History ThePowerOfRock / Literature

* And then there's the often-overlooked (but excellent) ''Literature/GossamerAxe'' by Gael Baudino, whose harper heroine was taken by [[TheFairFolk the Sidhe]] from ancient Ireland - she escaped (to modern Denver), but was forced to leave her [[GirlsLove lover]] behind. Her rescue attempts have always failed, as the immortal Sidhe's [[MagicMusic harp skills]] simply overpower her own...until she discovers a new weapon in [[LoudOfWar heavy metal]].

* In ''Songs of Earth and Power'' by Creator/GregBear, any sufficiently great piece of music (or art in general) has inherent magical properties. In particular, there's a piece called the ''Infinity Concerto'' which legendarily transported a group of people to another world; later in the book, Mozart ([[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy yes, the real one]]) improvises another piece to transport them all back.

* In ''[[Literature/IntoTheLookingGlass Claws that Catch]]'', written by Creator/JohnRingo and Creator/TravisSTaylor, the crew of the Vorpal Blade II discover a giant artifact in a very strange star system that turns out to be a [[spoiler: giant concert venue, they then proceed to defeat an attacking alien fleet with songs such as ''Freebird'' and ''Black Unicorn'' used to control the star system scale laser lightshow.]] There is also a major Macross7 ShoutOut in the piece with the anime zone causing it to switch to Macross style J-Pop for a bit.

* ''Literature/{{Coda}}'' has this as its focal point, with the Corp using music to control people and the hero, Anthem, using it to express freedom.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' gives us probably the only instance in history of The Power of Polka. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Don't ask]]. Actually, on second thought, do. EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs. Polka will never die! And polka-powered-zombie-T-rex.

* Terry Pratchett. Literature/{{Discworld}}. ''Discworld/SoulMusic''. However, ''Soul Music'' is more or less about something for which the Disc isn't quite ready, and it ends up distorting reality to the point that history itself gets rewritten. Not that that's all that unusual in Discworld. (The book is filled with punny references; the primary singer of Music With Rocks In goes by "Buddy" since his first name means "bud" in his language; his last name, of course, means "holly".)
** In a non-rock variant, Sybil's timely rendition of a venerated dwarfish aria in ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'' persuades every dwarf in Bonk that Vimes is entitled a hearing with the Low King. Not supernatural Power in this case, just a ''very'' potent cultural precedent.

* The end of Creator/KimNewman's "[[Literature/DiogenesClub The End Of The Pier Show]]" involves glam-rock psychic detective Richard Jeperson defeating an army of zombie demon Nazis invoked by a spell gone wrong by rigging up a record player to a coastal town civil defense siren and having it play ''[[Music/TheBeatles Abbey Road]]'' and ''[[Music/TheBeatles Let It Be]]'' at them.

* In ''Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos'' by Creator/JohnCWright, [[TricksterArchetype Colin]] unlocks his powers by playing rock music. DeadpanSnarker Amelia notes that if he hadn't been playing in the middle of a war, the resultant noise would have been [[DreadfulMusician pretty bad.]]

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' gives us probably the only instance in history of The Power of Polka. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Don't ask]]. Actually, on second thought, do. [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Because]] it was [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome AWESOME]]. Polka will never die! And polka-powered-zombie-T-rex.

** In ''1636: The Devil's Opera" Marla uses [[Theater/LesMiserables "Do You Hear the People Sing"]] to rally the USE against Oxenstrienrna's attempt at a legal coup.

* In ''JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', the heroes disguise themselves as a band to get past security at a Las Vegas hotel in order to confront a demon. They end up facing a swarm of monsters that are "natural dischordians", meaning they can't stand melody due to their hellish origin. The heroes proceed to play an original song written by the titular John himself: ''Camel Holocaust!''

* The band in ''The Last Days'', by ScottWesterfeld'', somehow is able to play music that calls the worms that live under the surface out so that they can be killed. The band ends up saving the world, though it is not stated how long it took.

* The end of Creator/KimNewman's "[[Literature/TheDiogenesClub The End Of The Pier Show]]" involves glam-rock PsychicDetective Richard Jeperson defeating an army of zombie demon Nazis invoked by a spell gone wrong by rigging up a record player to a coastal town civil defense siren and having it play ''[[Music/TheBeatles Abbey Road]]'' and ''[[Music/TheBeatles Let It Be]]'' at them.

* Then there is L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s ''Spellsong Cycle'', where a classically trained opera soprano is transported to a world in which music is magic. And nobody there has any training. And combined with some fancy lute playing, is powerful enough to [[spoiler: create a city-sized nuclear fusion explosion from thin air.]]

* In Creator/MercedesLackey's UrbanFantasy novel ''MusicToMySorrow'', the protagonists stop a riot and defeat the villain by staging an emergency magical rock concert. It helps that the main character is an elven-trained Bard who can rip holes in local spacetime with his music and their lead singer is gifted with the ability to influence the emotions of anyone who hears her sing.
** Her earlier novel ''Jinx High'' contains a magirock battle between two demon-infested electric guitars supported by a dark sorceress and a hippie-infested guitar and a guardian/witch. It ends when the speakers, not intended for arcane use, explode.