Friday Firsts: Throne of Jade

The first line can make or break a reader's interest.

How well did the author pull you into the story

with their first sentence?

The day was unseasonably warm for November, but in some misguided deference to the Chinese embassy, the fire in the Admiralty boardroom had been heaped excessively high, and laurence was standing directly before it. He had dressed with especial care, in his best uniform, and all throughout the long and unbearable interview the lining of his thick bottle green broadcloth coat had been growing steadily more sodden with sweat.

This is the second book in the Temeraire series. (Read my review of the first, His Majesty's Dragon.) In that book, Laurence is captain of a British ship that takes a French ship in battle, and along with it, a mysterious dragon egg, which turns out to be a gift to Napoleon from the Chinese Emperor. So Laurence becomes an Aviator, a captain to the dragon Temeraire, and has a difficult time adjusting to the differences between the Aerial Corps and the Navy.

So this opening line tells me two things: Number One, Laurence is still a stickler for the strict decorum of naval life and is roasting because of it, and Number Two, the Chinese have come to claim their dragon. Will they triumph? Guess I'll have to read on!