First Lines of Samuel R. Delany's "Nova"

 "'Hey, Mouse! Play us something,' one of the mechanics called from the bar.

'Didn't get signed on no ship yet?' chided the other. 'Your spinal rocket'll rust up. Come on, give us a number." 

The Mouse stopped running his finger around the rim of his glass. Wanting to say "no" he began a "yes." Then he frowned."

- Samuel R. Delany, Nova

Delany's work has always impressed me, but i've only really known his famous works: Dalghren,  Trouble on Triton, the always stunning "Aye, and Gomorrah" from Dangerous Visions. Nova is one of his earlier novels, appealing to me for having more plot than the sprawling Dalghren and for his elements of Tarot, Moby Dick, and classical mythology. Overall, it's a vibrant book - filled with color and invention with very little of the obsolescence that 50 years of scientific progress can often bring to older speculative fiction. Like many of his books I felt like I didn't catch all of the thematic references, but then again I didn't feel like I needed to because there were so many fascinating aspects to the story. My favorite parts were the univeral acceptance of the Tarot, the power structure of the galactic governments and how Von Ray - the Ahab-like obsessed captain - wanted revolution, and the different species and how they spoke and related to each other. An excellent example of New Wave scifi.

 Good summary of the book here.

First Lines of Samit Basu's "The City Inside"

 "Sometimes Joey feels like her whole life is a montage of randomly selected, algorithm-controlled surveillance cam clips, mostly of her looking at screens or sitting glazed-eyed at meetings. As a professional image builder and storyteller, she finds the lack of structure even more offensive than the banality of the material. She's always taken pride in her instinct for cuts and angles and rhythms in the wildly successful stories that she produces--one day, one perfect day, her life will be just as award-worthy."

- Samit Basu, The City Inside

This wonderful novel is a frenetic ball of energy, depicting the world of New Delhi in a plausible near-future where social media, algorithms, and authoritative governments rule the day. Basu's prose, filled with ideas and sprawling vitality, covers a lot of ground very quickly - you're immersed in Joey's world, finding yourself looking for societal insights and warnings. A smart, entertaining read. Abigail Nussbaum's review (under it's original title Chosen Spirits), inspired me to pick it up.   

First Lines of Margaret Atwood's "Old Babes in the Wood"

 "Nell came home one day just before dinnertime and found the front door open. The car was gone. There was a trail of blood splotches on the steps, and once she was inside the house, she followed it along the hall carpet and into the kitchen. There was a knife on the cutting board, one of Tig's favorites, Japanese steel, very sharp--and beside it, a blood-stained carrot, one end severed. Their daughter, nine at the time, was nowhere to be found." 

- Margaret Atwood, "First Aid" from the Old Babes in the Wood collection.

Another collection of sharp Atwood short stories. Like all such books some stories hit and others don't, but most of these are quite good - filled with smart descriptions and insightful observations. Atwood's always been conscious of mortality but her age and her husband's recent demise have inevitably caused death's shadow to loom larger over many of these stories, giving them a melancholy air.