History WhamEpisode / Literature

** In the very next book, ''Scorpia'', we find out about the organization [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Scorpia]], the only recurring villains in the series[[note]]aside from [[spoiler:Julius Grief]][[/note]], and we also find out that [[spoiler:Alex's dad was actually a ReverseMole for [=MI6=]. Oh, and Alex gets shot.]]

* Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' has a few per book, usually towards the end (number two being the only exception).

** The TwistEnding of [[Literature/TheDarkTower the final book]] has stirred enough controversy among the fanbase for it to qualify as ItWasHisSled.

** In the very next book, ''Scorpia'', we find out about the organization [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Scorpia]], the only recurring villains in the series[[note]]aside from [[spoiler:Julius Grief]][[/note]], and we also find out that [[spoiler:Alex's dad was actually a ReverseMole for MI6. Oh, and Alex gets shot.]]

* ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'': The last four chapters of Part 3. [[spoiler:Kaladin and Elhokar meet with Aesudan, she is revealed to be fully under Odium's influence, [[EldritchAbomination the Unmade Sja-anat]] claims to not be their enemy and tries to plead with Shallan to not activate the Oathgate, claiming that Ashertmarn fled on purpose to lead them into a trap, Moash ''kills'' Elhokar after the former almost became a Radiant, Sah, Noro, and Beard are killed, Kaladin has a HeroicBSOD, Kholinar has fallen, and upon activating the Oathgate against Sja-anat's pleas, Shallan, Kaladin, Adolin, and Azure are brought to Shadesmar, where they two giant spren in the sky, Syl, Pattern, and the spren of Adolin's Shardblade, and Azure reveals she's been in Shadesmar before]].

** ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': Chapter 10 is the marriage chapter. Despite foreshadowing, it goes worse than anyone anticipated. [[spoiler: Miryem is taken away by the Staryk King. Wanda's father plans to sell her for booze and instead ends up dead, with his children fleeing town. Irina become tsarina and we learn that the tsar is host to a fire demon that wants to devour her.]]

* ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'': The last four chapters of Part 3. [[spoiler:Kaladin and Elhokar meet with Aesudan, she is revealed to be fully under Odium's influence, [[EldritchAbomination the Unmade Sja-anat]] claims to not be their enemy and tries to plead with Shallan to not activate the Oathgate, claiming that Ashertmarn fled on purpose to lead them into a trap, Moash ''kills'' Elhokar after the former almost became a Radiant, Sah, Noro, and Beard are killed, Kaladin has a HeroicBSOD, Kholinar has fallen, and upon activating the Oathgate against Sja-anat's pleas, Shallan, Kaladin, Adolin, and Azure are brought to Shadesmar, where they meet the true forms of Sja-Anat, Ashertmarn, Syl, Pattern, and the spren of Adolin's Shardblade, and Azure reveals she's been in Shadesmar before]].

** Also, the final chapter before the epilogue of the third book, ''The Hero of Ages'', where we learn that the Hero of Ages referred to ''Sazed'' all along, not Vin like we had assumed, thanks to a gambit on Preservation's part to kill Ruin and create a god with power over both Ruin and Preservation.

*** The new BigBad is revealed to be [[spoiler:Gaea, goddess of the Earth itself]].

*** Chapter 4. The ''Argo II'' has arrived at Camp Jupiter, and so far, things are going well. Annabeth and Percy are reunited, Octavian is keeping his mouth shut, and Annabeth and Rayna are getting along. Then [[spoiler:the ''Argo II'' opens fire on Camp Jupiter]].
*** The ending. The destruction of Rome has been averted, Nico is rescued, the giants holding him are dead, and the Athena Parthenos, the key to ending the rivalry between the Greek and Roman demigods, is secure aboard the ''Argo II''. [[spoiler:Then the floor crumbles, and Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus]].

* The end of ''Dead Beat'' in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. So far the series had been about a OccultDetective. There were always acknowledgements of a BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, and wizarding politics were often a problem for Harry, but for the first six and a half books of the series Harry was a detective who happened to investigate vampires in addition to mobsters and to carry a staff in addition to a revolver. Then, at the end of book seven, Harry is recruited into [[MutantDraftBoard the Wardens]] because ''over half the organization had been slaughtered by a blitzkrieg in their ongoing war with vampires''. Shortly after that, Harry deduces that his {{Monster Of The Week}}s weren't just sorcerers feuding with each other but were fighting over enough power to become {{Physical God}}s. At the end, he points out that his enemies had probably been allied to the vampires all along. Since then, the series has more been about wizarding world problems than his investigation business, even if that's how the story gets started sometimes.
** ''Turn Coat'': [[spoiler: Morgan]], a major recurring character since the first book, is KilledOffForReal. The Black Council's mole on the White Council is revealed and killed, but the newest Senior Council member is believed by Harry to potentially be another mole. In response, Harry and [=McCoy=] start putting together a Grey Council to resist both the Black Council's manipulations and the White Council's HeadInTheSandManagement. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Thomas]] is [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] to the point of crossing the DespairEventHorizon, and [[spoiler: gives up attempting to resist his vampiric nature.]]
** ''Changes''. There's a very good reason that this is the first book in the series to not have a two-word [[PunnyName Punny Title]]: the entire book, in a very big way, is basically a wham episode. [[spoiler: We find out that Harry has a daughter and that his mentor Ebenezar [=McCoy=] is his maternal grandfather. Harry's office, his car, and his apartment are all completely destroyed, along with almost all of his possessions. The White Council is on the verge of disintegrating; Ramirez and many of the younger Wardens have been imprisoned by the Council, and Luccio and a number of other older Wardens are missing. Harry accepts the position of Winter Knight, Susan dies ''at Harry's hand'', doing so in a way that takes THE ENTIRE FREAKING RED COURT with her, he finally makes a date with Murphy, and the book ends with [[CliffHanger Harry being shot in the chest and falling into a lake, his exact fate unknown]]. Then the next book got announced: ''Ghost Story'' - Harry's DEAD. Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Harry's duster gets destroyed]]]]. The whole book qualifies as a [[ClusterFBomb Cluster Wham Bomb]].
** The next book, ''Ghost Story'', goes even further. Supernatural powers are running around snatching up whatever bits are left of the [[spoiler: Red Court]]'s former power base, leading to covert wars in the streets with the White Council locked up just trying to keep order. [[spoiler: The Corpsetaker]] is back and is pissed. Bob's evil side is going completely Red Skull. Molly has gone almost completely off the deep end thanks to the trauma she took in the final battle in ''Changes'' [[spoiler: and from erasing Harry's memories]]. And Harry discovers who [[spoiler: had him killed]]: [[spoiler: He did it to himself]] and [[spoiler: had Molly erase his memories of setting it up, so she now has to live with the knowledge]]. And at the end of the book, [[spoiler: he takes up the mantle of Winter Knight willingly, but not without telling Queen Mab where she can stick it.]]
** ''Cold Days'' throws even more curve balls at the readers. [[spoiler:Demonreach is [[SealedEvilInACan a prison for dark gods]] created by Merlin. An entity called Nemesis is behind the Black Council, and can infect people's minds to twist them to its cause. Maeve has been so infected, and kills Lily before being killed as well, with Molly becoming the new Winter Lady.]]

* The eighth book in the PrettyLittleLiars series, Wanted.

* [[http://www.amazon.com/Motels-American-Retro-Alison-Moss/dp/1570715955 This]] coffee-table book about [[{{Zeerust}} Googie]] motel architecture. Beautiful pictures of stylish but fading architecture; and then you get to the chapter on [[CivilRightsMovement the Lorraine Motel in Memphis]].

* Literature/{{Dragonlance}} is nothing but a Wham series. In reciprocation. Over millennia and-one-hundred-or-so books: Sturm is Huma's carbon-copy, The draconians are hatched from the supposedly-protected eggs of the good metallic dragons, Raistlin literally is Fistandantilus, Fizban is Paladine, Berem is responsible for the entire Second Dragon War, Par-Salian's version of [[TrialByFire 'The Test']] breaks Raistlin, Steel Brightblade is the son of Sturm and Kitiara, Tasselhoff is blessed by Paladine himself... and that's about 5% of the MAIN storyline, too. Also the ''Amber and Iron'' trilogy about Mina) contains a huge wham. In a tabletop-game world carefully balanced between good and evil, the idea that there's another goddess that nobody knew about, including her, is not just unexpected, it seems downright impossible.

** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterandtheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' has a good number of them, but special mention goes to the revelation [[spoiler:of Snape's full backstory and motivation]].

* The last two chapters of ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy}'' book two. Everything that happened in the story up to this point was a Xanatos Gambit by the real, godlike Big Bad. The world is ending, everything you know is a lie, the prophecies are wrong and reality has been edited. Good luck. There are more than enough clues up to this point for the reader to figure out that things aren't quite as they seem, but nothing will prepare you for this.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', the beginning of ''Memory'', when Miles gets kicked out of [=ImpSec=] for falsifying a report.

** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:it could have been Neville that the prophecy meant instead of Harry. Yes, ''that'' Neville]].
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half-Blood Prince]]'', the huge shock that is [[spoiler:Dumbledore's death at the hands of Snape]] clearly tops them all, though [[ItWasHisSled most everyone knows this by now]], [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame even if they hadn't read the book]].