Meh. Very hit or miss. "No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear and "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal were the standouts in my opinion.

A bunch of these were stellar! A few... not my cup of tea. But still, a fun read!

The premise of this anthology is to take the opening line of a classic work and build it into a sci-fi/fantasy story. First off, I think that is a great writing prompt and I want to try it. As for the stories themselves: they're a mixed bag. There's little straight-up hard science fiction, which I was perfectly alright with not being a big hard sci-fi reader. There's some noir, fantasy, weird, and supernatural thrown in for good measure.

Below, I breakdown what I thought of each story individually:

1. "Fireborn" by Robert Charles Wilson: I thought this was cute story. Very fairy tale. There wasn't too much going on, but I found it entertaining and well-written.

2. "The Evening Line" by Mike Resnick: This one was fun. a Harry the Book story ripping off the first line of Pride and Prejudice. I've never read a Harry the Book story, but I found this one extremely entertaining. Think Guys and Dolls with wizards.

3. "No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear: This was more of a think piece. Beautifully written, it raises questions about the dangers of having an increasingly long-lived population and what that means for job security, government, and opportunities for the young. All this wrapped up in a (maybe) murder mystery.

4. "The Big Whale" by Allen M. Steele: This is tied for favorite. Herman Melville meets Dashiel Hammond. Moby Dick has never been more readable.

5. "Begone" by Daryl Gregory: It took me a while to figure out what was going on with this story and to figure out what genre it was. It wasn't one of my favorites, but that's mostly because the main character was unappealing. I thought it was well-written and well-crafted.

6. "The Red Menace" by Lavie Tidhar: With the opening line of the communist manifesto as it's premise, this was an interesting and political story that rewrote the history of the first half of the twentieth century. I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this story, but the conclusion was a little heavy-handed in my opinion. It would have benefited from more subtlety.

7. "Muse of Fire" by John Scalzi: Again, this one is tied for favorite. The main character was well-developed. It melded science fiction with mythology. It was positively gripping. (Also, the audio version is narrated by Wil Wheaton).

8. "Writer’s Block" by Nancy Kress: This was a fun, meta story with a great twist. Loved it.

9. "Highland Reel" by Jack Campbell: I enjoyed the setting and the nod to the fae, but this story didn't sink into my skin like some of the others. It didn't really stay with me.

10. "Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo: Some people would probably really enjoy this story. I found it a little too crude for my taste, which was appropriate since the setting was Hell. I found it entertaining, but the imagery and language were a little too off-putting for me to really get into the characters and story.

11. "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal": Loved this one. This story had the largest emotional impact for me and it was beautifully written. There was a sweetness and a tenderness to this story that really touched me. It was more about the characters than about the Mars setting or the science.

12. "Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air" by Tad Williams: This was laugh out loud, hysterical. I loved every minute of it. It had such vivid detail that I felt fully immersed in the story. It was brilliantly narrated too. My one caveat is that if you take your Bible seriously you might want to skip this one if you're easily offended. Then again, if you're easily offended, lighten up. This is a fun, irreverent take on the creation of the Garden of Eden.

13. "Declaration" by James Patrick Kelly: While technically a very good piece. I had a hard time getting into this story. The main character was too much of an observer in her own story that I found I didn't care, which is a shame because this story raises some interesting points about virtual reality.

Good anthology! Most of the stories don't have to get too convoluted to fit the first line. Favorite: The Lady Astronaut.

I read the Tad Williams story out of this collection, which I enjoyed very much. Maybe I'll try some of the others someday, but that was the only one that interests me right now.

A collection of stories inspired by first lines, and I will do it as alwys do. Talk a bit about every story.

Fireborn (Rootabaga stories) by Robert Charles Wilson
Set in the future where a war tore mankind apart, I guess. It was interesting and good, and I'd read more from this author. Though I have no idea where that first line is from.

The evening line (Pride and Prejudice) by Mike Resnick
The story is from Resnick's world, and frankly the whole story was meh.

No decent patrimony (Edward II) by Elizabeth Bear
A son talks about his dead father. Set in a world where the rich can live forever. Interesting premise.

The Big whale (Moby Dick) by Allen M Steele
A Moby Dick story about a PI. Good story.

Begone (David Copperfield) by Daryl Gregory
A man is usurped by another. Great story, I should try more from this author.

The red menace (The communist manifesto) by Lavie Tidhar
An alternative history where Soviet became Soviet first in the 30s. Maybe they did not kill 50 mil of their own people then, one can always hope. It was a scary world filled with bombs.

Muse of Fire (Henry V) by John Scalzi
A man and his strange girlfriend. I liked the twist of it all.

Writer's block (Paul Clifford) by nancy Kress
A writer with a messy life, that takes a turn for the worst. This one got interesting.

Highland Reel (McBeth) by Jack Campbell
A historical about the Highlands. Awesome story, my fav of them all.

Karen Coxswain (Huckelberry Finn) by Paul Di Filippo
A captain in hell tells her story, and I was bored.

The Lady Astronaut (The wizard of oz) by Mary Robinette Kowal
People settled on Mars and an Astronaut gets another chance. Nice story

12 Amazing story about the creation of the world...ok so this is my second fav of these stories. it was fantastic and funny.

Decleration (the decleration of independence) by James Patrick Kelly
Kids wants to live in virtual reality. I did not really get it

There were a couple of really great stories in this anthology... and a whole lot of mediocre to downright bad ones. I really enjoyed the introduction each author provided about why they chose the first line of the book they ultimately selected. Overall, the stories I enjoyed were really good, but the anthology as a whole didn't really impress me. The authors I expected to be good were good, and the ones I didn't or weren't familiar with didn't move the needle for me.

There's enough good stuff here to make this worth purchasing. (Note: for some reason the ebook version is called Mash Up, rather than Rip-Off; not really sure why). In some stories, the borrowed first line played a major role. In others, it was just an opener. Highlights for me were Elizabeth Bear's "No Decent Patrimony", John Scalzi's "Muse of Fire", and Jack Campbell's "Highland Reel", with honorable mentions for "The Big Whale" and "Begone". There was one story I gave up on entirely, as not at all to my taste, and one that just kind of rambled on and I didn't connect to, but the rest were worthwhile.

The narrators for each story varied from good to very good, and there is an introduction read by the authors themselves, talking about why they chose their opening line, and a bit about their story. I found it interesting to put voices to familiar authors. I had always imagined John Scalzi as sounding like Penn Gilette from Penn & Teller, and was mildly disappointed that he does not.

Recommended, overall.

Fireborn by Robert Charles Wilson, read by Christine Van (3 stars) - Sort of an SF fay story, where the mortals

Spoiler

actually get the better of the fay

. Interesting, but I was more interested in the world than in the characters, and the story was very much focused on the characters. The narrator is awesome, and I'm going to go look for more she's read.
The Evening Line by Mike Resnick, read by L.J. Ganser (3 stars) - People behaving badly in various stereotypical ways, with magic. You have women instantly appearing to try and get a guy who won $53,000 to marry them, men placing bets on everything, and mages (who are all male, but are apparently uninterested in betting) increasing the chaos. Funny in places, but didn't impress me overall.
No Decent Patrimony by Elizabeth Bear, read by Scott Brick (5 stars) - Brilliant from start to finish. I saw that a twist was coming, but guessed wrong about what it was. Also, I loved the narrator.
The Big Whale by Allen M. Steele, read by Christian Rummel (4 stars) - Moby Dick, as told by Ishmael the private investigator. Entertaining, if a bit testosterone-driven (which isn't a huge surprise, as it's going for a '30's pulp detective feel).
Begone by Daryl Gregory, read by Jonathan Davis (4 stars) - Impressively plausible scenario where the replacement of actors in Bewitched was actually an in-universe event. Nicely written and thought out.
The Red Menace by Lavie Tidhar, read by Stefan Rudnicki (2 stars) - Weird alternate history where the Tunguska meteor opened a gateway to another planet, and resulted in the Communists taking over the whole planet (also in the U.S. allying with Germany in WWII, among other odd misalignments). Interesting, but... not convincing, I guess.
Muse of Fire by John Scalzi, read by Wil Wheaton (5 stars) - While I had a fair idea how this was going to end, it was still a fun ride to get there. You know what they say about playing with fire... Also provides an argument for taking one's medication.
Writer’s Block by Nancy Kress, read by David Morantz (3.5 stars) - Entertaining, but lacking depth. There's a bit of surrealism, a bit of Groundhog Day, and a lot of "dark and stormy night".
Highland Reel by Jack Campbell, read by Nicola Barber (5 stars) - Impressive mix of the historical and the fantastical, in the history of the Scottish Highlands, and how it came to be appropriated by the same people who had driven out the Highlanders.
"Karin Coxswain" or "Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo, read by Dena Perlman (DNF) - Um. Yeah. I made it through about 5 minutes of this before giving up. If you find humor in bad language, people being peed on, creatures swinging penises about, by all means give it a try. Otherwise, skip it and go on to the next. Like I did.
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal, read by Alison Johnson (5 stars) - Would have been a breath of fresh air even if I hadn't given up on the previous entry. Having just finished The Calculating Stars, reading the eventual denouement to the story was interesting. I think this was written first, yet it has a greater maturity than Calculating Stars. I'm wondering if the spin-off novels might have been better as novellas. Possibly I'll change my mind when I get to the second book. Side note: I think I like Johnson's narration better than Kowal's, though I couldn't give a specific reason why.
Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air by Tad Williams, read by Mark Vitor (3 stars) - Fairly standard send-up of the Genesis creation myth. Well-executed, but not particularly interesting, at least not to me.
Declaration by James Patrick Kelly, read by Ilyana Kadushik (3 stars) - Overlong exploration of the pros and cons of "stashing" one's body and going completely "soft time" (VR, as opposed to the real world, "hard time"). Vaguely interesting, but, eh. Just didn't draw me in.

Source: Audible

Got this because it had John Scalzi’s name on it. Also a fan of Mary Robinette Kowal.
Of course, I liked some of them better than others… but overall a great book. The readers were great and it was easy to listen to when doing work around the house.