? Would you keep reading these books? (And feel free to join in and make your own post!) 

*Excerpts are taken from the novel itself; I do not claim to own any part of the excerpt.

3 comments:

  1. It does sound interesting. See what I'm featuring this week at Girl Who Reads

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  2. Oh yes, I would definitely keep reading. Like you said, there's so much in there to pique your curiosity.

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