The Rise of Azraea: (Extremely) Unofficial Soundtrack

Two of my favorite authors (James Roberts & Mairghread Scott) have, in the past, shared songs that match their writing, either music that they liked to listen to while writing a particular portion of their work, or music that matches particular scenes, subplots, or characters in their work - basically, soundtracks. I really like this idea, so to give some impression of what Rise of Azraea is like (and some teasers for what's coming), I thought I'd post my own list. If it were a full list, it would probably be about 50% Ke$ha and 40% P!nk, but I tried to pull out the songs that tied to specific scenes, themes, or characters.

Oh, and, yeah, a lot of these are not-safe-for-work, so... ye hath been warned.

Main Themes

- [Book I:] "Ain't No Man" (The Avett Brothers)

- [Book II:] "Our Revolution" (Born Cages)

- [Book III:] "Born this Way" (Lady Gaga)


Character Themes

Azraea
- [Book I:] "Kill Your Heroes" (AWOLnation)

- [Book II:] "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" (Cake)

- [Book III:] "Embrace the Curse" (I Hate Kate)

Kaira

- [Book I:] "Bad Reputation" (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)

- [Book II:] "Warrior" (Ke$ha)

- [Book III:] "Everyone Knows" (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)

Ochsner

- [Book I:] "The Geeks Will Inherit the Earth" (I Fight Dragons)

- [Book II:] "Handlebars" (The Flobots)

- [Book III:] "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (Jimmy Buffett)

Azraea/Kaira

- "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" (Bowling for Soup)

Chapter Soundtrack (Book I)

Chapter 1: You Can't Go Home, but You Can't Stay Here
- "Long Tall Sally" (Little Richard) {Let's be honest, this is the universal bar-fight theme.}

Chapter 2: Free Market Exploitation
- "Black Eyes, Blue Tears" (Shania Twain)

Chapter 3: My Kingdom for a Horse, and a Penny for the Song
- "Cola" (Lana Del Rey) {As Azraea notes, there's nothing 'lady like' about this song.}

Chapter 4: The Entirely Legal Murder of Brogan the Orange
- "Immigrant Song" (Led Zeppelin)

Chapter 5: The Hero's Hang Over
- "What I've Done" (Linkin Park)

Chapter 6: The Big Bad Wolves
- "Getting Ready to Get Down" (Josh Ritter)

Chapter 7: Burned
- "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" (Caged the Elephant)

Chapter 8: Traveling Soldiers
- "Traveling Soldier" (Dixie Chicks) {If you've read the book, that was probably obvious.}

Chapter 9: Fair Fights and Other Falsehoods
- "Go Go Go (Sonya's Theme)" (The Immortals)

Chapter 10: The Prince, the Professor, and the Puzzle
- "That Don't Impress Me Much" (Shania Twain) {From Ochsner's perspective.}

Chapter 11: Advanced Dungeoneering
- "It's All about the Pentiums" (Weird Al Yankovic) {Didn't occur to me until today, but it fits.}

Chapter 12: In the Dark Dwelling
- "Toxic" (Strings Cover) {Only found this today, but it fits too well not to include it.}

Chapter 13: An Unexpected Engagement

- "The Kids Aren't Alright" (Fall Out Boy)

Epilogue: The Beginning of the End
- "Mad World" (Imagine Dragons Cover)


[I never have settled on a good song for the dragon herself, but this poppy little song is a surprisingly close fit.]

---------------------------------------------------

James N. McDonald is a "liberal academic" born and raised in Missouri and residing in Tennessee. He holds one degree in history, two degrees in psychology, but loves writing fiction. His first, completed novel, The Rise of Azraea, Book I, is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon.