First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if, instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

The Rules:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
• Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

“Deep within a forgotten cave, Sariel’s brother knelt in the heart of an unlit pyre. Sariel stood before him, an oil-skin in hand.”

Wow. Thinking about the story these two opening lines is setting the tone has informed me that I need to read a sweet, fluffy, and happy book concurrently with this one, so I can take a quick break to calm down if things get too emotionally heavy. Okay, who am I kidding, it isn’t an if, more of a when. BUT. This is written by an author whose writing I absolutely adore, so I am ready to get my heart broken in the best possible way.

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is an upcoming fantasy novel.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It’s written by David Dalglish.

The First Lines Friday book is:

The Radiant King.

About the Book:

• Title: The Radiant King
• Author: David Dalglish
• Series: Astral Kingdoms #1
• Page Length: 544 pages
• Publication Date: March 4, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit

Synopsis:

Six immortal siblings. 

Five sworn to peace.

One demands a throne.

Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Yet, these deathless siblings have vowed to sit upon no thrones, to wear no crowns, and to no longer teach humanity the gifts of radiance.

Now, after centuries of peace, one brother, Eder, rejects their vow, anoints himself the voice of a god, and spreads a new, cruel faith across the land.

Faron cannot allow such indiscretion. Returning from a self-imposed exile, he swears to crush Eder’s kingdom with his other siblings. But to overthrow a nation, they will need more than one another. They will need an army and a ruler who can take the throne their own vow forbids. And so, they pledge themselves to the fanatical Bastard Princess, a woman with incredible powers.

But Eder’s conquest is not what it seems, and it will take more than a holy war to stop an immortal who has heard the desperate plea of a god.

Links: Goodreads     

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.