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A review by markyon
The Song of the Sycamore by Edward Cox
4.0
Ed’s previous trilogy of novels (collectively known as The Guild Trilogy) have built up a reputation for stylistic grimness, a Grimdark sensibility but one based more on urban noir than typical Fantasy tropes.
The Song of the Sycamore dips into a similar vein, but is a more complex tale.
From the publisher: On the broken world of Urdezha, Wendal Finn died on the hostile plains of the wasteland, one more casualty in the endless war between the city-dwellers and the clansfolk. But now Wendal has returned to his home city of Old Castle, possessed by something he brought back from the wasteland, something old and best left forgotten. The spirits are calling it Sycamore, an ancient entity out to avenge all victims of murder. And in a city like Old Castle, no one is innocent.
With his mind trapped inside a dead body, Wendal can do nothing but watch as Sycamore turns him into a serial killer. Until the magicians take an interest in him. Preserving Wendal's body and trapping Sycamore inside it, the magicians now have the perfect assassin at their disposal. Whenever they need an enemy removed, they can set the killer loose on Old Castle. Between these moments of horror, Wendal struggles to piece together the remnants of his former life. He wants to know why his wife died while he was fighting in the war, but no one will tell him, no one wants him to know. Left to his own devices, Wendal picks at the scabs that cover the dark secrets of the magicians and reveals a threat to every city on Urdezha.
The clans are massing. A supernatural storm is raging across the wasteland. It has already destroyed one city, and now it is heading for Old Castle. And the only one who might prevent oblivion is the murderous entity who the spirits are calling Sycamore.
As you can see from the publisher’s summary, it is all pretty grim from the start. Our lead character, Wendal Finn, is a dead person possessed by a demonic creature known as Sycamore. Living in a city called Old Castle, Sycamore, using the body of Wendal, is a Shepherd, whose job is to avenge those who have been murdered by hearing their Song and killing their murderer.
Whilst you could see Sycamore/ Wendal as a force for good – a means of vengeance & retribution – their motivation serves a wider purpose. Sycamore/ Wendal is captured by Dyonne Obor, a Magician who hopes to use Sycamore to gain an upper hand in a war between the Scientists and the Magicians. Generally, the Scientists are seen as ‘the good guys’, preserving order and stability whilst the Magicians the ones determined to bring back the power of the old ways. However, there is a covert battle going on that has been going on for a long time and this creates a complicated backstory in this squalid world.
So, at first this seems like a pretty grimdark, steampunk kind of story. With a combination of wild inventions and arcane magic, dark decrepitude and nasty political shenanigans, fans of Grimdark and steampunk will get a lot of what they like here. I recognised elements of Iain Banks’ Feersum Enjinn and even a touch of Vance’s Dying Earth to this one. Everywhere is grimy, decayed and decrepit. There’s a feeling of ickyness that fans of China Mieville and Ed McDonald (Blackwing) will recognise.
And… I must admit that it was this that nearly killed the book for me. It is unpleasant. Whilst dealing with the darker nature of human depravity it felt like it was going to be one long wallow in a cesspool – difficult to maintain over a whole novel and ultimately dispiritingly and unrelentlessly bleak.
It also didn’t help that the characters seemed horrible as well. Whilst I could see that the characters are complex and multi-faceted, I was finding that I disliked the characters, their motives and their actions, which all seemed to want to outdo each other in their levels of nastiness.
Had the book continued in this manner I would have given it up as another attempt to tap into a mystery set in a steam-punky, Grimdark world – which I would have quickly got bored with. The first two parts of the book made me suspect that the purpose of the novel was nothing more than to make the reader feel better by showing them just how low things can go.
However, just as I was about to give up, about halfway through the novel took an abrupt left-turn. In the third part of the story, we suddenly get detailed memories – to Wendal’s life with his wife, Eden, who appears to have committed suicide, and to Wendal’s life as a soldier, as the operator of an ether-run battle suit fighting the clansmen of the wilderness outside the city. The story suddenly gains momentum and a breath of fresh air as a sort of steampunk version of Starship Troopers. It's a nice mixture of fantasy (magic, ether) and science fiction (force-fields, battlemech suits).
And then there’s the bigger picture – when we return to the present there’s tension created by the arrival of a storm to Old Castle that literally and figuratively means something, whilst at the same time the ongoing covert War between the Scientists and the Magicians, which Wendal finds himself involved in, comes to a head.
It may not be a surprise that this is something that Sycamore, and therefore Wendal is connected to, as Wendal is the vessel of Sycamore’s embodiment in Old Castle. The last part of the novel sees this played out and Sycamore is seen for what he really is.
My initial concerns that the book would do nothing more than make me feel permanently grubby were soon realised to be a gross misunderstanding. By the end the complex nature of the narrative and the development of the characters had done their work and won me over. In its twisty, turny way, the ending was a genuine revelation and one which was not easily achieved, which is a tribute to the writer.
To sum up then, Song of the Sycamore is a book that takes time to build but once it engages with the reader it keeps you going and doesn’t let go. It plays with the reader’s perceptions to such an extent that it will keep many a reader guessing until the end. I really wasn’t sure I was going to like this one at first and yet by the end I totally did. File under “May not be for everyone, but some readers will love it.”
The Song of the Sycamore dips into a similar vein, but is a more complex tale.
From the publisher: On the broken world of Urdezha, Wendal Finn died on the hostile plains of the wasteland, one more casualty in the endless war between the city-dwellers and the clansfolk. But now Wendal has returned to his home city of Old Castle, possessed by something he brought back from the wasteland, something old and best left forgotten. The spirits are calling it Sycamore, an ancient entity out to avenge all victims of murder. And in a city like Old Castle, no one is innocent.
With his mind trapped inside a dead body, Wendal can do nothing but watch as Sycamore turns him into a serial killer. Until the magicians take an interest in him. Preserving Wendal's body and trapping Sycamore inside it, the magicians now have the perfect assassin at their disposal. Whenever they need an enemy removed, they can set the killer loose on Old Castle. Between these moments of horror, Wendal struggles to piece together the remnants of his former life. He wants to know why his wife died while he was fighting in the war, but no one will tell him, no one wants him to know. Left to his own devices, Wendal picks at the scabs that cover the dark secrets of the magicians and reveals a threat to every city on Urdezha.
The clans are massing. A supernatural storm is raging across the wasteland. It has already destroyed one city, and now it is heading for Old Castle. And the only one who might prevent oblivion is the murderous entity who the spirits are calling Sycamore.
As you can see from the publisher’s summary, it is all pretty grim from the start. Our lead character, Wendal Finn, is a dead person possessed by a demonic creature known as Sycamore. Living in a city called Old Castle, Sycamore, using the body of Wendal, is a Shepherd, whose job is to avenge those who have been murdered by hearing their Song and killing their murderer.
Whilst you could see Sycamore/ Wendal as a force for good – a means of vengeance & retribution – their motivation serves a wider purpose. Sycamore/ Wendal is captured by Dyonne Obor, a Magician who hopes to use Sycamore to gain an upper hand in a war between the Scientists and the Magicians. Generally, the Scientists are seen as ‘the good guys’, preserving order and stability whilst the Magicians the ones determined to bring back the power of the old ways. However, there is a covert battle going on that has been going on for a long time and this creates a complicated backstory in this squalid world.
So, at first this seems like a pretty grimdark, steampunk kind of story. With a combination of wild inventions and arcane magic, dark decrepitude and nasty political shenanigans, fans of Grimdark and steampunk will get a lot of what they like here. I recognised elements of Iain Banks’ Feersum Enjinn and even a touch of Vance’s Dying Earth to this one. Everywhere is grimy, decayed and decrepit. There’s a feeling of ickyness that fans of China Mieville and Ed McDonald (Blackwing) will recognise.
And… I must admit that it was this that nearly killed the book for me. It is unpleasant. Whilst dealing with the darker nature of human depravity it felt like it was going to be one long wallow in a cesspool – difficult to maintain over a whole novel and ultimately dispiritingly and unrelentlessly bleak.
It also didn’t help that the characters seemed horrible as well. Whilst I could see that the characters are complex and multi-faceted, I was finding that I disliked the characters, their motives and their actions, which all seemed to want to outdo each other in their levels of nastiness.
Had the book continued in this manner I would have given it up as another attempt to tap into a mystery set in a steam-punky, Grimdark world – which I would have quickly got bored with. The first two parts of the book made me suspect that the purpose of the novel was nothing more than to make the reader feel better by showing them just how low things can go.
However, just as I was about to give up, about halfway through the novel took an abrupt left-turn. In the third part of the story, we suddenly get detailed memories – to Wendal’s life with his wife, Eden, who appears to have committed suicide, and to Wendal’s life as a soldier, as the operator of an ether-run battle suit fighting the clansmen of the wilderness outside the city. The story suddenly gains momentum and a breath of fresh air as a sort of steampunk version of Starship Troopers. It's a nice mixture of fantasy (magic, ether) and science fiction (force-fields, battlemech suits).
And then there’s the bigger picture – when we return to the present there’s tension created by the arrival of a storm to Old Castle that literally and figuratively means something, whilst at the same time the ongoing covert War between the Scientists and the Magicians, which Wendal finds himself involved in, comes to a head.
It may not be a surprise that this is something that Sycamore, and therefore Wendal is connected to, as Wendal is the vessel of Sycamore’s embodiment in Old Castle. The last part of the novel sees this played out and Sycamore is seen for what he really is.
My initial concerns that the book would do nothing more than make me feel permanently grubby were soon realised to be a gross misunderstanding. By the end the complex nature of the narrative and the development of the characters had done their work and won me over. In its twisty, turny way, the ending was a genuine revelation and one which was not easily achieved, which is a tribute to the writer.
To sum up then, Song of the Sycamore is a book that takes time to build but once it engages with the reader it keeps you going and doesn’t let go. It plays with the reader’s perceptions to such an extent that it will keep many a reader guessing until the end. I really wasn’t sure I was going to like this one at first and yet by the end I totally did. File under “May not be for everyone, but some readers will love it.”