First impressions

This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, comes from an author obsessed with millennia: " The drought has lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended ."

The winner receives a £25 Blackwells voucher and
the closing date is January 4 2000 .

Entries should be sent to:

First Impressions
The THES
Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield
London E1W 1BX,

faxed to 020-7782 3300
or emailed to theschat@thes.co.uk

The winner of last week's competition, who correctly identified F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon , is Tony Tucker of the University of Central Lancashire, Preston Lancashire.