I’ve posted my Amazon review now, so count me among the faithful. It’s positive, of course.
What I missed in SotM : I was hoping for more of the Ath adepts … I guess it is best to leave people wanting more. Yes, the adepts are in there, but I kept thinking, maybe there will be more? But I understand that the Biedar are positively crucial to SotM and so they get priority. I enjoyed it every time the Biedar turned up in the book.
I wondered: when did you-know-who find himself on Dascen Elur? Was it right after his liberation, or was it one hundred fifty years later, or sometime in between?
I was pleased to see what happened to Luhaine, as I always liked that Sorcerer.
And I was delighted to see a certain ship arrive in Alestron harbor, bringing the Stormed Fortress situation full circle.
So much more but those are the things that come immediately to mind.
I’m having to re-read and re-re-read this book in order to absorb it, as SotM is so very rich when you have read the previous ten books. It does indeed hearken back to CotM in some respects, as when there is a pivotal action scene in the ruins of Ithamon, a bravura performance on many levels. But then the entire book is a bravura performance!
Thank you Janny for a fabulous final volume I am on my second read through and I love it.
Thank you I will give more feedback and a proper review once I’ve finished my read through 
Thank you, everyone who checked in here! Nice to see your responses.
Posted by Hunter in the Sundering Star topic (Feb 2007):
(The topic is closed to new replies.)
I just finished rereading the end of chapter 14 and noticed something I missed the first time through: The reason the Mistwraith was “crafted”.
It’s not stated explicitly, but I get the impression that the technology developed by Kincaid’s team may have been misused as the great weapon which became known in third age Athera as the Mistwraith. When Traithe went to close South Gate, did he recognize the technology and consider that was the only way to stop it from suffocating Athera? (At that time Sethvir didn’t have the earthlink to evaluate it from afar.) Was the F7’s knowledge of how to fight it with Light and Shadow gleaned from their experience developing the tech?
Now I have another reason to look forward to a possible short story involving Sethvir’s scar.
The release of SotM is not the end of anticipation!
Dear Janny , I have loved every book in the WoLaS series from the very beginning and Song was by far the book we needed as the ending even if we didn’t realise it immediately.
However something has been bugging me & that is the spelling of “moulten” throughout the book where I feel the spelling should be molten without the u , seeing that the context is about molten rocks or molten lava or metals. Too me the word moult brings to mind birds with moulting feathers.
I would appreciate some insite into why that spelling was chosen. It’s is the only jarring bit in an otherwise superbly written masterpiec.
Thanks you for your time
Kind regard
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, the book was set in British spelling, changed from my submission in US spelling during copy-edit, under the instruction of my London based publisher.
Hi Janny, thank you for your reply.
We use English spelling here in South Africa too & I had not come across that spelling before.
Thank you once again for your marvellous series. I look forward to reading more stories set on Athera in future - and anywhere else for that matter. I have read all your books & have loved them all.
Kind regards
Cheryl
I finished Song last night. Wonderful. I was, slightly, unsure if Janny could pull of the prestige of tying all the plot strands together without making it feel forced, but she managed all that and more, as normal turning assumptions on their heads again. Very, very, satisfying.
Now to re read the whole series and see what I missed, again!
Hellcat
Wonderful to see so many people dropping into say how amazing it is. I’d started re-reading in 2019, and paused at Fortress. It took all of June to read through from Fortress to the end of Song, but at least I arrived with many (some/most) of the details fresh in my mind. Utterly amazing conclusion to the series well worth the effort of reading. Really great to see all the loose ends tidied up, strands wrapped and fitting conclusion to everybody’s destiny.
I’d love to know more about the Seeress who seems to just appear in Initiate. How do the townsfolk adapt to the living Presence being there once more? Looking forward to reading the other short stories as and when they appear.
Mostly though, just Thanks to Janny for creating such a work of art that has inspired so much joy over the years.
Thanks everyone for checking in,
Reading Fox - if you are referring to the reference to the Reyaj Seeress, she crops up quite a few books before Initiate’s Trial…no sudden suprises. 
Things I still would like to read:
- Lysaer after he destroys the mist containing the wraith until meeting Asandir and Daliana at the end. (and then after that!)
- What happened to Kevor and Nails?
- I do think Lirenda was let off easy, but I can’t think of any rational way it could have been handled differently. But, maybe later someone exacts revenge?
- Some story about Alestron after being rebuilt and occupied by Paravians.
- Marak and Kathtairr stories.
- Any kind of historical record, similar to the Simarillion. Like how did Athera become what it is and be so much like Earth?
We finally find out the third cult of necromancy is the Mistwraith. I’ve been re-reading the series and, of course, the clues are there. The descriptions of the trapped spirits in the Waystone of the Koriathain (the second cult) are nearly identical to the descriptions of the entities in the Mistwraith. Janny’s impeccable plotting, leaving hints everywhere, strikes again. Reading the books without taking time between them makes it obvious.
David, you question 2 is already answered in the books…
for the rest - I have notes. We’ll see. Some stuff mentioned here is already in progress. I have been whipping the first chapters (already set in draft) of a brand new stand alone novel for submission. Once that’s out the door, (it is required by my option clause), then I will be making stories out of certain, select sections of the histories (past and future!) - we’ll see what clicks first. Some of these bits of the bigger tale have been in progress for years.
And now, the local library.
I find that all the Wars of LIght and Shadow books, all but the most recent one, are available to library members as e-books. Lately, the libraries seem not to want these big hardcover books taking up space on their shelves for some reason, but they will provide the e-books. So I asked after Song of the Mysteries in e-book format for the library network here. The librarian, bless her heart, did a rather deep search process. She found that the library network has acquired Song of the Mysteries in e-book format but they have yet to make it available. So, to help matters along, she helped me to place a request as a library member, for notification for when the e-book of Song of the Mysteries is finally available.
A small step, but it will help bring this book to people with library cards. Hope it works.
I wonder how the great Dragons determined that the 7 were the source of the technology that led to the destruction of worlds.
Why were the 7 selected rather than the people who adapted the technology for harm or those who actually performed the destruction.
This was answered in the books - twice at least, by my recall.
Thanks for responding.
I’ll be on the lookout for those details the next time through.
It’s going to be a different experience reading the arcs with foreknowledge of the conclusion.
I hope my aging memory doesn’t play too many tricks on me. 
I think the history of the seven is in ships of merior and in grand conspiracy-if you have an electronic copy you can just search for drake (although in a search of ships you will have to ignore black drake!)
Hi everyone,
First post here, I just wanted to pop in and say WOW about Song of the Mysteries and share a few questions/thoughts. I wrote a long commentary on the series as a whole on my own site, including talking a bit about how I ended up stopping partway through the series years ago but now finally got back on the horse, so to speak. 
Anyway, while writing my commentary, I also noted down a few things that I was wondering about!
Arithons lyranthe: At the beginning of the book, the lyranthe that Lysaer smashed is returned to Arithon. But then at the end, he’s said to be playing Halliron’s lyranthe. I tried searching to see if I could figure out when the switch happens, but I seem to be missing it. Also, was it Ciladis who repaired the lyranthe?
I spend a lot of time pondering the Black Rose prophecy. At first, it seemed like an unsolvable paradox, but then another thought came to me. When Arithon renounced his inheritance of Rathain, did that in fact mean he set himself up to being able to embrace Paravian kingship and that was what counted? And is that what the adepts meant about which faction would benefit from him abdicating his claim on Rathain?
The Mistwraith: The Mistwraith’s ability to go outside time and space, was that due to stolen Biedar knowledge? Also, despite some rereading, I haven’t quite been able to make full sense of what the hidden danger within Lysaer was. I presume he was able to deny it by burning himself out, or was it still part of the reason for why it took Arithon so long to defeat the Mistwraith?
The Black Rose prophecy states “on the day that Arithon s’Ffalenn embraces kingship.” Nowhere does it specify the kingship must be of Rathain. High King of Paravia counts in my book as kingship. I’ll have to check the timing between when the black briar takes root and Arithon abdicates from Rathain (which frees him to become Paravian king).