Song of the Mysteries by Janny Wurts: Live Reaction (Part IV)
Part IV of my live-tweeted readalong/reaction Twitter thread to the release of Song of the Mysteries by Janny Wurts.
As of 2025, I permanently moved over to Bluesky and effective from 17 January 2026, I have deleted all of my Twitter posts due to the changed terms of service.
Some of my most popular threads, such as this one, I have preserved on my website (with minor edits, for accessibility and ease of reading) for posterity.
I will be forever proud of the fact that Janny Wurts herself enjoyed my posting so much that she had this reaction:
If you missed it, you can find Part I, Part II, and Part III here.
—Delilah.
Song of the Mysteries time! Gonna have to stop after 1 chapter tonight, as I’m exhausted but I’m very excited for this next part:
![Kindle screenshot. Text reads:
Summer 5929
Should your Master of Shadows fail you, or you fail him, the outcome will call down disaster.' Sethvir, Warden of Althain -
Third Age Year 5637
[chapter header icon]
XI. Rebound](https://www.delilahwaan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/songotm_react_0070-882x1024.jpg)
Page 428 / 51%: you’d think after all these years Dakar would cease being surprised by stunts like this
Page 437 / 52%: Alright. I am ready for some HEAVY conversation to be happening!
Page 443 / 53%: oh no Elaira. I know this seems like a perfectly fine and right thing to do but you are missing information.
I dread what’s going to happen next
Page 444 / 53%: is this the second title drop?
I think it is!
Further down: 😱😱😱😱😱
Ath have mercy, it’s starting
Page 447 / 54%: it happened 😢😢😢
That’s it for the night. I’m gonna go cry now 😭
Song of the Mysteries first read time!
I wonder what heartbreak is in store for me tonight?
Page 448 / 54%: we open on a situation I’ve always wanted to see but unfortunately the narrative was never in a spot where it would feasibly happen and I’m ALL IN for this.
Page 449 / 54%:
Further down: HAH I knew that was gonna happen.
And you totally deserved that, Lysaer.
Page 450 / 54%: …you literally got explicit instructions on this, my dude.
3 paras later: ooooooooooohhhhhh is this who I think it is?!?!!?!?
Page 451 / 54%: oh my god, the nerve of him, seriously. Lysaer, you’re just asking for a smackdown.
Also, what are you gonna do if you get a “no”?
This?
Page 452 / 54%: lol Lysaer is giving off major Karen energy and it’s getting him nowhere
Ahahahhahaahahaha he actually said it OMFG and the reply is just GOLD
Even further down: OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH this is going to be really really really good.
Page 455 / 55%: oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy about high time this happened. Now let’s see what you can do!
Page 460 / 55%: this is a pretty worrying development, though I dare say a certain faction must be celebrating how much power this transfers to them
Page 464 / 56%: annnnnnnd the penny drops.
Honestly Arithon, what did you think was going to happen?
Page 469 / 56%: oh that is going to be an innnnnnteresting confrontation
Page 473 / 57%: oh no 😱😱😱😱😱 he didn’t
OH NO, Sethvir better have gotten that.
And AGH that’s the end of the chapter set
…I shouldn’t tackle another chapter set.
But I’m gonna because HOW CAN I STOP READING HERE?!
![Kindle screenshot. Text reads:
[chapter header icon]
XII. Fugue](https://www.delilahwaan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/songotm_react_0075-1024x582.jpg)
Page 480 / 57%: I’m always in awe of how tight Janny Wurts’s narratives are, even in a sprawling complex multilayered narrative such as The Wars of Light and Shadow.
Like this moment that I’m getting right now MY GOD we’re just going from main event to main event
Pages 483 / 58%: I know this is totally the opposite vibes to what is happening right now but it is also the most comparable in terms of the momentousness of the occasion
Page 484 / 58%:
Page 485 / 58%: …THAT’S the takeaway you’ve arrived at?!?!??
🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
DUDE
Page 486 / 58%:
Page 488 / 58%:
But that would be waaaaaaaaay too predictable for a Janny Wurts book.
I’m betting on the activation of certain Significant Details
Page 489 / 59%: remember this?
Page 493 / 59%: aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh this is even better!!!
Every. Single. Damned. Time,
I think I know what’s coming and no, no I don’t, and the twist is ALWAYS BETTER than what I expected.
People, if you’re not reading Janny Wurts, you’re missing out.
Page 498 / 60%: uh oh, here it comes, the secret that’s been buried deep for centuries
Page 501 / 60%: sorry Arithon, it was never gonna be that easy
Page 502 / 60%:
Page 503 / 60%: AWWWWWW HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL YEEEESSSSSSSS THIS IS HOW YOU DO MISDIRECTION
Page 504 / 61%: how does this book —which thus far has been one of the most epic books I’ve ever read —just keep on getting even more epic?
Page 509 / 61%: oh my god there’s no way to get off this ride and I don’t even want to
Page 511 / 61%: 👀👀👀👀👀 this is so incredibly extra
Page 515 / 61%: Reason 62 why I love Janny Wurts’s books: she never allows the same ploy to let her characters take the easy way out.
This is heartrendingly glorious
Paste 524 / 63%: 😭😭😭😭😭 I don’t want to stop reading but I must otherwise I’m going to be a complete wreck tomorrow
Who else knows exactly where I’m up to and exactly how hard it is to stop reading right now? We need a support group
Not me looking at the chapter titles for the chapter sets ahead, guessing at what’s coming:
…fuck it, I’m gonna; I’m gonna do one more. Tomorrow is supposed to be my admin day anyway, without writing on deck. I can do admin while sleep deprived, I can!
![Kindle screenshot. Text reads: Late Summer 5929 [chapter header icon] XIII. Concerto](https://www.delilahwaan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/songotm_react_0078-1024x863.jpg)
Page 543 / 65%: this is, bar none, the best execution of this concept in existence.
Page 544 / 66%: and that is the best damned consequence to come from the use of that stratagem
Page 559 / 67%: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIT YOU GUYS ARE NOT READY FOR THIS
I AM READING THIS RIGHT NOW AND I AM NOT READY FOR THIS
OH MY GOD
Page 560 / 68%:
Page 561 / 68%: ahahahahahahahahaha Lirenda, this is not gonna go like you think it will.
Page 571 / 69%:
Page 575 / 69%: I am spent
Right, okay, I really am stopping here for the night, because I know if I don’t, I’m gonna binge this until the end.
It’s 1:30 am on Saturday, so after my admin gets done in about 6 hrs and everybody is served with pancakes, I will be able to devour the end to this glorious saga
Saturday pancakes are all done! I have the house to myself. It’s time for SONG OF THE MYSTERIES!
We are gonna see how far we can get today.
Page 581 / 70%: Anticipat—
Page 583 / 70%:
Page 585 / 70%: The very definition of wilfully blind, imo. This is what happens when you live in an echo chamber.
Page 587 / 71%: I am legit surprised that no one has figured it out yet.
Page 588 / 71%: This is so illuminating. Because it’s not even remotely true and he can’t see it.
Page 588 / 71%: I just hope it’s not too late.
Page 596 / 72%: Me waiting for Tarens to get his moment.
Page 597 / 72%: Is this it??? Is it imminent???
Page 598 / 72% AGGGGGHHHHHHHH 😭
But I mean, it was never gonna be that easy, I don’t even know why I wanted to hope.
That said, as soon as it happened, the second thought that went through my brain is
And HELL YEAH, I am down for this.
Page 601 / 72%:
Further down: OH HO! Clever, verrrrrrrrry clever!
Page 604 / 73%:
Page 609 / 73%: Oh NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE
Page 614 / 74%: This, but like in 13 dimensions.
Page 623 / 75%: Holy hell. I was expecting it and yet I’m still shook.
Further down: GUH
AGH I HAVE TO PAUSE FOR LUNCH
I feel confident Arithon would not have paused for lunch, despite being human.
Anyway, I’m back and it’s ONWARDS:
Page 645 / 78%:
Page 646 / 78%:
Page 654 / 79%: oh my god I can’t look
Page 656 / 79%:
WOLAS readers, everywhere: Nooooooooooooo!
Janny Wurts:
Page 661 / 80%: Oh this is bad. Bad. Extremely bad.
Page 665 / 80%: Awwww hell. There are no words to express how bad this is.
Page 666 / 80%: I think this probably sums up the situation best.
Page 688 / 83%: 💀💀💀💀💀
Talk about dark night of the soul.
Page 698 / 84%: Oh look, there goes my heart:
Further down: ‼️
Ooooohhhhhh woooooaaaahhhhhhhh is this going to—
…maybe I’m wrong??? But what if I’m right?
Page 703 / 85%: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
704 / 85%: how the hell am I meant to go on after that?!
Page 710 / 86%:
Page 711 / 86%:
Page 715 / 86%: Amen.
Page 728 / 88%: Agh, Dakar, no!
Page 729 / 88%: OH THANK GOODNESS
Page 734 / 89%: I feel rather accused 😅
Page 739 / 89%:
Page 746 / 90%: Awww, Dakar
Page 752 / 91%:
Page 763 / 92%:
It’s not over until it’s over right????????
Page 768 / 93%: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I THINK I KNOW I THINK I KNOW OH MY GOD THIS BETTER BE IT
Page 772 / 93%: Not what I thought but pretty damned close and HELL YES I’ll take it!
Page 776 / 94%:
Page 778 / 94%: Okay this is bloody perfect
I’m done.
I have no coherent thoughts; only awe.
Bravissima Janny Wurts. Thank you for this gift. We are so blessed to have your stories.
And now, having slept on it, here’s my woefully inadequate attempt at summing up my experience in a review:
Song of the Mysteries by Janny Wurts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2024 is a year of highly anticipated reads for me, with three authors who have deeply influenced my work putting out new releases: Seth Dickinson with Exordia, Janny Wurts with Song of the Mysteries, and Brandon Sanderson with Wind and Truth.
Exordia blew my mind with its brilliance, because that’s just what Seth Dickinson does. But Song of the Mysteries is incomparable. And while I’m sure Wind and Truth is going to be a very satisfying conclusion to the first arc of the Stormlight Archive, I already know nothing else I read this year is going to measure up to what I just read.
TL;DR: Book good. Read book.
Or if you’re not ready to commit to an 11-book series, read some other books by Janny Wurts. She’s got loads of them and every single one bears the same hallmark.
Delilah Waan thinks that any avid reader of epic fantasy who hasn’t read anything by Janny Wurts is missing out.
Follow @delilahwaan.bsky.social for more of her thoughts on books and publishing.