Friday Firsts – Stranded by Bracken MacLeod

Friday Firsts is a new meme that will run every Friday here on Tenacious Reader. It will feature the first few sentences/paragraph of my current book and my first impressions as well. It’s meant to be a quick and easy way to share a bit about what I am reading, and I would love to hear others join in sharing their current reads as well.

Stranded by Bracken MacLeod
Also by this author: Stranded
Published by Tor Books on October 4th 2016
Pages: 304

   

 

The void churned and swelled, reaching up to pull them down into frigid darkness, clamoring to embrace them, every one. A cold womb inviting them to return to the lightless source of all life, and die, each man alone in its black silence.

The sea battered the ship, waves crashing against the hull as the ship’s master tried to quarter—turning the vessel into the waves to lessen their impact. While he struggled at the helm, the crew scrambled to get into their gear. The men grabbed sledgehammers and baseball bats, rushing to the aid of their fellow deckhands like a medieval army mustering to stand against the cavalry that would break them, line and bone. Noah wrestled with his waterproof gear, trying to pull on his pants and jacket, jamming hands into clumsy gloves that would combat frostbite for only so long. The ship pitched and Noah lurched in the passageway, trying not to lose his footing, trying not to be thrown to the deck before he was even out in the storm. He shoved his foot into a boot, staggering away from his locker as gravity and momentum conspired to bash his skull against the bulkhead. He careened into the wall, feeling a pop and a blossom of pain in his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and shoved himself away; he had to get on the cargo deck with the others. He couldn’t be defeated before he even got outside.

 

MacLeod, Bracken (2016-10-04). Stranded: A Novel (page 1). Tom Doherty Associates.

 

My First Impressions

This book definitely jumps right in and hooks you with action straight off. I initially started without any clue as to what sort of speculative aspect this would have to it. It starts off like a strong thriller novel (not a bad thing). Definitely enjoying, though I think it may be causing me to feel this cold weather a bit more!

What are you reading right now? Did it start out strong? Feel free to share in the comments, and also feel free to link up!