Songs of the Dead 

I Am Jack Solomon

Songs of the Dead is a book that accidentally tied itself to me. I share not just the name Jack, but the name Jack Solomon with the protagonist. My life, like his, is woven with threads of music and family, and while the magic that suffuses my existence is everyday stuff, there is certainly magic in the stories I read and tell and in the relationships I am lucky to have.

I first encountered the story of Jack Solomon in its Death By Pizza days when I was working a part-time job in my hometown to save up for school. As I clung to rooftops while hanging Christmas lights, old episodes of Intentionally Blank with Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells kept me company. I heard the tale develop in small parts, alongside the food heist commentaries and bad story ideas.

Three years later I was working for Dragonsteel, and I had just started writing for this blog and for other publishing outlets. Thanks to these projects, I got to meet Peter Orullian at the Worldhopper Ball, a few days after I had read the opening chapters of an advanced copy of Songs of the Dead. He was kind enough to take a picture with me there, and we both threw up the horns at the end of a conversation that has become my favorite memory of the gilded Nexus afterparty.

The world of Songs of the Dead has continued to draw me in. I spent much of May in London. I ate lunch in and explored the shops of the Seven Dials, and I strolled down Shaftesbury Avenue and Tottenham Court Road, walking the same streets that my namesake explores through the Strata of the city’s history. Like him, moments sharing music grounded me in a place far from home. Cranberries and Guns N’ Roses played while I was at work, Black Sabbath and Wolfmother while I was at lunch, and music suffused the air in a dozen other settings. (Shout out to Peter for creating an official Songs of the Dead playlist.)

Today the book is fully released, and I’ve finished Jack Solomon’s tale. Each chapter pulled me deeper into this realm of heavy metal and macabre magic. It's brimming with both authors’ fingerprints, Brandon’s magic system and outline bring structure and flavor to a world that Peter’s story and characters populate with sincerity and heart.

Peter’s own experiences inform the emotional core of this story, from Jack’s struggles as a musician and a budding mage to his companions’ ordeals throughout London’s history. (The podcast episode above adds some context to that observation.) That core, that beating heart, is the driving force behind Jack’s adventure and his rising abilities as a necromancer.

Songs of the Dead

The story begins with back to back shocking moments, as Jack Solomon is kicked out of his band and subsequently murdered. He claws his way back to his body and returns to life from the land of the dead. This marks his rebirth as a thanatist, a magic user who can rebind the spirits of the dead to their bodies. Alongside his new powers, he is exposed to the magical underbelly of London, a world of competing factions, necromancers, and Strata; the layers of London’s past that live on in the memory of the living world.

Jack’s personal journey is my favorite part of this story. He relies on music to overcome pain, but has trouble depending on the people around him. When his friends are in peril, he is fast to stand between them and the danger. Every time he binds a reanimated spirit, he loses a precious memory. Over the course of the novel, each of these sacrifices cost him more, and the story’s cast becomes tied ever tighter to him.

The pounding of a drum kit and the distorted shred of electric guitar were the sounds playing in my head as he is molded into a protagonist who is not only capable but sympathetic and fascinating. He struggles not only to defeat monsters, but also to finish writing a deeply personal song and make his way as an independent musician. The magic and world are fresh and new, but the way Jack interacts with them and with music feels intimate and familiar.

An Interview with Peter Orullian

I was lucky enough to get some time with Peter during the launch of Songs of the Dead, and he kindly answered a few questions I had about the story, his collaboration with Brandon, and what music means to him.

Jack: In an era of smartphones, streaming, and earbuds, how do you continue to create shared experiences with music?

Peter: A part of that is regional. In Europe, the festival scene is huge. You’ll have a hundred bands all playing at a festival that will last four days; the bands can hit different festivals on a tour that lasts the whole summer, the way they hit different cities on a U.S. tour. So the shared experience can be different by region. 

I also like to do listening parties with my friends. We'll often bring ten or so tracks that we think the others might not have heard, and we’ll listen to them together. We’ll bring food, and sometimes we’ll know the band or the label to get a prerelease.
I drive a Jeep, and I love having the wind in my hair. I’ll drive and I’ll get a friend and pair up the Bluetooth to the stereo system, and we’ll take turns putting a song on.

It’s also a lot of fun to go to a local establishment, even if you don’t know who’s playing, and just sit and listen to the live performance.

Jack: This story has evolved a lot from the Death By Pizza days to the full release of Songs of the Dead today. What were some of the moments that shaped Jack Solomon’s journey as you wrote the book?

Peter: I remember in Brandon’s initial concept, he gave Jack the character flaw of never finishing anything. As I dug into that idea, I wanted to find out why, which goes back to the things that happened to him as a child because of his parents. It was awesome to see the fruition of that idea in the finished book. We also wanted to treat the metal community authentically, with Jack as a character and his journey of overcoming.

Jack: Jack draws strength from music and he learns to draw some strength from his friends on his journey. What situations have you experienced this phenomenon?

Peter: To bring up kind of a tough one, some time ago I was diagnosed with cancer, and though it was treatable, when you hear that word your heart drops. One particular song that I remember changing my whole perspective was Dream Theater’s “A Change of Seasons,” which I just loved. It’s about mortality and the seasons of life. That song literally pulled me through. So much so, in fact, that I got a bunch of my good music friends together and we did a cover of it. That’s far from the only example, but it's probably the most poignant.

Jack: Classic rock, heavy metal, and classical music are all woven into this story. Metal and fantasy have often shared influences, from Tolkien to world history, and so many things in between. Do you have any favorite places where these genres overlap?

Peter: This again takes me back to Dream Theater, they have a few concept albums that I’ve written novelizations for. One is a dystopian future and the other is an alternate New York City. I love what they do as musicians, they are world class. I also love what Nightwish does, with albums that are narrative based and others that are archetypal. I’m also good friends with Toumas from Nightwish, and [even got to write in a shout-out] for him at the end of the book.

Jack: The fermata plays a significant role in this story. What does the fermata mean to you, and how does it affect this story?

Peter: The fermata, musically, is the symbol for holding on to a note. Jack’s life is shaped by moments where he is abandoned by people who he should never have to expect that from. The idea of staying, of being the one who stays, becomes important. The etymology of the term fermata goes back a long way. Jack’s creed becomes etymologically tied to the notion of the fermata and the idea of standing firm; of being the one to stand by the people who need you.

Rock On

Music and connection have been a running theme in my favorite cultural touchstones over the last year. Sinners brought the music of a juke joint into contrast with blues, rock, hip-hop and more, while telling a fantasy story about homecoming, heritage, and vampires. Remarkably Bright Creatures is focused on a young man’s journey to find his family, and his disenchanted road trip is punctuated by his musical experience with disillusionment poster child Radiohead’s song I Can’t. In both stories, music becomes a way for experiences to be translated across time and space.

I’ve played the guitar since I was eleven years old. I immerse myself in the powerful sounds that electric guitar brings to music, from the distorted riffs of heavy metal to the clean leads of classic rock and modern alternative. Memories of music bring me back to homes and people I’ll never see again, concert performances from musicians in their last years, and the nostalgia that binds me to other music lovers.

I enjoyed Songs of the Dead for so many reasons, and if you like hard magic systems, necromancy, or metal in any combination, I think you’ll find something to love about this story. My playlists are updated with Iron Horse metal, my knowledge of rock history is expanded, and I am so excited for the next book in the Strata Wars.