#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Our #Quiz, and the Names of Our Winners!

/ Marcia Meara

Our 2nd #FirstLineFriday quiz of 2020 has now come to a close. Happily, we have four winners for this one. It could have gone either way, because it’s a pretty well known book. I honestly thought the opening line might be a dead-giveaway even for those who hadn’t read it, but it turned out to be just tricky enough. Not so easy that I had a million guesses rolling in, but not so hard that we ended up with no winners. Just right! 🙂

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” is the opening line of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

This week’s winners are Jeanne Owens, Patt Kline, Darlene Foster, and Ashlynn Waterstone. Congratulations and thanks for playing!

And here is what Amazon has to say about the entire collected set of novels, which, btw, I just ordered for myself. (I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never read these, and me an enormous fan of weird British humor, a la Monty Python, etc. )

BLURB:

In one complete volume, here are the five classic novels from Douglas Adams’s beloved Hitchhiker series.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read)
Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The moment before annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

Life, the Universe and Everything
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky– so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription thrusts him back to reality. So to speak.

Mostly Harmless
Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Includes the bonus story “Young Zaphod Plays It Safe”

“With droll wit, a keen eye for detail and heavy doses of insight . . . Adams makes us laugh until we cry.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

“Lively, sharply satirical, brilliantly written . . . ranks with the best set pieces in Mark Twain.”—The Atlantic


Buy The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy HERE

And there you have it for this week! Hope you enjoyed playing along, and that some of you will be inspired to check this infamous series of books out. 

Stay tuned for more #FirstLineFriday next week! See you then! 🙂

14 thoughts on “#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Our #Quiz, and the Names of Our Winners!”

    • I can neither confirm nor deny that, Trish, since I haven’t read it. But this was included in a list of the 100 best opening lines of all time, so I went with it. Hope it didn’t throw anyone else off.

      Like

      Reply

  3. Thanks, Ms. Marcia for these first line challenges. They have gotten me to think about how I want to open the book that I’m working on.

    This is the first one that I had an inkling of a guess on, only because I watched the movie version with my friend. I haven’t read the book but I know some people who have.

    I wish everyone the very best that 2020 has to offer.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Ashlynn! Congratulations on recognizing this one, and I’m very happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed these quizzes. I do believe studying these famous first lines is a good thing for a writer to do now and then. Some have been pretty interesting and compelling, and it’s usually easy to see why the have been recognized on so many lists. Hope you enjoy Wake-Robin Ridge. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Aw, you should have tried. I’m the only one who would see your guess, and I promise I wouldn’t make fun of a wrong one. Much. 😀 😀 😀 Seriously, you should always give it a shot. You’ve got nothing to lose, and you might be right. (Like this time.) 🙂 Next week, if you have any idea at all, just go for it! 🙂 ❤

      Like

      Reply

  5. I guessed right – but here’s what happened – see Marcia’s blog and know I know it, picture the book and the TV series, but brain won’t recall the title… remember title while tidying the kitchen, but not the author. Hanging out washing remember the author, plan to email Marcia when I go upstairs and get on the computer. 6pm GMT read new blog and realise I completely forgot! Well done to the four.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh, no! All of that just to miss it? Eeep. But if it makes you feel any better, I could have gone through all of that and STILL wouldn’t have had the answer. However, now that I have the book on my Kindle, if a question about the first line comes up anywhere else in the future, I will NAIL it!! 😀 😀 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Hahahaha. Good for you! I love that kind of humor, too, and was a devoted Monty Python fan. In fact, I used to watch several “BritComs” and loved every minute of them. And my son, who is quite tall and thin, used to avoid getting into trouble with me by immediately lurching across the room, doing his famous Ministry of Silly Walks routine, almost as well as John Cleese. I’d be dressing him down, and he’d start with the “Sorry, Mum” thing, until I was laughing too hard to be mad any more. I KNOW I’m going to love these books! 😀

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Looking forward to hearing what YOU think! NOTE: If in doubt about leaving comments on this blog, please read the privacy statement in the menu at the top of the page.