Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

I gave this book a quick try, and ultimately decided to DNF -- my tastes have changed since I requested this. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!

Edward Cox completely knocked it out of the park with this strange blend of SF, fantasy and detective story. He created a truly unique world, with a bizarre central character and a riveting storyline.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing The Song of the Sycamore on the blog tour. The synopsis of the book was what hooked me and if you read the above you’ll see why I wanted to read this book and be part of this blog tour. The idea of a entity getting vengeance for the souls who turn ghouls when their deaths are in fact murders, sign me up.

I really enjoyed the alternating parts and sometimes chapters of the book. Between Wendal and Sycamore it was pretty interesting to see the difference, one being a supernatural powerful being and the other just a human who died in the war between the city people and the Clansfolk. But that’s not the only war. The city people are two factions - the Quantum scientists and the Salem magicians, despite there being a accord and ‘understanding’ between the two there’s a growing tension that’s at s boiling point the moment Wendal comes back with the avenging soul ‘Sycamore’ leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

So this just starts right off in the midst of all the mess of Wendal/Sycamore already being one and killing the murderers and setting the ghouls free of their despair. I found myself a bit confused and lost, I expected it to start at the point of Wendal and Sycamore becoming one. Despite that I found myself hooked after the ball started rolling, I did find myself a bit meh after a while but Edward expertly roped me back in with Wendal’s past in the Wasteland and how Wendal found Sycamore.

I really really liked Sycamore’s chapters, I feel like his chapters were more brutal and honest whereas Wendal was human, and flawed and made mistakes - which you can relate to, I mean humans man, we make mistakes. Wendal was consumed with the hope the Magician ‘Dyonne Obor’ dangled in front of him, of find his wife Eden. Which all was revealed in due time, well played Edward, well played. I feel Wendal was really hung up on Eden, understandable, to come back to your wife dead I mean shook. But he was hung up on her supposed ‘suicide’ instead of figuring out her involvement with the magicians - which was very interested. Dyonne Obor, tut tut! My god, I have no words for this woman MADNESS!

Overall, this was a pretty decent read, the backstory with August in the Graveforest really hooked me in, it was what I wanted More of. The Ghouls, the song of the dead was ingenious, would have loved to see more of this but it was played at crucial parts - I mean would’ve loved to see more of Sycamore providing vengeance.

Despite saying that, I was invested and really in need of answers. Edward Cox really catered to my Epic Fantasy side - this world is like no other and the threats just as unique. So read this book and discover the song of the dead and what it truly means to deceive everyone.

I have to say this packed a punch from the first page to the very last. I was literally thrown into the world of Urdezha and Edward Cox's imagination and creation of this world was amazing.


This book is definitely a Grim Dark fantasy in my opinion I mean (spoiler here) it opens up with a bloody battle with The Sycamore having taken possession of Wendal Finn in the Wastelands. Finn being trapped in a dead body as Sycamore runs around the world killing people is kind of spellbinding and you can't help but read and be fascinated about how this is written. Well I was anyway.


Written from Wendall Finn and The Sycamore's point of view it gives you more insight into what is happening. I enjoy books with different POV and Edward Cox does this superbly that you don't feel lost and know who is speaking. It is also kind of creepy to hear the thoughts of a dead person and basically a killer who seeks revenge.
Having never read anything by Edward Cox before to say I was taken slightly aback at the beginning was an understatement.

I mean I love a bit of blood and gore but this was more and I have to say he wrote it splendidly. Not only that he wove into his work the suffering of grief, greed, vengeance, loss and people trying to survive in a world that is fundamentally flawed. I mean to create a character that is out for Vengeance to all those who have been murdered its pretty hard core but if you get past the first few chapters you can't help but side with him and actually start rooting for him to succeed.
I will say that if you think this is a light hearted fantasy you are wrong on so many levels, this is definitely Grim Dark fantasy and it was amazing. It looks at the hardness and depravity of human nature and you have to stick with it. It seems harsh and hard going but the more you read and the memories of Wendal Finn and his wife add more depth to the book.


The characters are flawed and I don't know if I have mentioned this before in my reviews BUT I LOVE THEM FLAWED. It makes them so much more relatable.. well not in this book it doesn't as you know Spirit and Dead person. But you know you get my drift, they are flawed like us readers as lets be honest we are all flawed in some way.
Not only has this book got fantasy, sci-fi but it also has the murder mystery element running throughout.

This to me adds more intrigue as I love murder and crime fiction book. Don't get me wrong this is not a crime thriller or murder mystery but I love that Edward Cox was able to implement this theme throughout the book.


Not for the faint of heart this book is dark let me tell you.

I can’t remember the last time I read an adult standalone fantasy novel – at least not one published this side of 2000 – so I was really excited to see how The Song of the Sycamore would pan out in terms of story. I love a series, don’t get me wrong, but knowing everything needs to be wrapped up at the end (at least semi-satisfactorily!) makes the dynamics of a book very different. The stakes here are still high – we have a city isolated from the wasteland around it, controlled by two factions that are constantly seeking to undermine each other: the Scientists, who believe magic is a resource to be shaped and used by all, and the Magicians, who believe it is an arcane secret that only the initiated should be allowed to know. The city of Old Castle itself is a mess of violence, and many citizens have been permanently damaged by their enforced time in the city’s army, patrolling the wastelands. Into this, add a spirit who can provide vengeance for the ghosts of the murdered and a storm that threatens the very existence of the city, and well, it’s going to get intense.

The Song of the Sycamore is, at its heart, built around a murder mystery – or rather, a suicide mystery. Wendal Finn may no longer be entirely himself, host as he is to the mysterious spirit Sycamore, but he retains enough to know he needs to find out what happened to his wife, Eden, who supposedly committed suicide just before Wendal returned from a harrowing army service with Sycamore in tow. He doesn’t think this sounds like Eden, and his need to know his wife’s fate is his driving motivation for most of the book. In a setting this grim, it’s really interesting to see a main character whose central feeling is not cynicism and irony, but loneliness. He’s trying to regain his happiness, rather than giving up and giving into the grimness. There’s a real feel of the classic noir mystery running through the early part of the book, as our would-be gumshoe fumbles through the underworld of the city for clues.

Wendall’s story is a slow burn to begin with, and you get a real sense of his frustration at how trapped his in all aspects of his life. There’s a fine line between creating mystery and leaving your reader confused, and The Song of the Sycamore walked just on the right side of it for me, but a less patient reader may find it takes too much concentration to work out what’s going on. In Part Three, around 60% of the way through, the pace kicks up a notch as we’re drawn back in time to see the events leading up to Wendall’s discovery of Sycamore, and after that memory is done, it’s a full-throttle ride until the end of the book. The flashback was definitely my favourite part of the book, as it fills in a lot of blanks about both Wendall and Sycamore, and has more of a classic fantasy adventure feel as we move through the wasteland.

There’s a really strong and diverse set of female characters in Wendall’s world, which is another unusual thing for the genre. In fact, male characters are pretty few and far between! Eden is more of a memory than a character, though she certainly has a lot of page time, but almost every major player in the book is a woman, from the inscrutable, could-kill-you-with-the-raise-of-an-eyebrow Dyonne Obor (who controls Sycamore, and therefore Wendall), to the power-mad survivalist August Jakob, to Wendall’s neighbour Nel, who has been deeply mentally scarred by her time in the wasteland. Even smaller parts like crimelords and informants are largely women. Dyonne has a male bodyguard, and there are a couple of shady male magicians (these parts would definitely be the only women in a book like this in the past). Very few of these roles needed to be a particular gender, and in a book of this tone even ten years ago, this would likely have been wholly the other way around, so I’m just taking a moment to appreciate this quiet but much-needed reversal.

This book would make an amazing video game. It almost feels like you’re playing one as it is: there are missions to be fulfilled, with each one leading to something new to check otu; characters who can help you if you help them; there are grand set-piece scenes where shocking information is revealed. If you love Dragon Age 2, the atmosphere of this should suit you very well! As with Dragon Age’s Kirkwall, Old Castle is a city at war with itself is always full of intrigue and backstabbing, and as with Hawke, you get the sense that Wendall has walked into the culmination of decades of issues. He’s very much a wrong place at the wrong time protagonist!

If you’ve been looking for a smart standalone fantasy, and love a bit of grimdark worldbuilding, you can’t go far wrong with this. For me, it gets four out of five cats!

https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2019/9/7/the-song-of-the-sycamore-by-edward-cox

Epic Fantasy is BIG you know! The fate of worlds, heroes’ journeys and often a lot of walking from place to place. When it’s great it’s powerful and the worldbuilding really takes you to places you never could imagine. When it’s not quite right it’s dry, repetitive and stodgy. Indeed, many stories seem to need more than one book to tell a saga’s tale. But the idea of an epic standalone novel is not a contradiction in terms and historically not that radical an idea even Lord of the Rings was really one book divided up originally. Edward Cox who wrote one of my most enjoyable fantasy trilogies the Relic Guild has created a single tale of decay, loss, revenge and lost love.

Welcome to Urdezha – a world where life has continued despite the natural order of things. The humans here have changed and rechanged their lifespans; cannibalised pretty much anything outside their cities so much there is hardly anything alive out there and what remains will want to kill you. This a curious hybrid world of magic and technology with defence shields and trains but also where ghosts and spells work too. The link between the two is the mysterious substance of ether that powers both. Reflecting this blend of worlds is the ongoing underground battle between the two factions continually fighting for power in this near dead world The Magicians and The Scientists. Both ruthless in how they achieve their goals; both as powerful as each other and a stalemate looks to be forever. That is until the dead body of Wendal Finn arrives walking back in town…

Wendal Finn left the City as a conscripted soldier to spend a term protecting this from the clans that want to attack the cities. But Wendal died he was possessed by something calling itself Sycamore. Sycamore is an entity that exists for finding the spirits of murder victims; hearing their tale and giving their spirits rest and justice by killing the murderer. Try to attack Wendal’s body and you’ll fail as Sycamore’s power protects it (but it hurts!); however the Magicians place a trap and soon Wendal is partially freed to live in the world again but as and when required he must release Sycamore’s spirit to attack one of the Magician’s rivals as very few of those don’t have blood on their hands. But Wendal is still far more interested in how when he came back, he found his wife dead (apparently at her own hand) and he is not going to stop until he finds the truth whatever the Magicians try to make him do.

As you can tell this is a very different tale to the standard quest/giant battle between good and evil and it’s ambition I think should rightly be praised. You’re not arriving in the standard fantasy set up and that’s quite a jarring experience for the reader as the standard rules of the genre we tend to expect are not quite playing out as we would anticipate. It reminds me strangely much more of those Eastwood westerns where a mysterious stranger arrives in town; plays factions off each other and there is a strange sense of supernatural justice lurking behind things. We are in an interesting mix of gangland battle and a murder mystery as we try and find out how Wendal’s wife Eden died; how Wendal got possessed and what or who is threatening the city. And as that all feels new you don’t know quite what to expect – which for my tastes in fantasy is always enjoyable!

The other factor I really enjoyed about this novel is Cox’s writing style. It’s pulsing with energy that keeps powering on the story. Although this is a world past it’s sell by date it is not going staidly into the night – it’s got storms, extra-large wild animals; fast paced fight scenes and even in the quieter scenes an emotional power as Wendal tries desperately to find out the truth about his wife and himself The inner and outer turmoil of each are reflecting in each other. The giant city of Old Castle is used a lot from universities to gamble dens and we rarely stay in any place for long. The curious mix of magic and technology (which was a factor I also loved in The Relic Guild) makes you feel you’re in a fantasy universe millennia past the faux middle ages where many stories reside. For quite a large novel you never feel you’re treading water and to mix things up Cox jumps from past to future in character’s lives bouncing where necessary between the distinctive voices of Wendal and Sycamore, so it never feels like it is running out of energy.

Characters is where the book moves away from the traditional large cast we associate with the Epics. It’s relatively small with Wendal (fearful; despondent and angry) and Sycamore (aloof; amoral and inhuman) being central to the story We also get Nel his rogue bar tender friend and sharer of intoxicating substances and the mysterious Magician Dyonne – effectively Wendal’s handler who makes it clear who is in charge. How these characters work together or against each other is the crux of the plot and no one comes out innocent here. It could be tempting to say ‘ah all sounds like Grimdark’; but I would say that would be a false assumption. This feels like it adds to my ongoing suspicion that elements of Grimdark are now being taken absorbed within wider fantasy tales without too much straying into the grey side of the force. Here a grimy amoral world exists but the story isn’t really about the way power corrupts its more about someone trying to pay for his guilt over the loss of his wife that he was not around to help. Sycamore as he discovers more about what he is and where he is from adds a different dimension to the story, one you’d find more in common with Moorcock than Abercrombie. I don’t think it’s for everyone although the fate of the city is in Sycamore’s hands this is not leading to a huge massive battlefield encounter but a much more intimate and personal ending

A novel this kept reminding me of is Ed McDonald’s Blackwing that mixes weird words, technology and a main character that seemed quite angst-ridden. The fact this novel is standalone means not all threads are tied up, but I loved the personal closure aspect of the tale rather than the standard toppling of regimes. Sycamore allows an opportunity for change but there is no guarantee and perhaps no likelihood that people will take it fully and it’s the story of Wendal and Eden that I cared more about in the end. If you like your epic fantasy to be weird, personal and surprising then this is the type of novel you should be hunting down fast.

This is my first time reading a book by Edward Cox and I can tell you straight away it will not be my last. The Song of the Song of the Sycamore hooked me from the very beginning, and I could not put it down.

This complex tale tells the story of Wendal, who becomes a casualty of war and dies out in the wasteland. He awakes possessed by a mysterious entity known as Sycamore, a spirit hungry for vengeance. With no way of controlling the spirit Wendal must watch as Sycamore murders and destroys, all the while uncovering the dark secrets that surround the war between the people of the city and the clansfolk.

This is book is exceptionally dark and incredibly creepy. Told from both Wendal and Sycamore’s points of view, I loved getting to see things from both perspectives and Wendal/Sycamore made for a fascinating protagonist. The world building was also brilliantly done in the story and it was easy to dive into this complex world.

The plot was engaging and really kept me hooked from the outset. I almost missed my train stop on more than one occasion as I was so sucked into the story on my commute to work. The story has plenty of dark moments, murder and action as well as a bit of a mystery surrounding the death of Wendal’s wife. Each layer of the plot was blended together seamlessly and it made for an unputdownable reading experience.

The Song of the Sycamore is definitely one of the most original books I’ve read in a while, and if you’re looking for an action packed story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is one for you.

Wendal Finn died on military service, yet has returned to Old Castle apparently alive and well. But out in the wilderness, far beyond the safety of Wendal’s home, in a place ravaged by terrifying and savage opponents and strange magic, the unbelievable has happened. For all his appearance of normality Wendal is an unwilling host to Sycamore, a revenger of the murdered, co-opting Wendal’s body to bring the perpetrators to justice and as a result turning Wendal into a serial killer. As Wendal tries to fight the thing that has made him its host, he also attempts to piece together the mystery of his wife’s apparent suicide. In so doing he uncovers the type of dark secrets the rulers of his city would rather keep hidden. All the while a supernatural storm makes its ominous approach towards the city.

In an unnerving grimdark opening Wendal is making his way to something that is not going to end well. But he is clearly not onboard with the mission. The reason why soon becomes obvious in a most disturbing way. So the plot already thickens before it’s even started, and you just know its unfolding will be relentless and not for the faint-hearted.

Edward Cox’s worldbuilding is great. Through Wendal you’re quickly plunged into the sights and smells of Old Castle and a complex plot which twists and turns its intriguing way to an interesting dénouement. It is indeed a tricky plot with many points of crisis for Wendal, who doggedly pursues the truth of his wife’s death regardless of his own safety, or sanity.

Although there appears to be more than one story thread requiring a large list of characters, all with some different avenue to offer the hapless Wendal, the author has managed to keep control of everything and weave a murder mystery, political intrigue as well as something that can only be described as military fantasy/science fiction, while creeping the reader out.

The part I enjoyed the most was the backstory of Wendel’s military service because I became so emotionally engaged with the raw relentlessness of the conscripts’ lives. It also brought home a rumbling disquiet of wondering what the war was all for, considering it had been going on for so long and no one saw the need or had the courage to question why the population was being sent out to feed a conflict which only those in power could see the point to.

The build up to the way Sycamore came to inhabit Wendal’s body was particularly effective with regards to the hopelessness of Wendal’s situation yet, like all good horror stories, at the same time keeping the reader in a state of hoping the inevitable would not happen.

In all The Song of the Sycamore was an engrossing experience, offering any grim dark fantasy aficionado plenty to get their reading teeth into.

I don't usually use terms like "full of emotions" when i review a fantasy book but these are words i'm sure I can use for this one.
It's a grim fantasy book but it's also full of emotion, with a fleshed out, realistic and "so human" main character.
It's not one of those book where the positive characters are nearly perfect and the villain are "so so bad".
Everyone is a mix, nobody is perfect and I found that I liked Sycamore as much as I liked Wendal.
The world building is amazing, bleak and with elements of steampunk.
I loved this book, once I started I couldn't put it down, and I appreciated it's originality.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This review was taken from my blog: www.tomeswithtea.com

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Amy! But you don’t really read high fantasy! And on a typical day, I would agree. Having so my friends that rave about the genre, I’d decided that it was about time I dipped my toes into that water.

If you’ve read the synopsis above, you’ll have a pretty good idea of why I was drawn to this one, and let me tell you, I was not let down. The Song of the Sycamore is imaginatively brutal and heart-breaking in equal measure. There is a lot of violence in this one so if that is something that you find difficult to read, then I would err on the side of caution. Trigger warning also for suicide and drug addiction.

Old Castle in the land of Urdezah, two clans fight for power; the Quantum where the Scientists reside and the Salem where the Magicians reside. Both have very different ideas of how the city should be run. The background to all of this is the battle between both factions and the Clansfolk, who pose a threat to them all.

I really, really loved the characters. Wendall Finn is a wholly formed and realistic character with both good and bad qualities. I even found myself growing to like the Sycamore as time went on… me, liking a bad guy, I know, not like me at all….

The world-building is so epic I really do wonder how people can create such magic in their minds! The town of Old Castle so vivid that you could almost smell it, and the wasteland outside of the walls so brimming with despair that my heart-rate was not a normal one the entire time Wendall spent at war!

This is a good one!!

Wendal died in the war. Now, he is returning home. He is possessed by something named Sycamore.
Some call him an ageless demon. Sycamore may be a demon or not, but he has a purpose. Getting revenge for murder victims. The problem is, the hands enacting this revenge belong to Wendel.

I really enjoyed this one. I was confused at first, but then it all came together. Wendal is a great character, and I really liked the magic. I could just picture the city with its shield up!

If you enjoy fantasy, give this one a go!

“The dead call you Sycamore, but I think they should be calling you Shepherd?”

Two rival factions battle it out for control of the city of Old Castle in the land of Urdezha – the Quantum and the Salem, the Scientists and the Magicians, while outside the city walls, the Clansfolk wage their war against both.

In the midst of it all is Wendal Finn – soldier, husband, and now pawn of the Salem, possessed by the spirit of the Shepherd of the Dead, or as the dead themselves call him, Sycamore.

Wendal has returned home from the war to find his wife has killed herself, and in exchange for information to help find her spirit, he ends up as an assassin for the Magicians, however involuntary his agreement in this matter may be.

Being led a merry dance by his Magician custodian, Dyonne Obor, Wendal spirals down and down into the mystery of the world he lives in, into its deepest, darkest secrets.

Can Wendal stop the oncoming storm that threatens to wipe out all life on Urdezha?

This is a fabulous fantasy adventure, all dark and twisty, and it’ll make you question which side you’re on, who’s good, who’s bad, until you arrive at the end, breathless and wanting more.

The world building is rich and vivid, the characters are flawed and relatable, the plot and pacing is superb, and my god is it emotion filled. Not ashamed to admit that I held my breath a fair bit, and shed a few tears at this book.

It’s got it all – mystery, magic, murder, adventure, and real heart and emotional depth, with an ending that’ll surprise you and make you gasp.

“The dead called me Sycamore. But not for much longer.”

This book was like a great big slap of fantasy to the face, and while you are reeling to catch you breath it just pulls you down into a rich, amazing, horrific world where you have no idea who is bad and who is good. Those lines seemed to blur the whole way through, keeping you guessing and on your toes. It was a thrill of a ride, making it hard to out down. It is the sort of book your promise yourself one more page at night, and then actually stop three chapters later.

A must read, and I can not wait for more!

Unfortunately, this book really didn't work for me and I ended up giving up at around 20% in. While I found the overall concept interesting - a man forced to share his body with a demon he can't control, which initially uses him to take revenge on murderers at the behest of their victims - I struggled to stay interested as that concept was overturned quickly. Not for me, sorry!

This is an interesting book. with a feeling of freshness about it.

The setting is wonderful with enough quirk that i'd happily read more books set in this world.

The opening 25% of the book is really, really good. It hooked me in early and established the characters and the story well.

Over the next 15% or so I completely lost interest and if this wasn't a NetGalley book I would probably have given up at the 40% mark. The primary reason for this is that the main character is just so passive. Wendel doesn't question anything, he doesn't make any decisions, he doesn't rail against his situation. For me, he's too accepting - he goes where he's told to go and does what he's told to do and that really irritated me. Wendel might be the main character but he's a far cry from being a protagonist and it's hard to tell who the protagonist is.

I'm really glad I kept going though because the final 40% is a return to the excellence of the first part.

I really enjoyed the resolution - it felt right,

I loved the sections where Wendel was doing his city service, the characters and the relationships between them were really strong, I felt Wendel had more agency and personality in these sections.

I have to give this book a rating of 4 stars (3 stars is "enjoyable but average" and this book is way better than average.) even if, in my opinion, it has flaws.

Would thoroughly recommend this book . Took me a few chapters to get into the book but once I got into it I found I couldn't stop reading it and found it hard to put down. Near the end really surprised me a bit of a twist but the way the book was finished was brilliant and really finished the story off if u want a good long read would really recommend it