Friday 28 March 2014

SFFSat 29/03/2014

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This time, I'm putting up a snippet from Sorrel in Silver, the third volume in Sorrel's saga. These are the first lines of the book - starting in the middle of the action.




Whoever said two heads are better than one hasn't had to fight snarqs. Kelhene, in the co-pilot's seat, was shouting about the brute being right behind us. Not the most helpful thing to tell me – I was only too well aware that a two-headed, acid-spitting, bat-winged serpent was tight on my tail. I flung the Cygnet into a dive, shoving the joystick forward and sideways to get the biplane out of the line of fire. The snarq opened both mouths and spat, and two gobbets of acid hissed through the air towards us. A moment later the world went black.
I felt the airframe shudder. One – or if we were really unlucky, both – of the acid spittles had hit us. I could see absolutely nothing – we had flown into one of the columns of thick, black smoke rising from the burning city below us. It meant the snarq couldn't see us – I hoped. It also meant that if there was anything in my path I had no way of evading a collision.


  As always, comments welcomed!



9 comments:

  1. Very cool snippet...getting shot down by acid seems like a horrible way to die (but let's hope that's not the end result).

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    1. I have this suspicion Sorrel is going to survive - killing the title character in the first page isn't usually a good idea.

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  2. Hiding in a smoke column does has its down side.

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    1. It certainly does - I suspect Sorrel will get the hell out of there.

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  3. Gulp!! Crash or get hit by acid...again! Exciting snippet! My favorite part was calling the biplane a "Cygnet." Nice contrast there.

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    1. Thanks - I can't claim all the credit. The real world aircraft I was vaguely thinking of were the Walrus and the Gosling - I wanted a white plane, and Cygnet seemed a good choice to stay in the same vein.

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  4. Replies
    1. Yup! That's Sorrel's world in a nutshell!

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