Zuerst mal zum Vergleich die "Opening Lines" einiger der Scifi- und Fantasy-Romane, die sich quer verteilt in usnerem Haushalt finden …
Lord of the Rings I - J.R.R. Tolkien (1954): When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein (1959): I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can't really be afraid. The ship's psychiatrist has checked my brain waves and asked me silly questions while I was asleep and he tells me that it isn't fear, it isn't anything important -- it's just like the trembling of an eager race horse in the starting gate. I couldn't say about that; I've never been a race horse. But the fact is: I'm scared silly, every time.
A Wizard of Earthsea — Ursula K. Le Guin (1968): The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast sea, is a land famous for its wizards.
The Forever War — Joe Haldeman (1974): "Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man." The guy who said that was a sergeant who didn't look five years older than me. So if he'd ever killed a man in combat, silently or otherwise, he'd done it as an infant. I already knew eighty ways to kill people, but most of them were pretty noisy.
Wizard's First Rule — Terry Goodkind (1994): IT WAS AN ODD-LOOKING vine. Dusky variegated leaves hunkered against a stem that wound in a stranglehold around the smooth trunk of a balsam fir. Sap drooled down the wounded bark, and dry limbs slumped, making it look as if the tree were trying to voice a moan into the cool, damp morning air. Pods stuck out from the vine here and there along its length, almost seeming to look warily about for witnesses.
Old Man's War — John Scalzi (2005): I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.
Gibt's im Fantasy-Bereich außer King/Straub (The Talisman, Black House) oder Pullman (His Dark Materials) noch Autoren, die nicht gefühlte zwei Drittel ihres Werkes mit Schilderungen von Wollpullovern füllen? Ich meine Details wie die Art des Gewebes und die 65536 Farben des Musters und wie der Schafzüchter das Weidegras mit dem Dung von speziell gefütterten Kühen so saftig gemacht hat, dass seinen Schafe überhaupt erst diese besondere Wolle wachsen konnte. Und so weiter und so fort. Autoren also, die sich aufs Wesentliche beschränken und ihre Seiten mit einer fesselnden Geschchte, Chrakterentwicklung, Humor und Tragik füllen? Und die mich mit dem ersten (Ab-)Satz so richtig begeistern können?
Klar, ein Peter F. Hamilton kriegt seine 2x1000 Seiten Space Opera (Commonwealth Saga auch nicht ohne Tricks voll, aber im Gegensatz zu Holbein schafft er es, ohne ständig Sätze oder halbe Kapitel zu wiederholen.
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
