Opening Lines: The Deathworld Omnibus

Some novels have the ability to draw you in from the start. A single line or paragraph can grab your attention in such a way that the novel just demands to be read. Opening Lines is a feature where I'll share some of the best opening lines that hooked me.

With a gentle sigh the service tube dropped a message capsule into the receiving cup. The attention bell chimed once and was silent. Jason dinAlt stared at the harmless capsule as though it were a ticking bomb.

The Deathworld Omnibus by Harry Harrison

The planet was called Pyrrus, a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man. 

The settlers there were supermen, twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder. It was up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile during man's brief habitation. 

This omnibus contains all three novels in the Deathworld trilogy.