First Lines Fridays – #9

Hi all!

Welcome to another First Lines Fridays! I’m excited to share my chosen book with you this week – I think some of you should be able to guess it. This is a weekly meme for book lovers to judge a book by its opening lines rather than by its cover, its author or its prestige. I saw this on Mani’s Book Corner but was originally hosted by Wandering Words.

Rules:

1. Choose a book from your shelves/ current read.
2. Open the book to the first page.
3. Copy the first line on the page, making sure you don’t give away the book title.
4. Reveal the book.

First Lines:

The old spellmasters like to say that magic has a taste.

Ember spells are like a spice burning the tip of your tongue. Breath magic is subtle, almost cool, the sensation of holding a mint leaf between your lips. Sand, silk, blood, iron… they each have their flavour.

A true adept – the kind of mage who can cast spells even outside of an oasis – knows them all. Me? I had no idea what the high magics tasted like, which was why I was in so much trouble.

Do you recognise which book these alluring and mysterious words come from?

This week’s book is: Spellslinger by Sebastian De Castell

Buy it on: AMAZON

There are three things that earn you a man’s name among the Jan’Tep. The first is to demonstrate the strength to defend your family. The second is to prove you can perform the high magic that defines our people. The third is simply to reach the age of sixteen. I was a few weeks shy of my birthday when I learned that I wouldn’t be doing any of those things.

Magic is a con game.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage’s duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is gone. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path. Ferius Parfax is one of the mysterious Argosi – a traveller who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She’s difficult and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen’s only hope…

The magical allure of this book, as well as the appeal of such a mysterious story has me so excited to read it! I’ve read some really positive reviews on this series so my anticipation for it is high. Have you read this? What were your thoughts on it?

Jen