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@obrian-of-the-surface-world Ah yes, good hooks definitely help pull the reader in! I personally love having a mysterious and multi-layered first sentence to each of my stories.

@j-a-penrose

THE WINGF—Oh wait. Did you just say not one that was mentioned before? Never mind… 😛

The first books that come to mind as having good pacing and suspense are the Warriors series (low fantasy about cats who live in clans in the forest). I’d say one of the biggest techniques is the use of foreshadowing and choice of information, and also the depth of the characters’ conflicts. The author doesn’t just describe things for the sake of describing them. If attention is drawn to something, I know that something is going to be important later on. So as I keep reading, I tuck that in the back of my mind and wonder what it could mean. In the part of the series I’m in right now, the protagonist is trying to prove another cat’s disloyalty to the clan before someone is hurt, but his attempts to do so cause his own loyalty to be questioned. Although I as a reader respect many of his actions and believe he is doing the right thing, I also know that he could get in huge trouble for it if he’s caught, and if he is, he won’t be able to stop the traitorous clan member. As for the characters’ relationships, they’re all so complicated I can’t explain how well they’re done without going into a ton of detail (and dumping a lot of spoilers), but they’re some of the most realistic and suspenseful character relationships I’ve ever seen. So between his multi-layered conflicts with other characters, the need to prove his own loyalty while disproving another’s, all the questions he’s asking and mysteries to be solved, and a dozen other threats, the suspense is so strong they’re nearly impossible to put down. Which reminds me, I need the next one. xD