Song of Edmon by Adam Burch

Book Title: Song of Edmon
Author: Adam Burch
Genre: Sci-Fi (though more a Science Fantasy)
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Kindle First pick of August (Release, 1st of September 2017)

Goodreads, Amazon UK

Goodreads Summary: The isolated planet of Tao is a house divided: the peaceful Daysiders live in harmony while the pale Nightsiders pursue power and racial purity through the violent ritual of the Combat.
Edmon Leontes, the gentle son of a ruthless warrior noble and a proud Daysider, embodies Tao’s split nature. The product of diametrically opposed races, Edmon hopes to live a quiet life pursuing the music of his mother’s people, but his Nightsider father cruelly forces him to continue in his bloody footsteps to ensure his legacy.
Edmon’s defiance will cost him everything…and spark a revolution that will shake the foundations of Tao. His choice—to embrace the light or surrender to the darkness—will shape his own fate and that of his divided world.

What did I think? You know how sometimes you read a book and from the very first few pages you fall in love and can't really say why? And every time you pick it up something magical happens? That was this book for me.

It took me almost 300 pages to realise there are parallels to The Count of Monte Cristo and only then did it hit me that Edmon Leontes, the main characters name, is pretty damn close to Edmond Dantès. And you know what? That discovery made me giddy, because damn do I love The Count of Monte Cristo. (And no you don't need to have read Monte Cristo to enjoy this book... it was just a nice tidbit.)

It's a dark book and I know as a writer you're supposed to torture your main character and make things worse for them, but for Edmon it just does not get any better EVER. Throughout the book until the very end I thought, oh my... MORE? Leave the poor boy alone. It does not help that Edmon just can't keep his mouth shut when necessary... he keeps pushing.

The book is told in first person present tense which I often dislike, but I highly enjoyed Burch's prose and writing.

The world is exciting and I loved the idea of a planet that no longer spins and thus has a side on which it's eternally night while on the other side it's always day.

Edmon is a well developed character who loves music, and I really liked that he was so much into art and so opposed to fighting.

I can't really talk about the female characters in this novel without spoiling the plot. Let's just say that's the one bit that bothered me somewhat.

I highly recommend Song of Edmon to Science Fantasy fans.

P.S. Can I just hijack my own review to say: if you're into anime and love The Count of Monte Cristo as much as me and are not opposed to have it set in space and the Count be some sort of space vampire, please please please check out the absolutely underrated Gankutsuou.