Songs of the Dead

The Strata Wars #1

by Brandon Sanderson, Peter Orullian, Luke Daniels (Narrator)

A London rocker is faced with a life-or-death choice when he realizes that a powerful society of magic wielders are the only ones keeping London safe in this deft contemporary fantasy cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson with author and musician Peter Orullian.

When Jack Solomon, a struggling musician who works in London’s West End, is killed, he awakens to a new reality in which light and music are used to create magic and where living eras of the past sprawl beneath modern London, layer upon layer, all the way back to recorded history.

Jack also soon discovers that many of those who reside in the stratums of London’s past have grown angry with the present world, and that their anger is being channeled by a powerful society of light-and-music-based magic wielders who can cross the realms between life and death, between the present and the past. A past where the dead are sowing revolution against the living, and all of history is at stake.

Welcome to the Strata Wars.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, Science Fiction, Magic, Music

14 pages, Audiobook

First published June 16, 2026

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[ଘRory (Back!Dental School got me good)]

➤​Seriously, a musician co-writing a fantasy book with BRANDON SANDERSON ? That's just beyond cool💃.

_P.S.I've never added a book to my TBR that fast, and never managed to set up a buddy read that quickly, lol! (I am so excited, guys!) I'm reading that book with my pookie 💖 Grace when it comes out.

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pitch🎤 was strong, but the performance faltered.
Unfortunately, very disappointing from a favourite author.

Jack is a struggling London metal vocalist. After being murdered (what a start), Jack awakens to a hidden, magical world layered beneath modern London. He discovers he is a thanatist, capable of using light and music to harness power as a revolution of the dead threatens humankind.

The worldbuilding has all the notes for a fresh urban fantasy, but lacks playability🎼 - that is to say, it lacks Sanderson’s usual depth and immersion and relies on you accepting ‘the power of music’.

I was looking forward to a dynamic🎸 cast of characters. Instead, they fell into shallow cliches. Jack is your typical urban fantasy protagonist: a tragic past who is surprisingly competent and weirdly adaptable to his new predicament and the end of the world.

Those who deeply connect with music will probably have a stronger emotional resonance🥁, but the cliched ‘power of friendship and magic’ just doesn’t work for me.
There’s a lot of name dropping and I would wager the lack of appreciation played a rookie in my indifference.

Physical arc gifted by The Broken Binding Publishing.

Bookstagram
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[DianaRose]

full rtc closer to pub day!!✨💀🎶

——

beyond excited to finally dive in!😩

——

i'm ready for this insanely amazing project full of rockstars and dark magic 🙂‍↕️

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Songs of the Dead is a truly unique urban fantasy, that ultimately fell flat (haha for music puns). The story starts off with a literal bang when Jack Solomon, a struggling musician living in London, is murdered. Jack wakes up and learns that underneath his London are layers of historic, magical Londons filled with the embodiments of the memories of the dead. Jack then collects an assortment of characters to help him avenge his murder and keep the balance between the living and the dead.

The concept is incredible and the magic system is so fascinating! The found family and music-based magic had me really excited to read this book.

However, the execution ultimately didn't hook me the way I'd hoped. The dialogue felt clunky and borderline ridiculous at times. I feel like I never really got to know the characters or sit with any of the revelations we got about Jack’s past. I went into this expecting intricate world building, nuanced characters, and the epic storytelling I love from Sanderson. And while the framework has his name all over it, the actual writing was lacking.

The beginning has a lot of promise, and for a while I even thought the final battle would make this at least a 3.5 star read. But ultimately I can’t get over how much I wanted less repetitive chase scenes, and more world building. Perhaps if this had the extra 500 pages that most Sanderson novels have, Orullian could’ve pulled it off, but here we are at 2.5 stars. ☹️



Huge thank you to Saga | Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advance copy! 🧡

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 3 out of 5]

“[T]he book is like Brandon's world building and Peter's lived experience. That's what I would pitch this book as.” (Brandon in Intentionally Blank: "We Are Such Music Nerds" — Ep. 262, Jun 10, 2026) Brandon also says he tried to write this novel (then called Death by Pizza) but he "didn’t have the background in the culture that [he] wanted to." (From Intentionally Blank: "The Art of Co-Authoring with Janci Patterson and Peter Orullian" — Ep. 242, Jan 21, 2026) All of this made me hesitantly optimistic, but I‘m generally not a fan of collaborations like this. I‘d much rather Brandon had written this himself, but I guess we wouldn’t have this novel if it hadn’t been co-authored. Let’s see if it is worth it.

The novel starts with a bang: Jack, a heavy metal singer recently fired by his band, is murdered. Once murdered, he discovers he is a so-called thanatist, someone who can bind a person’s soul to its body, so that it still can roam the land of the living. That means that, when someone dies, they can decide not to move on, which is called a semblance. His death also awakens Jack to a magical world beneath London, so-called strata which represent different layers of history.

Each strata is not a perfect reflection of the past; they are instead formed by the thoughts and memories of semblances, a sort of "collective subconscious“. This gives Sanderson and Orullian some flexibility with the historical aspect, with the added bonus that nobody will care about anachronisms. Thanatists can then access these layers by descending Steps. And most importantly, music and light are the fundamental sources of magic: music is instrumental (no pun intended) to the Strata but can also be used to cast magic as, for example, in battle.. (The last time I read about music being wielded as magic was in the Demon Cycle, where it was used to repel demons.) I can’t imagine life without music so its importance resonated with me, especially since I like metal as well – but I will say my tastes differ. It is also good to remember that magic use usually has a cost: here, the thanatist needs to relinquish a memory in order to use magic, which also means giving up a piece of your soul – not a very appealing prospect. As for light, it is often used in lantern form, with a bow scraping against it. Shadows are unique and reveal much about a person. All in all, it doesn’t surprise me that, overall, the world building was creative, interesting, and complex; it is Brandon‘s after all.

As for the plot, it turns out that the dead are planning a revolution. Apparently some of them are "angry at the way historians and politicians and creatives have changed and weaponized history to their advantage.“ Others are angry at thanatists looting the Strata. But this exploitation of the Strata is just the excuse; the ultimate goal seems to be rewriting London’s future – by controlling the music of the people. (It seems that there is "right“ and "bad“ music, which shape the Strata. Part of that plan is to regulate which songs are written.) If all of that that sounds a bit nebulous, I‘m with you. I just could not get behind the reasons for the rebellion. It just didn't click with me.

Time for some more honesty: it took me a while to get used to Orullion’s prose. It’s a bit clunky and awkward sometimes, which occasionally pulled me out of the story. I will say the narrative voice matches our first-person viewpoint character Jack. This concession still didn’t make this experience any better. So his prose is not the reason why I would recommend this novel, but I will say it’s accessible enough. The dialogue is functional, but not exceptional. I don’t think all characters had distinctive voices, even if Jack and Chuey use interjections like "man" (which I found very awkward), and minor characters using slang or dialects, a cop speaking Cockney, for example.

I also didn’t love the quantity of exposition that is used here because it kills the momentum sometimes; I understand it is needed to explain a lot of rules about magic in general and thanatists in particular, but that was just too much. Mostly Jack reads books about magic and can easily retain the information because he has an "echoic“ memory – humming while reading gives him the ability to remember everything. How neat is that?

So was reading this novel worth it? Despite everything, a hesitant yes; mostly because of the world building and the importance of music. However, I‘m still not a fan of collaborations (this novel clearly didn’t change my mind), but I seem to read them anyway. And most of these involve Sanderson; I‘ll try and have an open mind for all future collaborations, as there will be many more.

Side note 1: Considering the quotation at the beginning, I‘m left to wonder which parts are autobiographical. I hope none of the bad ones are.

Side note 2: I am a fan, however of the Cytoverse novellas co-authored with Janci Patterson.

[Grace Btrs (semi ia - mostly overwhelmed)]

UPDATE:
DID I JUST SCREAM CZ I GOT THE ARC? FUCK YEAH I DID!!!

--
Update:
So um... I applied for the ARC.... I know I am reaching, and if I don't read other Brandon books before, it would be my first... but... just... the premise and conditions are so compelling!!!

--
Anticipated because:
I am freaking SAT for whatever the outcome here will be.
I was planning to start my Brandon Sanderson journey in 2026.
But then knowing he's co-writing this with a musician specialised in music and storytelling?
I'll be here, waiting....

Thank you to the gorgeous ଘRory for bringing this to my attention.

[Morwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please let's observe a moment of silence for the masterpiece that this book could have been.

This book had so much potential that it hurt bad when it started spiraling into... whatever this was.

Either Sanderson is too good to his author friends or he just doesn't care anymore, because beside building the magic system I doubt he even read the final product...

When I started this, I was sure it would end up being a 4 stars read with only a few notes about polishing/editing out some sharp edges of clunky writing, but this fell apart exponentially fast after the initial 10%.

In the beginning I was truly convinced the originality of the idea and the fact that it put together some of my favorite things, deserved some leeway and I started taking notes to make a little guide to make it easier on others, but oh boy.

This is a draft. More details to come.

Pre-read
So, I saw this pop-up on Netgalley, and I felt I would be an idiot not to apply! I'm worried by the current low ratings, but I have no regrets! Fingers crossed!

[Brian Durfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

DOPE!!

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the pre-release copy of Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson and Peter Orullian. Below is my honest review.

Meh. I hate to say that about a book with BrandoSando's name on it, but meh.

It dragged... a lot. It felt like a lot of info dumping instead of world building. And gosh, I was so sick of hearing about the life-saving power of metal music. Like other reviewers have pointed out, there was a ton of telling instead of showing, too, which also contributed to how the book felt unpolished.

All in all, I gave it 2.5 stars, and since 2 didn't seem right, because it wasn't AWFUL, just not my jam, I rounded up to 3.

[Benghis Kahn]

Orullian's writing voice here just completely turned me off -- couldn't stick with it for more than a half hour before I pulled the plug

[Gabby]

Pardon my French but wtf was this

[Books_the_Magical_Fruit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so disappointed that I didn’t love this. I always look forward to a new BrandoSando book, and I was thrilled to get an ARC from NetGalley. I had never heard of Peter Orullian but was willing to give him a chance because…Brandon.

Orullian LOVES music—everything about it, and he really taps into what it’s like to live the true musician’s life. What it’s like to write songs and jam with your friends, and be bereft at the thought of losing out on a potential big break. How the bar where the bands play almost becomes your home.

I love music, too, but I’m not a musician. I also am not usually big on urban fantasy, but again…Brandon. Unfortunately, the plot was ALL over the place. It felt like, “What character from a random time period can we throw in now!??. The story was disjointed and chaotic, and ultimately, I had to put the book down.

I’m wondering if Sanderson had the beginnings of a magic system, knew he wanted it to be set in London, and he passed it on to his friend to see what he could do with it. Actually, that’s probably exactly it. It’s just not that interesting of a story. Looking at the overall Goodreads rating, I see I’m not alone in my appraisal of the book.

Le sigh. And now we wait for another solo Sanderson work.

My thanks to NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for an eARC. I’m writing this review voluntarily.

[Aries Reads Too Much · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 53% and very upset about it.

I love urban fantasy… I love an Underworld… I love the shit out of alternate Londons… on paper, I should be dislocating my jaw and swallowing this book whole yet here I am, tapping out.

TLDR: Songs of the Dead is a little bit of an urban Darker Shades of Magic- there are alternate versions of London and only those called thanatists (Necromancers+) can travel between the worlds, and all the other Londons are populated by spirits. Our MMC Jack Solomon is a musician with a tortured past trying to make it big, when he’s murdered yet wakes back up with magic and the ability to manipulate ghosts.

Unfortunately I just really, really don’t care about the main character or his friends. I don’t particularly like them and I also don’t dislike them, they’re all simply very ‘meh’. Jack is quite milquetoast, and the assembled found family are little more than bland stereotypes. Even the villain of the story is too buttoned up and stiff to seem truly menacing and, color me old fashioned, but I like to hate my Bad Guys.

There’s plenty of ‘stuff’ happening that should keep me eagerly flipping the pages- murders, mayhem, street fights, descents into the Underworld, even a hellhound on the loose- but I’m still wildly uninterested in what happens, even dreaded picking the book up at night, and it really broke my heart.


*Thank you Saga Press for the advance review copy, all opinions are my own.

[Jules Vandemberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

The EARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I've followed this project since I discovered its existence as "death by pizza". Brandon Sanderson had the original idea and created the general outline of the worldbulding then, after different revisions by Peter Orullian, he handled the project completely. I understand why Sanderson's name is on the cover, but this is not a Sanderson book. You can find him only in the complexity of the worldbuilding, but I don't think Orullian style fits it. In fact, to describe it, he doesn't show but tells us with not very clear info dumps. Plus, I don't like how many references to music he adds in a single page. Unfortunately, it was hard to read and I DNF it.

[kylie’s been jinxed ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

˗ˏˋ 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 ˎˊ˗

ᯓ songs of the dead will be published on june 16, 2026!
⤿ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 4.5 sᴛᴀʀs!! ★★★★☆
⤿ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪs ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ: ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ ғᴀɴᴛᴀsʏ, ᴍᴜsɪᴄ, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴs!

ᯓ {🎶} premise:
⤷ London is split. Between the dead in the past and the living in the present. Some magic-wielders, like Jack Soloman, can cross between the two using magic in the form of music. However, the stratums of London’s past want a revolution against the present. Jack has been given the responsibility of stopping them before they destroy all of London’s past, present, and future.

ᯓ {🎶} all my thoughts:

I will read anything that Brandon Sanderson writes (and I’m decently close to having read everything). This is different from a lot of his other work out there. Partially because of the new coauthor: Peter Orullian - I’m not sure.

I am absolutely in love with the premise: London, music, necromancers, and magic! This just sounds like me listing things that I like. So I had very high expectations going into this one.

The writing is clean and so is the plot. I really appreciated how this one was character driven, as opposed to being driven by the politics of the world. Also, because this is set on Earth and one of the authors being a musician - we get an abundance of musical references. I was not alive during that time, so I think rock fans will enjoy that much more than me.

The urban fantasy setting is also such an intriguing concept paired with alternate reality. The crossing between life and death was such a fun reading experience. A little disorientating, but very interesting to read about.

One downfall of this book - I was a little bit unattached to our character, Jack. I didn’t dislike him, he was just the main character. I haven’t read anything from Peter Ourillian before, but I know that they are capable of creating incredible characters and I was a little disappointed in that regard.

ᯓ {🎶} overall thoughts:
⤿I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys rock music, fantasy, and necromancers! This book is absolutely going on my shelf when it gets released in June! :)

ᯓ {🎶} rating:
⤿ four stars ★★★★

ᯓ {🎶} read if you enjoyed:
⤿ a darker shade of magic (ve schwab)
⤿ warbreaker (brandon sanderson)

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Saga Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰

{🎶} preread:
i got the arccc! i’m so excited to start this one, it doesn’t matter that this is exam season - im jumping in no matter what! 😁

[Dima · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm very confused about this book.

Going in, I was expecting the sort of character development, internal consistency, rich worldbuilding, and fluid storytelling that I associate with Brandon Sanderson. As I read more about the project, however, I became increasingly sceptical - particularly when I realised that the co-author is the one expected to continue the series after this first instalment, which is the only volume Sanderson is directly involved with.

The setting is a world in which thaumatics is real, though unknown to the vast majority of people, and where the boundary between the living and the dead is permeable. Thaumatic practitioners can manipulate energies from the world of the dead, while competing factions vie for power, some seeking revenge against the living. Music (particularly metal) plays an important role in channelling and controlling these forces.

The protagonist is a semi-failed musician in his thirties. Having moved to London in the hope of joining a metal band, he instead finds himself working as a dishwasher in a small pub where metal music is a constant presence. One thing leads to another, and he is soon drawn into a struggle over a powerful thaumatic artefact, becoming a practitioner himself.

I really tried to like this book, but simply couldn't. There are so many things wrong with it that it is difficult to know where to begin.

First and foremost, the writing feels infantile and falls completely flat. It is miles away even from what I would consider the weaker end of Sanderson's catalogue. There is very little soul to it, and I found myself unable to care about anything happening on the page. Oh - and the action sequences were echoes of B-movies from the 1990s, vs anything worth spending any time on.

The characters, including the protagonist, are uninteresting, flat, and often actively unpleasant. The authors attempt to give the protagonist depth through a complicated and traumatic backstory, but the result feels transparent - more like an imitation of stronger writers than the work of authors with confidence in their own voice.

The worldbuilding itself is not bad, but it is delivered with all the subtlety of a firehose. The opening portion of the novel overwhelms the reader with information, introducing far too many concepts far too quickly and making the book unnecessarily difficult to follow.

The end result is a novel that seems desperate to be Rivers of London or Night Watch, only with metal music and death magic added to the mix. I find it very difficult to believe that Sanderson had much involvement beyond allowing his name to appear on the cover. Even that feels unfortunate; if he read the finished book, he should have known it simply was not good enough.

Either way, this is a miss. I cannot recommend it to anyone. Full disclosure - DNF @ 25%.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Patrycja]

2.5⭐️

I really don't understand this modern marketing and having a famous cowriter to idk, sell books better? Especially when the rest of the series is supposed to be written by one author only.

This was a very mediocre read, I'll write a bit more in a couple of days.

[melhara · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5

My most disappointing read of the year.

Honestly, I should have checked the State of the Sanderson Blog (Brandon Sanderson's blog posts about upcoming projects) or the Coppermind page for this book before requesting the ARC (which I was very excited for!!) because it basically confirms what I suspected while reading this book - that Sanderson had very little involvement in writing the final product of this book and getting it past the finish line.

Here's a direct quote from Sanderson's blog:

"I built the outline and the world, but as things have gotten so busy with the Cosmere—and because revisions were taking a long time—I made the tough decision to hand this project completely to Peter Orullian, the coauthor.

I did two passes on the finished novel, but I’ve realized I won’t have the time to support the rest of the series in that way."

Unfortunately, I found everything from the worldbuilding to the characters and plot to be very disappointing. The writing was also laughably bad and aside from the technical details related to the worldbuilding, the rest of this book (with respect to the emotional depth, character interactions, and action sequences) felt like I was reading a novel written by a teenaged boy who's trying hard to be "edgy".

The overly complex worldbuilding
The complex worldbuilding was definitely the work of Sanderson, but was overly complex and poorly explained via an incredible amount of info dumping (the amount of info dumping and writing style reminded my of A Deadly Education, which I also struggled with).

The music-based magic system had so much potential. I loved how it touched upon the evolution of music, which draws on inspiration from musicians past, and how music can be used as a tool to shape people's lives, change the past, and start revolutions.


I'll admit, I was hoping for more focus on the magic of music and using music as a weapon (this was not the case - instead, it seems to me that music is used to glimpse into people's pasts which I suppose is also pretty cool), but the musical magic system was overshadowed by the necromancy and various stratum of London's past (basically there's different historic levels that our characters can travel to).


^ this was kind of what I was hoping for...

I read the physical ARC which did not include a glossary but I hope the final published version includes one because there were way too many new terms and worldbuilding elements that were introduced in the span of one or two chapters. I would've really benefited from a glossary as I struggled to fully grasp and understand the magic system.

Basically, I was left confused most of the time and kept getting all the magical terminology and their functions mixed up. Not all of us are blessed with the main character's photographic memory and ability to immediately grasp and accept the complex world of thanurgy. Which leads to my next point about the characters...

Two-dimensional main character, supported by one-dimensional side characters
There wasn't a single likeable character in this book, especially since they were all flat and boring clichés. For example, our main character, Jack Solomon, is a failed musician with a tortured past. However, it all felt inauthentic and emotionless as we're only ever told about his past and love for music rather than having it shown to us. The book never allowed for moments to connect with the character emotionally. Instead, we're provided with heavy exposition and follow Jack's 5-day journey (the entire book takes place in the span of 5 days!!!) of learning everything he can about the magic system and diving head first into the stratum politics while evading a deadly wraith that's been hunting him.

The side characters were equally disappointing as none of them had any personalities aside from a favourite song (which I guess for music lovers, would be enough to describe a person). Also, am I the only one who found Jack's sidekick, Cassius Classicus, absolutely ridiculous? Cassius is a Roman centurion and a cookie-cutter loyal lapdog who is constantly trailing after Jack wherever he goes (and dressed in full regalia, mind you), who always yells his trademark "Bratros!" whenever he fights, like a silly cartoon character.


Don’t even get me started on Emmaline and the forced feelings between Jack and this potential love interest *cue eye roll*.

Excessive musical references
Readers who loved to excessive amount of 80's pop culture references found in Ready Player One will either be delighted or annoyed by the equally abundant musical references that are mentioned in every other page in Songs of the Dead (they were mostly rock music references, with some classical music references). I've kept tabs on every real-world musician, song, band, and composer mentioned - should I post an exhaustive list or create a playlist?

Much like with Ready Player One, some of the musical references were fun at first but I felt like I couldn't appreciate it fully since I wasn't familiar with half of the references. Fans of rock music (spanning from the 60s to 90s) would likely enjoy this book a lot more than I did.

tl;dr - too much exposition, messy worldbuilding, and way too many rock music references. This does not read like a Sanderson novel.

**I had received a physical ARC from the publisher for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.**

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never felt the urge to say this before but it is pretty cool to have the first review on here.

This was so good, but not in the typical Sanderson way. The magic system, thanaturgy, is very much classic Brando Sando, yet not at the same time. It feels less defined than his other magic systems, yet pulls at the familiar love I have for his systems and from the more familiar necromancy and thaumaturgy. There is a mix of music and light that makes the magic of this world work, and I love that Peter Orullian is the co-writer he brought in on the project as he is also a musician.

Orullian’s voice shines through this story in the characters and lived experiences in music, but also in the grittiness and the urban fantasy setting, versus Sanderson’s typical epic new worlds. Jack, our MC, has a lot of relatable characteristics - especially with a lot of childhood traumas that lead to many of his flaws that he has to overcome to save the wards protecting the Iron Horse and ultimately the Abyssal Steps and a song that could end the normal world as we know it.

The concept of the strata, which contain living past eras of the world, is fascinating and is an interesting way to look at a version of the afterlife for the world and its magic. I think another read through may help with understanding the magic and the strata better as I was more focused on the characters and the intriguing plot on this read through!

~I'll update if I get the time to do this before release~

4.5 stars

Thank you to @sagapressbooks for the eARC. All thoughts are my own!

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big thank you to NetGalley & Saga Press for this ARC.

Songs of the Dead is an urban fantasy based in London with a unique magic system based around music. If you love music, history and fantasy you will love how they collide in this book. However, if you do not have much musical knowledge (as I do not) it is not necessary to enjoy it.

The main character - Jack - is a metal singer with a huge heart. The action begins right away with this book and keeps going. However, you jump from task to task so quickly that the pace and change of scenery had me feeling a bit disjointed at times. It has a super unique view of the afterlife and a very creative way of world building using the strata - which contains different levels and eras of the past that the main character is able to walk through. The world building at the beginning is a bit heavy but the dump of information fits with what Jack is also going through along with you and I felt it made sense for the story.

The book felt more YA than Adult Fantasy to me during moments when the main character seemed to miss some things that seem obvious or when certain things were suddenly revealed to the reader though dialogue instead of showing it happening through the scene. That being said, I appreciated the underlying heart of this book and the message it sends about love, forgiveness, music, censorship and authoritarianism.

Includes:
Found Family
Mental Health Rep
TW: self harm

[Stacey Markle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one to review.
I was incredibly excited for this title! I mean...what an author combo powerhouse. Unfortunately most of this fell flat for me. The premise was intriguing, fantasy and music (albeit not my genre) but I recognize most of the references. The execution of that idea just didn't work. The magic system felt forced and sadly, the way the characters were written just didn't connect with me.
The absolute saving grace was the incredible voice performance by Luke Daniels. His delivery was masterful and it made me complete the entire listen. Most of this 3 star is for him (he's a 5!!)

Thank you to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio and the authors for the opportunity to listen and review this title. My thoughts are my own.

[Danielle Carley · Rating 1 out of 5]

✨ARC review✨

This gives the vibe of that gross metalhead man who spots a pretty girl wearing a band tee and demands she names 3 songs.

I had the e-arc and the alc and immersive read until swiftly DNFing at 35%

Honestly if it wasn't for the audiobook I probably would have dnf'ed a lot sooner but the narrator did such a good job that I pushed myself to give it more of a chance

All I could think when reading this was HOW is it a brandy sandy book?? One of my favourite authors?! Turns out it's because he only developed the initial outline, created the world and the magic system then handed it over to Peter Orullian. I could not cope with the constant band/song name drops, it was just grating and came across as show off?? Like oooh look at all these alt bands I know aren't I cool 👀 NO.

[Melissa Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received from Netgalley & Saga Press.

This book was a blend of music, light & magic. It follows a metal rocker in London who was shot while trying to help his mentor and came back to life with magical abilities. I appreciated how quickly I was able to dive into the world, even if I may not have understood the new terminology at times. It's explained in a way that you can continue to read without missing any pertinent information. It was a new, interesting concept - MC was fighting to protect his mentor's business and the Strata; the layers of ages of the dead underneath London. I liked the MC, Jack's, fighting spirit, and that he wanted to do things his way and not cower and take the easy route. Ultimately, the story was about being brave, fighting for what you believe is good, forgiveness, and life of your family and friends.

[Miguel Peck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

For a novel built around the power of music, Songs of the Dead commits a major cardinal sin: it generates a great deal of noise, but very little resonance.

There is perhaps no greater burden a fantasy novel can place upon itself than having Brandon Sanderson’s name on the cover. And, unfortunately, Songs of the Dead never escapes that burden.

I’m also not the biggest Sanderson fan, but having him involved did firmly set certain expectations, and one of the frustrating things is that the book is not devoid of good ideas. The concept of London’s past existing in layered strata beneath the city, populated by remnants of the dead and accessed through a music-infused magic system, is genuinely intriguing. On paper, it sounds like exactly the sort of inventive urban fantasy capable of carving out its own identity in an increasingly crowded genre. Unfortunately, good ideas are not the same thing as good execution, and Songs of the Dead spends much of its considerable page count proving that very difference.

The novel feels trapped between ambition and competence. Every major element, from the worldbuilding, the characters, the magic system, to even the mythology, contains the outline of something compelling. However, these elements rarely develop beyond that outline. For example:

- The strata themselves are fascinating in theory yet oddly shallow in practice.
- The magic is complex enough to require explanation but never quite coherent enough to inspire wonder.
- The setting is rich with possibility but strangely reluctant to explore its own most interesting ideas.

More disappointing still are the characters. Look, fantasy readers will forgive many sins in service of memorable protagonists, but Jack Solomon never truly comes alive on the page, in fact he doesn’t feel at all like a person making choices. He is instead reduced to a vehicle being moved from plot point to plot point. And the supporting cast don’t fare much better. They are functional when the story requires them to be and forgettable when it does not.

On top of all of this, we then come to how predictable this novel feels. Sanderson’s work has never relied on shocking twists alone, but there is usually an elegance to how plot threads interlock and build toward revelation. Here, narrative developments often announce themselves chapters before arriving. The story moves with the inevitability of a train following its tracks.

The collaboration itself then becomes impossible to ignore. Publicly available information suggests Sanderson provided much of the original worldbuilding and outline while Peter Orullian handled much of the drafting and character work. Reading the novel, that division becomes almost visible. The skeleton of a somewhat interesting Sanderson project remains beneath the surface, but the flesh built around it never quite convinces.

Perhaps the most telling criticism I can offer is that Songs of the Dead feels like a book perpetually introducing itself. New concepts arrive. New terminology arrives. New mysteries arrive. But the novel never seems confident enough to stop setting the table and actually serve the damned meal. By the final page, I understood the mechanics of the world far better than I understood why I should care at all about any of the people inhabiting it.

And that’s ultimately the problem. Fantasy readers will happily forgive exposition, complexity, even occasional narrative excess if they become emotionally invested. Songs of the Dead asks for all of those concessions while giving surprisingly little in return.

There is undoubtedly a stronger novel hidden somewhere inside these pages. You can glimpse it in flashes. But glimpses are not enough to argue for this to be read by anyone.

[the.bookish.designer]

Time of death: 11%

This was one of my most anticipated 2026 releases. I'm woefully behind on the Cosmere, and the idea of finally being on time for a Sanderson release felt like a milestone. Unfortunately, this one didn't work out, and I think it's important to be upfront about why.

First, some context that I think every potential reader needs going in: while Sanderson's name is front and centre, Songs of the Dead is very much Peter Orullian's book. Sanderson developed the original worldbuilding and outline years ago, but Orullian wrote this draft and will be writing the remaining two books in the trilogy solo. That's not a knock on Orullian, he's a musician as well as a novelist, and that background is clearly the heart of this project, but I think a lot of readers picking this up expecting Sanderson's voice and pacing are going to be disappointed, and that disappointment isn't really the book's fault so much as how it's being positioned.

I didn't get far enough to give a fully rounded opinion, but I want to be honest about what pushed me to DNF at 11%.

The novel is set against London's rock and metal scene, which was actually one of the things that drew me to it. Unfortunately it became the main reason I put it down. The constant musical name-dropping felt less like worldbuilding and more like someone trying very hard to prove how much they know about music. The kind of energy where you brace yourself every time someone clocks your band shirt, ready to be asked name me three Metallica songs. It got laborious fast, and the portrayal of the music scene itself leaned heavily into parody, which made it difficult to take seriously or invest in.

The London setting itself also felt strangely thin. The protagonist moves through named streets and locations with no real sense of place, for someone who's never been to London or that part of London, "I turned onto [insert street name]“ means nothing without some sense of what it looks or feels like. For a story so rooted in a specific city, I wanted to feel that city.

My biggest issue, though, was the handling of self-harm. It's referenced twice in the portion I read, once regarding the protagonist's own scarring, and once involving a minor side character, both tied directly to characters in the rock/metal/emo scene. This felt less like meaningful representation and more like an unexamined stereotype, one that risks normalising self-harm rather than treating it with the care it deserves. It felt unnecessary. Do better.

And then there's Jack himself. By 11% I already didn't like him, and the moment that sealed it was watching him manipulate one friends grief of another friend's death, someone close to them, almost a father figure, as creative fuel for a song he was struggling to finish, while actively grieving. I think I was meant to feel sympathy here. I felt the opposite.

I do think this book will find its audience, and I don't doubt Orullian's passion for the project. But I think leading with Sanderson's name sets up expectations this book isn't trying to meet, and that mismatch is going to cost it readers who might otherwise have approached it on its own terms.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Broken Binding for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Dani (Current Chapter) · Rating 2 out of 5]

(potential light spoilers in this review!)

Unfortunely this book was a huge miss for me. I was so intrigued by the premise, but it really fell flat and disappointed me.

The worldbuilding and magic system are way too convoluted. There are too many different things influencing the magic/world and the explanation for them are not well paced in the book, while also the MC figures most things out when it's convenient.

The plot is rushed, there's no time for character development besides "big trauma". The side characters are one dimensional and interchangeable. The relationship between all of them is not shown, it's just told to us and in a very surface level way.

The book feels at the same time like a middle grade ("let's save music from the big bad guy") while the MC's "big trauma" is actually intense and devastating. (I don't think it was explored as well as it should have been, maybe it will come on future books)

The good: I almost want to continue the series to see more of the strata levels (I said almost!). I loved that the levels went so far back and would have loved to see more of the world in those times.

I really struggled to finish this one, but maybe I just don't believe in the power of music and friendship, who knows.

[Jasmine]

DNFing an ARC is hard, but it’s even harder when Brandon Sanderson’s name is on it. I love everything else I’ve read by Sanderson, but this one just wasn’t it for me. I just couldn’t bring myself to care. The plot wasn’t able to hold me, and I found myself not caring about the characters or the world (and usually at least ONE will get me though to finish).

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book we follow Jack after being murdered and waking up again in a different reality. He discovers that a lot of the people he is closest to have been hiding their true identity from him. After his assassination attempt where he lost one of his friends, he has to work with the rest of them to find out where Henry is and what happened. Will he be able to find Henry?

I really love Sanderson’s writing and world building so when I first saw this on NetGalley I was super excited, especially because I thought the premise was super interesting. I did love the world building and the overall plot, however I had a lot of issues with the characters. I don’t know whether it was the writing or the characters themselves, but I was not able to connect or even care about their stories, they felt flat to me. I’m someone who loves character driven stories so this aspect really made the reading experience not super enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Fans of Percy Jackson will enjoy this book!

This story was extremely fast paced and really kept the plot moving. The authors did a good job of making the characters lovable so you could really care about what was happening to them. It also had powerful messaging about censorship and authoritarianism. For that alone, I think this is worth a read.

I was excited to receive this ARC because I loved the Mistborn trilogy so much. Unfortunately, I don’t believe I’m the intended audience for this book. After finishing the novel, I’m confused as to why this book was classified as adult fantasy. The main character makes decisions and has thought patterns that mimic those of a younger age, so his age being 37 doesn’t make sense to me. He should have been aged down to his teens because his behavior, thought processes, and journey he undertook matched a YA/middle grade classification. Additionally, there were parts of the story that felt very young.
There was an instance in which the MMC used loud music to disperse a crowd of the undead. Those types of situations really felt odd. I read Percy Jackson for the first time as an adult because so many people recommended it to me and felt similar to how I felt reading this book. I could easily see how a young teen would enjoy it but as an adult I just don’t prefer this type of story.

A surprise for me was the magic system. I was looking forward to the unique light and music based magic system and I loved the hard magic system Sanderson created in Mistborn. I’m not sure if this is a result of two authors or why this occurred but the magic system had this dissonance to it where part of it was hard magic - clearly defined and we know everything about it - and part of it was soft magic - very loosely defined and we basically know nothing. I was especially frustrated in the last 20% of the book as more and more liberties were taken with the magic as a means to solve problems when there was no precedent or explanation for why the magic would work that way, the MMC just guessed and hoped it would work and it did.

Overall, this book has very important messaging and if you enjoy reading books like Percy Jackson then you will love this book!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

[John Luke Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - Songs of the Dead has an interesting magic system with unique world-building that almost didn’t stick the landing. Let me explain. A musician, Jack Solomon, is killed, but comes back to life, finding out he has unique abilities and there is more to the world than he once knew. Light and music come together to make magic, while there’s also a new world to explore as the past lives beneath the present. He learns that he needs to help protect the present from the past. The meat of the plot starts almost immediately, but then it slows down. You think you’re going to learn how the magic system works, but instead the MC learns and you just join him along the ride of first using his new found abilities throughout the rest of the novel. It takes way too long to understand the bits of the magic system that are hard, while there’s just so much of it that’s still soft or unknown. Every situation he finds himself in has solutions you can expect him to know, but the reader doesn’t get that incite until that moment. The format reads like a Sanderson novel, but unfortunately the magic is too soft in places where it should be hard. The ending comes at you like a mild Sanderlanche, still keeping you in invested, but only grabbing your attention fully at the last 100 pages.

I think if you go into the book reading it as a Peter Orullian book, you’ll find this novel very enjoyable. However, if you expect it to pack a punch like Sanderson you’ll miss out. The themes of forgiveness and loyalty are prevalent throughout and help this book stick the landing. It has more of a slow-burn that crescendos to the finale.

Thanks Saga Press Books for the eArc in return for an honest review.