History WhamEpisode / Literature

* In its first edition print run, ''[[Literature/TheGenesisOfShannara Armageddon's Children]]'' was not given its series title, "The Genesis of Shannara." Because of this, the book appears only to be a sequel to the ''Literature/TheWordAndTheVoid'' trilogy until about halfway in. It is only with the sudden introduction of the elves of Cintra and namedrops for the Elcrys and the capital-D Demons of the ''{{Literature/Shannara}}'' series that the CanonWelding truly begins and the book reveals itself as a Shannara prequel.

* The plot of ''Literature.{[Metaltown}}'' changes irrevocably when [[spoiler:Ty loses her eye on a job and is subsequently fired]], leading to uprisings, questioned loyalties, and big revelations.

* Literature/TheHungerGames practically runs on this, having every other chapter be of this variety.

* ''LightNovel/TokyoRavens'': The end of Volume 8 has the [[HeroicSacrifice death of Natsume]].

** Cranked UpToEleven in 12 with The Prophet getting executed by Faile ''in the prologue''; Verin's true allegiance; Egwene fending off a huge Seanchan attack on the White Tower, executing nearly the entire Black Ajah in a single day and FINALLY becoming Amyrlin of a united Aes Sedai; Rand killing both Semirhage and Graendal, starting to use the True Power and destroying the Choedan Kal. Robert Jordan was quite good at these.

* ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Both “Vector Prime”, the very first book, and “Star By Star”, with the deaths of Chewbacca and Anakin Solo respectively. Both big status quo shake ups showing that this series is dark and AnyoneCanDie

** The series' first major revelation is in #5, ''The Predator'', where it turns out that Marco's mother is alive as Visser One's host, finally giving him a reason to fight.

* ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' The scene [[spoiler:the graveyard where Voldemort is able to return to a more or less proper body and [[SacrificialLion Cedric Diggory]] is killed]]. If you had to pick a single book from the series as the Wham Episode, it would be this one, as kicks off the DarkerAndEdgier vibe for the rest of the series.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Book 23, ''The Pretender'': Tobias learns that Prince Elfangor, the Andalite which gives the five humans their ability to morph, was his father. [[TimeyWimeyBall Sort of]]. All the more gut-wrenching because the entire plot of the book was, up that point, about him possibly finding a home and discovering it was a just a ploy by Visser Three to see if he knew anything. Guess which character is TheWoobie in the series?
** Also, book #49, in which the Yeerks (finally) figure out that the Animorphs are human. Cue the eponymous heroes going "OhCrap." And [[spoiler: Tobias' mom is alive, living only a few blocks away, is blind, and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia has lost all of her memories from before he was born]].]]

** #5, too. Sorry Marco, you're gonna need to kill your mama, at least twice.

* “Sacrifice” in the ‘’Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' book series. The characters don’t discover Jacen is Sith for another book or two, but the audience definitely knows he’s seriously dark when he kills Luke’s wife Mara.

* ''Literature/TheNewJediOrder'': Both “Vector Prime”, the very first book, and “Star By Star”, with the deaths of Chewbacca and Anakin Solo respectively.

* Much of [[Literature/RavenorVsEisenhorn Pariah]]. Among other things:

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* The ending of the ninth book of the Literature/BetsyTheVampireQueen series, ''Undead and Unfinished'', contains a wham that dramatically changes the tone of the series to DarkerAndEdgier.
* Literature/TheBrightestShadow: A regular occurrence at the end of each part of the book, notably:

* 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 '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.

* The Third Oath, from Literature/TheZombieKnight is by far the darkest section of the story (so far). In one day, most of Hector's friends are murdered and have their souls eaten, and the few that survive blame him.
* Micheal Grant's ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series has this at the end of ''Fear'', where the ending is that the FAYZ wall is transparent.
** ''Plague'' would be a straighter example what with Diana, Albert and Quinn changing sides, Little Pete "dying", Astrid leaving Sam and Caine taking over Perdido Beach.

* [[ItWasHisSled Even if you know the ending]] to ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', you ''will'' shit yourself reading the penultimate chapter.
* ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'': "Arabella", the final chapter of part two.
* Much of [[Literature/RavenorVsEisenhorn Pariah]]. Among other things:
** The revelation of [[spoiler:further members of the Glaw family]], working for the Emperor's Children to boot
** Sister Bismillah revealing that she is actually [[spoiler:[[AcePilot Medea]] [[Literature/{{Eisenhorn}} Bentacore]], observing Alizebeth undercover for her boss]].
** The revelation that Beta is [[spoiler:likely a clone of the original Alizebeth Bequin]].
** The best one yet:
-->'''Deathrow:''' [[spoiler:I am Alpharius.]]
* The ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]]'' manages to pull this off in several installments, most notably the endings of books:
** 2: Rand revealing himself as the Dragon Reborn by fighting in the sky with Ba'alzamon.
** 3: The claiming of Callandor and Rand actually declaring himself the Dragon Reborn.
** 6: The battle at Dumai's Wells and the aftermath where the Aes Sedai swear fealty to Rand.
** And especially 9: the cleansing of the taint from saidin.
** Cranked UpToEleven in 12 with The Prophet getting executed by Faile ''in the prologue''; Verin's true allegiance; Egwene fending off a huge Seanchan attack on the White Tower, executing nearly the entire Black Ajah in a single day and FINALLY becoming Amyrlin of a united Aes Sedai; Rand killing both Semirhage and Graendal, starting to use the True Power and destroying the Choedan Kal. Robert Jordan was quite good at these.
*** Note that the events of book 12 were technically written (mostly) by Creator/BrandonSanderson, though ''planned'' by the original author. Also, [=WHAM=] moments like these have become increasingly common since book 10 or so, as part of an earnest effort to prune the KudzuPlot that's been building throughout the series.
** And the Whams continue in book 13: Mat killing the ''gholam''; Rand's incredible destruction of the hundreds of thousands of Shadowspawn attacking Maradon; Perrin stopping ''balefire'' with his wolfdream skills, and forging his new hammer; Egwene breaking [[spoiler:Mesaana]]'s mind; [[BadFuture the future of the Aiel]]; the [[AndIMustScream 13 x 13 trick]] being used at the Black Tower; the rescue of Moiraine, particularly with Mat's ''ashandarei'' [[spoiler:being the key out of the realm of the Finn]]; and especially the epilogue which reveals in rapid succession a new horrific form of Darkfriend, a huge army of Shadowspawn attacking Caemlyn, and Lanfear once more toying with Rand's mind.
* ''A Storm of Swords'', the third book of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', ends with many devastating events, including deaths of many major characters, with the revelation that [[spoiler: a supposedly minor and rather [[AffablyEvil affable]] villain was actually behind everything, and the [[CameBackWrong resurrection of a character]] who had been killed earlier in the same book.]] This was originally meant to set up for a five-year timeskip. When the author couldn't get it to work, the rewriting of the plot ironically caused a five-year ''delay'' for the next book.
** The first book's ending arguably contained even more WHAM, what with the grand execution and all...
** And, things on the Wall and the North are starting to bed down so people can aim themselves at the real threat now that concessions hav-- WHAM. ...O~K... What were we thinking? Um. They're scuppered. Worse than before Stannis, right?
** The Red Wedding was an event of massive consequences, not only for devastated/furious readers everywhere, but also in universe: diplomatic relations will never be the same between houses, once that one of the most sacred rules, guest right, was desecrated.
* ''Uncovered'', the fourth book in the ''Literature/OutOfPosition'' series, has ''several'' WHAM episodes. The most shocking ones are Chapter 10 where [[spoiler:Dev confesses he knows about Lee's court cases, which leads to an argument and Lee leaving him]] and Chapter 29 where [[spoiler:another football player comes out on live TV right after the championship game ends]].
* ''[[Literature/HisDarkMaterials Northern Lights]]'' ends with Lyra's realization that she had traveled so far, and gone through everything, just to ultimately give her father Roger as a human sacrifice. Lord Asriel kills him to rip open the boundaries of their world, revealing that the carefully crafted fantasy world that the book has been entirely set in up to that point is actually one of many -- and that our world is also one of them. Then he declares war on God.
** The even bigger Wham in this event was when Asriel and Coulter, supposedly deadly enemies, run to each other and have a ''lovers' embrace'', less than a minute after Roger's death. Their previous behavior throughout the entire book was suddenly cast in a very different light.
* ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' The scene [[spoiler:the graveyard where Voldemort is able to return to a more or less proper body and [[SacrificialLion Cedric Diggory]] is killed]]. If you had to pick a single book from the series as the Wham Episode, it would be this one, as kicks off the DarkerAndEdgier vibe for the rest of the series.

* While the other novels work well with plot twists, the last quarter of the fourth ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' novel, ''Empire Of Ivory'', is probably the most staggering example. It sees the destruction of every English port in southern Africa by an army of dragon-riding tribesmen; a plan to effectively commit genocide upon the other dragons of Europe by sneaking an ill dragon into Napoleon's air corps, which would spread the plague that nearly wiped out England's dragons throughout the entire Eastern Hemisphere, but also would surely provoke a bloody invasion attempt by Napoleon; and Laurence and Temeraire committing treason to deliver the antidotal mushrooms to the French forces before it's too late. The end has Laurence and Temeraire returning to England, to what will surely be Laurence's court martial and hanging.
* 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 '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/StarTrekDestiny,'' in which the Borg launch an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant, destroying several dozen worlds and annihilating forty percent of Starfleet, before every single drone is liberated all at once, wiping out the collective once and for all.
* ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' takes a hard left turn when William raids Kingsbridge, nearly burns it to the ground and kills dozens, including the book's main character.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber''. That series has one every few pages... "Wow! Everything I knew was wrong! Again!" indeed.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Book 23, ''The Pretender'': Tobias learns that Prince Elfangor, the Andalite which gives the five humans their ability to morph, was his father. [[TimeyWimeyBall Sort of]]. All the more gut-wrenching because the entire plot of the book was, up that point, about him possibly finding a home and discovering it was a just a ploy by Visser Three to see if he knew anything. Guess which character is TheWoobie in the series?
** Also, book #49, in which the Yeerks (finally) figure out that the Animorphs are human. Cue the eponymous heroes going "OhCrap." And [[spoiler: Tobias' mom is alive, living only a few blocks away, is blind, and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia has lost all of her memories from before he was born]].]]
** The next book has an even bigger one: Cassie prevents Jake from killing Tom, allowing the latter to escape with the morphing cube.
** #5, too. Sorry Marco, you're gonna need to kill your mama, at least twice.
* 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.
** Also, the final chapter before the epilogue of the third book, ''The Hero of Ages'', where we learn that [[spoiler: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.]]
* Right smack dab in the middle of ''The Accidental Mage,'' when Gerald nearly gets his soul ripped out of him by Lional. I mean honestly, we knew Lionel was up to something, but this!?
* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', the beginning of ''Literature/{{Memory}}'', when Miles gets kicked out of [=ImpSec=] for falsifying a report to hide the fact that he'd developed a medical condition that could (and already had) compromise his effectiveness in the field.
* The end of ''The Fire Dragon'', the 11th book in the ''{{Literature/Deverry}}'' series. Rhodry being transformed into a dragon is a complete surprise, given how difficult ShapeShifting has been shown to be.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** The end of ''Literature/DeadBeat'' marks the point where the series transitions from being about Harry being a detective who often got caught up in supernatural politics to mostly being focused on said supernatural politics. Harry is drafted into [[MutantDraftBoard the Wardens]] because ''over half the organization had been slaughtered by a blitzkrieg in their ongoing war with vampires''. Harry comes to the conclusion that the sorcerers feuding with each other were probably working with the vampires all along, and in the following book concludes that all of the series {{Monster Of The Week}}s were most likely coordinated as well by a group he dubs the Black Council. Since then, the series has more been about wizarding world problems than his investigation business, although many books do still start that way.
** ''Literature/TurnCoat'': [[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 get around 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.]]
** ''Literature/{{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 book is by far the biggest wham episode in the series that destroys almost the entire status quo. [[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, ''Literature/GhostStory'', is mostly about all the aftermath of the previous books fallout, both on a grand scale and for Harry's friends and allies. 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 get his body back and is set to continue being the Winter Knight, but not without telling Queen Mab where she can stick it.]]
** ''Literature/ColdDays'' 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 (which is getting the Outsiders through to destroy all reality). Maeve has been so infected, and kills Lily before being killed as well, with Molly becoming the new Winter Lady.]]
** ''Literature/PeaceTalks'', as the first part of a plot that got so long it was [[MultiPartEpisode split in half]], is full of twists: Thomas is arrested for trying to kill King Etri, and in the process of trying to save him Harry [[spoiler: potentially gets himself kicked out of the White Council, gets into a fight with Ebenezer that not only ruins their relationship but results in [[InternalReveal Ebenezer finding out Thomas is Harry's brother]], and in the end Harry has to [[SealedGoodInACan seal Thomas in Demonreach]] to save his life]]. Meanwhile, Ethniu the Last Titan is revealed to be TheManBehindTheMan to the Fomor, and [[spoiler: after [[TheWorfEffect smacking down Mab]] and [[BigBlackout blacking out Chicago]] as a show of force, announces her intention to raze Chicago in the opening move of a war against all of mankind]]. The book then ends with a cliffhanger which suggests that the series is [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore heading towards]] a BrokenMasquerade scenario.
** ''Literature/{{Battle Ground|2020}}'': While ''Changes'' set the standard very high, this book is jammed full of whams in it's own right. [[spoiler: Yoshimo and Wild Bill are killed by the Black Court and their bodies taken, Drakul finally makes an appearance and sends Chandler to an UncertainDoom. Murphy is accidentally shot by Rudolph and dies in Harry's arms. Marcone is revealed to have been in possession of [[FallenAngel Thorned Namshiel's]] coin and power since ''Literature/SmallFavor''. Thomas' actions in the previous book are revealed to be because Justine is possessed by Nemesis, which is properly named as He Who Walks Beside. Harry is kicked off the White Council under a suspended death sentence, and then Mab sets up an ArrangedMarriage for him with Lara.]] And on top of all that, while globally TheMasquerade is more or less in place, the people of Chicago now know the truth and the federal government is sending [[TheMenInBlack agents]] to investigate closely. But on the [[BittersweetEnding bright side]], Harry is able to blackmail Marcone into giving him ownership of the castle built over the remains of his old house, so thats nice.

** Also, we find out that Darren's faithful Little Person companion, Harkat Mulds, was, in his previous life [[spoiler: Kurda Smahlt - a vampire traitor.]]

* The ending of Creator/TomClancy's ''[[Literature/JackRyan Debt of Honor]]'': After being confirmed as Vice-President, following his predecessor being forced to resign by a sex scandal, Jack Ryan narrowly escapes a terrorist attack that kills that kills almost every major politician in the U.S. Capitol building (including the President, most of Congress, most of the Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and every Supreme Court Justice). Ryan is then immediately sworn in as President moments later by a federal judge not present at the Capitol Building.
* The eighth book in the ''Literature/PrettyLittleLiars'' series, ''Wanted''.
* The ending of the ninth book of the Literature/BetsyTheVampireQueen series, ''Undead and Unfinished'', contains a wham that dramatically changes the tone of the series to DarkerAndEdgier.
* ''Literature/CodexAlera'' has ''Princeps' Fury'': [[spoiler: Canea is overrun by the Vord, and so is half of Alera. Gaius Sextus obliterates Alera Imperia when the Vord overrun it, and dies in the process.]]

* ''[[Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer]]'' contains TheReveal that [[spoiler: Skulduggery was ''Lord Vile'']].
** The eighth book, ''Last Stand of Dead Men'' is this. That's right, the entire book. but Chapter 51 in particular. that one hurts every time.
* "Literature/InvisibleMonsters" has a few of these, such as the true identity of Brandy Alexander being [[spoiler: the main character's brother]] and who shot the main character - [[spoiler: she shot herself.]]
* For ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'', the biggest one is probably at the end of book four, ''The Guns of Tanith''. Creator/DanAbnett says that to this day he ''still'' gets mail about it. It is, in his words, where "you learn to say goodbye", representing the series passing into the realm of AnyoneCanDie, and is in fact the source of the page quote for that trope.
* Special props go to Kathy Tyers' ''[[Literature/FirebirdTrilogy Daystar]]''. The fact that it is about Jesus in an alternate 'verse means it is chock full of {{Foregone Conclusion}}s, and yet it still pulls off a major wham ending: [[spoiler:Everyone has had a chance to hear the Word and to choose their side, so the cosmos is renewed then and there]].
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'':
** ''The Titan's Curse'', chapter 13. Bianca di Angelo dies, making her the first hero to die onscreen. This is to show that, yes, demigods are not and have never been safe.
** ''The Battle of the Labyrinth''. Luke becomes Kronos' host, casting doubt whether he can be redeemed. The next book says yes, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath but at a tragic price]].
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'':
** ''The Lost Hero''
*** It turns out that Camp Half-Blood is not the only demigod camp in the world. There is also Camp Jupiter, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it is where Jason came from. What's more, they are the home of the ''Roman'' demigods.
*** The new BigBad is revealed to be Gaea, the personification of the Earth itself.
** ''The Mark Of Athena'':
*** 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 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''. Then the floor crumbles, and Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus.
** ''The House of Hades''. Nico [[ComingOutStory comes out of the closet]] and confesses that he once had a crush on Percy.
* ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'':
** ''The Hidden Oracle''. The Triumvirate is led by a trio of immortal Roman emperors. In fact, one of them is [[TheCaligula Caligula]] himself.
** ''The Burning Maze''. Jason Grace dies. [[KilledOffForReal FOR REAL]]. For those who cannot fathom the shock it does to the fandom, he is not only a main character, but also a narrator in three books of the Riordanverse. Usually, they are expected to have PlotArmor.
* ''Cry, the Beloved Country'', at the end of the second book. Absalom Kumalo is sentenced to death and Gertrude Kumalo is nowhere to be found. The revelation of the murder Absalom committed was a WHAM in itself.
* Tons of these moments in ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight''. For starters, [[spoiler: Neferet]] is portrayed as quite likeable with nothing suspicious hinted about her in ''Marked''. In ''Betrayed,'' she's revealed to be the BigBad. For the rest of the series to come. ''Wham.''
* Some of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' books end on a pretty shocking note:
** First, we have ''Eagle Strike'', in which we find out that [[spoiler:Yassen knew Alex's father and worked together with him as a professional assassin]].
** 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 [[TheMole mole]] for [=MI6=]. Oh, and Alex gets shot.]]
** At the end of ''Snakehead'', not only is it revealed that [[spoiler:Ash, Alex's godfather, was EvilAllAlong]], but immediately after that, we find out that [[spoiler:''he killed Alex's parents'']].
** The biggest WHAM in the series by far is [[spoiler:Jack's death towards the end of ''Scorpia Rising'', which Alex was ForcedToWatch by [[BigBad Razim]] and [[TheDragon Julius Grief]]]].
* ''LightNovel/TokyoRavens'': The end of Volume 8 has the [[HeroicSacrifice death of Natsume]].
* The Literature/AgentPendergast series has some major whams during the first and second books of the Helen Trilogy.
** ''Literature/FeverDream'': Through the first half of the novel, Pendergast and his friend Lt. D'Agosta have been investigating the events that lead to the murder of Pendergast's wife, Helen. Pendergast informs his brother-in-law Judson Esterhazy, and Judson goes on what appears RoaringRampageOfRevenge killing anyone who could have contributed to her death. [[spoiler: Then at one point Judson attempts to shoot and kill Pendergast, revealing his agenda is far darker than initially believed. D'Agosta winds up getting shot through the heart and nearly killed.]]
** ''Literature/ColdVengeance'': The very last chapter. [[spoiler: Pendergast is reunited with the still-alive Helen. Members of the Neo-Nazi society the Covenant track them down. Judson is killed in the crossfire, Helen is kidnapped by them, and Pendergast and his butler Proctor are both shot.]]
* ''Literature/The39Clues'':
** From the original series:
*** ''In Too Deep'': [[spoiler:[[SacrificialLion Irina]]'s shocking [[CerebusSyndrome death]].]]
*** ''The Viper's Nest'': [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror Amy and Dan are Madrigals]].]]
*** ''Storm Warning'': [[spoiler:Nellie is actually working for Grace and the Madrigals. Then the ending reveals that [[GoodAllAlong the Madrigals are actually trying to bring the Cahills back together]], and that the Man in Black/Gray is Fiske Cahill, [[LukeIAmYourFather Grace's brother]].]]
*** ''Into the Gauntlet'': The main plot is resolved with [[spoiler:the Cahills all working together to stop Isabel, then all giving their clues to Dan and Amy]]. But then we get a SequelHook: [[spoiler:there's ''another'' important player, an evil organization called the Vespers]].
** The second series, ''Cahills vs. Vespers'', gets several:
*** ''A King's Ransom'': [[spoiler: William [=McIntyre=] dies, starting the AnyoneCanDie atmosphere. The Guardians are revealed, and Atticus is one. Then Atticus is kidnapped, and Dan gets a text from [[BackFromTheDead AJT]].]]
*** ''Shatterproof'': [[spoiler: Erasmus follows Amato to the Vesper base, but she manages to kill him. Then Jonah and Hamilton show up, and Jonah shoots Amato.]] Furthermore, another big reveal happens in the online game, or the beginning of ''Trust No One'' for those who don't play it: [[TheMole Vesper Three]] is [[spoiler:Sinead Starling]].
*** ''Trust No One'': After the aformentioned reveal, [[spoiler:Isabel]] comes back. Then V1 says they're done with giving him stuff, after one more: [[spoiler:the Cahill Ring.]] Then we find out what the Vespers are using all of this stuff for: [[spoiler:They're building a DoomsdayDevice.]] Finally, in order to combat them, [[spoiler:Dan drinks the Serum.]]
* Around Chapter 17 of ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'', when [[spoiler:Thomas jumps into the Maze with Alby and Minho. Alby has been stung by a Griever, and the doors to the Glade shut behind them, trapping the three boys for the night. The previous chapters weren't exactly pretty, but things get BAD at this point.]]
* Literature/TheHungerGames practically runs on this, having every other chapter be of this variety.

* The epilogue to the first book of ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords''. First of all, it features the Grey Angels as something that's actually ''real'' and already operating in the world[[note]]previously, the story suggested that they were little more than a myth[[/note]], and their conversation not only spells doom for Providence, but also suggests that the alternative is much, much ''worse'', not to mention it introduces a whole new dimension to the entire conflict.
* ''Literature/EverythingEverything'': The chapter "For Your Eyes Only" completely turns the story on its head. [[spoiler:Madeline receives an email from a doctor she briefly met, who ran some tests on her... and the results say that Madeline doesn't really have SCID.]]
* ''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 latter 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 see 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.]]
* In its first edition print run, ''[[Literature/TheGenesisOfShannara Armageddon's Children]]'' was not given its series title, "The Genesis of Shannara." Because of this, the book appears only to be a sequel to the ''Literature/TheWordAndTheVoid'' trilogy until about halfway in. It is only with the sudden introduction of the elves of Cintra and namedrops for the Elcrys and the capital-D Demons of the ''{{Literature/Shannara}}'' series that the CanonWelding truly begins and the book reveals itself as a Shannara prequel.
* The first three-quarters of ''The Watsons Go to Birmingham'' is a lighthearted comedy about a quirky black family with two sons who have an overabundance of mischief and imagination. Then the real-life 1963 church bombings in Birmingham happen, causing the youngest son to have a HeroicBSOD and spend several weeks hiding behind the sofa due to his inability to fully process what he had witnessed at the church.
* In ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'', Caeden has a major one at the end of both Book 1 and Book 2. In the first he [[spoiler: finds out that he is Aarkein Devaed, ostensibly the series BigBad]], in the second he [[spoiler: find out that he is destined to kill his good friend Davian]]. They both nearly break him.
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has several.
** The events of arc 8 [[spoiler:particularly Leviathan's devastation of Brockton Bay,]] completely rewrite the status quo for the next fourteen or so arcs.
** 22.6 ends with [[spoiler: Taylor joining the Wards, leaving Brockton Bay and the Undersiders behind.]]
** Interlude 26 reveals that [[spoiler:Scion, the most powerful parahuman in the setting, is actually [[HumanoidAbomination the avatar of an alien entity]]. And after listening to a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech from Jack Slash, he pulls a FaceHeelTurn and obliterates Great Britain. And concludes that he ''[[EvilFeelsGood likes the feeling]]''.]]

* ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' The scene [[spoiler:the graveyard where Voldemort is able to return to a more or less proper body and [[SacrificialLion Cedric Diggory]] is killed]]. If you had to pick a single book as the Wham Episode, it would be this one, as kicks off the DarkerAndEdgier vibe for the rest of the series.

* Creator/JKRowling has at least one Wham Chapter per ''Literature/HarryPotter'' book.
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone]]'' The final chapter reveals that [[spoiler:Snape was a red herring (and was actually trying to help Harry), the largely ignored Professor Quirrell was the one trying to kill him. Plus the reveal that Voldemort is still active when he's assumed dead and gone, and he's in the form of ''Voldemort's face coming out of the back of Quirrells head!'']]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' is a bit lighter, as most of the major events reset to the status quo or don't effect later books. There is still the reveal that [[spoiler:Tom Riddle, who we thought was the hero of the last incident, is behind everything, and it also a young ''Lord Voldemort.'']]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:Sirius was innocent while Peter Pettigrew, alias Wormtail/Scabbers, is both alive and guilty of the crimes Sirius was accused of. Oh, and Professor Lupin is a werewolf, although that's more minor in the grand scheme of things.]]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' The scene [[spoiler:the graveyard where Voldemort is able to return to a more or less proper body and [[SacrificialLion Cedric Diggory]] is killed]]. If you had to pick a single book as the Wham Episode, it would be this one, as kicks off the DarkerAndEdgier vibe for the rest of the series.
*** Quite frankly, the fans agree on [[WhamLine one single line]] that officially marked the transition from light and cheerful to dark and and edgy.
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' when [[spoiler:Sirius dies]].
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half-Blood Prince]]'', [[spoiler:Dumbledore's death at the hands of Snape]] is probably the single most shocking events in the books.
** ''[[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]].

** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone]]'' starts a series of wham endings right off the bat with the final chapter revealing that [[spoiler:Snape was a red herring; he wasn't trying to kill Harry, he was trying to save his life. Instead, Professor Quirrell, the supposed cowardly sad sack, was in fact the person setting the chain of events off. Oh, and the chapter title, The Man with Two Faces? That's not metaphorical, Quirrell has ''Voldemort's face coming out of the back of his head!'']]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' has a couple: [[spoiler:Hermione is petrified, Dumbledore is kicked out, Hagrid is sent to [[TheAlcatraz Azkaban]], Ron's little sister Ginny has been taken into the chamber, and not only is Tom Riddle, who we thought was the hero of the last incident, behind everything, but he's also ''Lord Voldemort.'']]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:Sirius was innocent while Peter Pettigrew, alias Wormtail/Scabbers, was guilty. Oh, and Professor Lupin is a werewolf.]]
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' has the scene in [[spoiler:the graveyard, with Harry tied to a gravestone, Voldemort taking his blood, all sorts of other hideous stuff, him seeing his parents, ''priori incantatem'', the list goes on, but what takes the cake was the first death: [[SacrificialLion Cedric Diggory]]]]. It started the whole AnyoneCanDie chain reaction. Almost all fans agree that this one chapter set up the DarkerAndEdgier vibe for the rest of the series.

** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' has too many to count.
** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half-Blood Prince]]'', the huge shock that is [[spoiler:Dumbledore's death at the hands of Snape]] clearly tops them all.
** ''[[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]], as well as the revelation that [[spoiler:Harry has to die]].

* The end of ''Literature/DeadBeat'' 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.
** ''Literature/TurnCoat'': [[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.]]
** ''Literature/{{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, ''Literature/GhostStory'', 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.]]
** ''Literature/ColdDays'' 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.]]

** ''Literature/{{Battle Ground|2020}}'': If there was ever going to be a book that could match ''Changes'', it was this one, and it doesn't disappoint. [[spoiler: Yoshimo and Wild Bill are killed by the Black Court and their bodies taken to be turned, Drakul finally makes an appearance and sends Chandler to an UncertainDoom. Murphy is accidentally shot by Rudolph and dies in Harry's arms. Marcone is revealed to have been in possession of [[FallenAngel Thorned Namshiel's]] coin and power since ''Literature/SmallFavor''. Thomas' actions in the previous book are revealed to be because Justine is possessed by Nemesis, which is properly named as He Who Walks Beside. Harry is kicked off the White Council under a suspended death sentence, and then Mab sets up an ArrangedMarriage for him with Lara.]] And on top of all that, while globally TheMasquerade is still in place, the people of Chicago now know the truth and the federal government is sending [[TheMenInBlack agents]] to investigate closely. But on the [[BittersweetEnding bright side]], Harry is able to blackmail Marcone into giving him ownership of the castle built over the remains of his old house, so he gets his lab back at least.