Hellbent for Books: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reading Playlist Inspired by Judas Priest

Sometimes, the music I love makes me think of the book I love. Sometimes, reading a book will trigger a memory of a favorite song. Though entirely different, the experiences become intertwined.

The song: “Electric Eye” (from Screaming for Vengeance)
Sample lyrics: “Up here in space / I’m looking down on you / My lasers trace / Everything you do / You think you’ve private lives / Think nothing of the kind / There is no true escape / I’m watching all the time”
The book: The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
Why it fits: “Electric Eye” brings to mind books and stories that feature government surveillance, including George Orwell’s 1984. However, Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem (the first book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series) takes the idea of a futuristic surveillance nightmare to another level. The story is mind-bending in scope, dealing with the consequences of humans finding evidence of hostile intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The vision of powerful aliens spying on every aspect of life on Earth via sophons (read to find out the details) makes for excellent, and chilling, science fiction.

The Song: “Traitor’s Gate” (from Firepower)
Sample lyrics: “I only wanted what was right / To bring a purpose by rebellion / The storm is soon arriving / And rain will wash away my blood / This walk of death will bring survival”
The book: Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee
Why it fits: The first time I listened to this song, it evoked Lee’s spectacular Machineries of Empire books so strongly for me, I immediately accepted it as my unofficial soundtrack for the trilogy. In the song, a traitor goes to his execution saying his death will bring about a better future. In Ninefox Gambit, there’s also a traitor, the undead general Shuos Jedao, whose mind has been artificially kept alive by the ruling interstellar regime (the hexarchate) because of his brilliance as a tactician. His consciousness downloaded into a new body, Jedao must work together with disgraced captain Kel Cheris to retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles. In the end, the actions of Jedao and Cheris end up shaking the very foundations of the hexarchate.

The Song: “Night Comes Down” (from Defenders of the Faith)
Sample lyrics: “You never understood / That I’ll wait forever / For a love that’s only good / As the light starts to dim / The fear closes in”
The book: The Mere Wife, by Maria Dahvana Headley
Why it fits: The Mere Wife is a modern retelling of Beowulf, pitting two mothers against one another in an epic showdown. It’s also a story about their sons: one boy grows up in hiding because his mother fears that the world will see him as a monster. The other grows up in the luxury of Herot Hall. Once these two boys meet, their world changes forever. There’s a lot of violence in The Mere Wife, but there is also love, and in one crucial scene, two lovers end up on a train inside a mountain. For me, this soul-shredding metal ballad is the perfect soundtrack for that moment, and for that love story, capturing its pain, longing, and heartbreak.

The song: “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” (from Screaming for Vengeance)
Sample lyrics: “If you think I’ll sit around as the world goes by / You’re thinkin’ like a fool cause it’s a case of do or die / Out there is a fortune waiting to be had / If you think I’ll let you go you’re mad”
The book: A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab
Why it fits: This, to me, is undeniably the theme song of Lila Bard, the lost orphan pirate thief of V.E. Schwab’s magical trilogy, set in the linked parallel worlds of Red London, Gray London, White London, and Black London. Lila is cunning, bold, and occasionally violent. She originally hails from the rather mundane Gray London, but ends up traveling to the magically infused Red London with Kell Maresh, the last wizard able to use magic to travel between worlds. Just like the song implies, Lila is likely to try to grab whatever the heck she wants from the world and won’t make any excuses for it.

The Song: “Halls of Valhalla” (from Redeemer of Souls)
Sample lyrics: “Fierce is the gale / On the North Sea / We drink and rejoice from the chalice / Holding the course / Through long nights and days / The ice and the hail bear no malice”
The book: The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell
Why it fits: This song is pure viking heavy metal. Just like Cornwell’s book about Uhtred and his exploits in 9th century Britain, it captures all the imagined brawn and brashness of Norse-men heading out on adventure, sailing the waves in their dragon-prowed ships, brandishing swords and axes in battle. Cornwell’s book series might be more historical fiction than speculative, but there’s enough magic and mythology in it to satisfy my spec-fic heart.

The Song: “Spectre” (from Firepower)
Sample lyrics: “A villain with no morals / Above the law and reckless / Mutating day by day / Invisible in silence / Conspiring to get power / This man will stop at nothing / To always get his way”
The book: Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler
Why it fits: “Spectre” is a song about an immoral, corrupt, power-hungry leader who preys on others. First time I heard it, it brought to mind Octavia Butler’s Parable duology, especially the first book, Parable of the Talents. In today’s world, the book feels chillingly prescient—it plays out in a dystopian future in which climate change is a reality, strife tears at the fabric of society and democracy, and a religious zealot employs the familiar slogan “make America great again” to whip his flock into a xenophobic frenzy.

The song: “Hell Patrol” (from Painkiller)
Sample lyrics: “They’re glory bound / The Hell Patrol / Brutalize you / Neutralize you / Gonna go for your throat as you choke / Then they’ll vaporize you”
The story: The Lamentation of Their Women, by Kai Ashante Wilson
Why it fits: In Wilson’s story a young black couple from the Bronx, find two diabolical (literally diabolical) weapons—a shotgun and a machète—that, with the Devil’s help, make them unstoppable in combat. Once they realize the power they wield, they head out on a blood-soaked killing spree that is so phantasmagorically and graphically over-the-top it’ll make your head spin. But while their exploits are supercharged by the Devil, they’re also fueled by their anger at the oppression and injustice black people face every day. The story has a razor-sharp edge that cuts deep. “Hell Patrol” has a similarly gleeful, hyper-violent vibe, reveling in destruction and carnage.

The song: “Starbreaker” (from Sin After Sin)
Sample lyrics: “Look out, here’s Starbreaker / Cruisin’ into town / Set his mind to stealin’ / Every little heart around”
The book: Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones
Why it fits: This one is blatantly obvious, if you’re a fan of the book or the movie (even better if you’re a fan of both). An irresistible character who comes to town, stealing hearts? That’s pretty much a spot-on description of Wizard Howl—at least in his heart-stealing days, before he runs into Sophie Hatter. And while there is no actual star in the book (Calcifer is a fire demon in Wynne’s story), if you’re like me, you probably have space in your heart for both Calcifer the fire demon and Calcifer the fallen star from Hayao Miyazaki’s anime adaptation.

The song: “Before the Dawn” (from Killing Machine)
Sample lyrics: “It’s been a lifetime since I found someone / Since I found someone who would stay / I’ve waited too long and now you’re leaving / Oh please don’t take it all away”
The book: Icefall, by Stephanie Gunn
Why it fits: In this science fiction novella, a woman called Maggie sets off to climb an impossibly high mountain, known simply as The Mountain, on the planet Icefall. Many climbers have tried reaching the summit, but no one has ever returned. While Maggie climbs, her wife Aisha waits in their spaceship, desperately hoping she’ll be the one to buck the odds. The Mountain is an entity in its own right, a place of horrors and miracles that no one can quite explain, and the mood of the story is perfectly matched by this heart-rending love song by Judas Priest—its aching sense of loss, love, and longing.

The song: “Screaming for Vengeance” (from Screaming for Vengeance)
Sample lyrics: “Table’s turned now there’s a revenge in sight / If it takes forever babe I tell ya I can wait / Send them screaming back through their hell’s own gate”
The book: Mort(e), by Robert Repino
Why it fits: Mort(e) is an audacious and gritty science fiction fable that carries some of the DNA of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, animals all over the world evolve quickly into high-functioning two-legged beings who rise up to kill their masters, and there are many creatures in this book who are screaming for vengeance. Mort(e), a house cat, is one of them. He becomes a warrior in the brutal War With No Name against the humans. But in the background lurks the another seeker of vengeance: the ant queen, leader of the Colony, a community of ants who have a vested interest in bringing down humanity. The two pronged revenge plot is a natural fit for “Screaming for Vengeance,” a song about anger and the righteous pleasure of a long-sought reckoning.

The Song: “All Guns Blazing” (from Painkiller)
Sample lyrics: “Forced into overdrive / Drawn out of anger / All talons poison dipped / Impaling spike / Heart pounding fever pitch / Blood pumping fury / Two fisted dynamo / Eager to strike”
The book: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Why it fits: Rebecca Roanhorse’s book is set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by the “Big Water” that has drowned most of the United Staes and seen Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) reborn. Gods and legendary heroes walk the land, but so do monsters—and Maggie Hoskie is a monster hunter. She has a supernatural knack for fighting with blades, guns, or any other weapons at hand, leading to some jaw-dropping fight scenes that feel tailor-made for a heavy metal soundtrack. I can’t think of a better tune for Maggie to crank up in her pickup truck than fist-pumping ode to violence “All Guns Blazing.”

The Song: “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll” (from Defenders of the Faith)
Sample lyrics: “The power-mad freaks who are / Ruling the earth / Will show how little they think you’re worth / With animal lust they’ll / Devour your life / And slice your words to bits like a knife”
The book: The Master & Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
Why it fits: Heads begin to roll right from the start in Bulgakov’s classic novel, and the death toll doesn’t stop there. The story takes place in Moscow in the 1930s, as the Devil comes to town accompanied by an entourage that includes naked women, a vampire, and a large talking black cat who drinks vodka (which all sounds very metal to me). In Moscow, we also encounter the Master, a writer who has been persecuted for writing a book about Christ; and Margarita who is in love with the Master. Margarita gets tangled up in the Devil’s plans, and when she is invited to the Devil’s ball, she takes violent revenge on the ruling bureaucrats who tormented the Master. “So,me Heads Are Gonna Roll” indeed.

The Song: “Necromancer” (from Firepower)
Sample lyrics: “Raising the dead up from the ground / Needs must be fed, sorcerers abound / Necromancer / Death’s his guiding lights / Necromancer / Stealing afterlife”
The book: Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
Why it fits: Granted, this book is not out yet, but after reading the first few chapters over at Tor.com, I am confident that Gideon the Ninth will be a perfect match for Judas Priest’s gleefully visceral tune about raising the dead and dancing on their cracked bones. [Editor’s note: I’ve read the whole thing and yes, can confirm.] The attitude of the official blurb alone is metal: “Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.” It’s also a book where someone tells Gideon: “One day your obedient bones will dust all places you disdain, and make the stones there shine with your fat.” That’s the kind of insult a heavy-metal necromancer would definitely cherish.