The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart

One is never sure what to expect in a debut novel. With prepublication endorsement from the likes of Jeff VanderMeer, //The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart,// perhaps unfairly, has a high level of expectation. Fortunately for Jesse Bullington, he's got the writing and storytelling chops to back up the expectations. His debut is a gruesome travelogue of Medieval Europe, chronicling the dastardly deeds of Hegel and Manfried, the titular brothers. Bullington spares very little time introducing the violence and bloodshed that would go on to follow the brothers in their quest for riches in Gyptaland (Egypt). Although demons, witches, and man-beasts roam the countryside, they are not nearly the monsters the Grossbarts are. Hegel and Manfried have a strict moral code which amounts to death if you cross them. More often than not, the form of death is violent and gory. Contrasting the heinous acts committed by the brothers is their pious belief in the Virgin Mary as the holy being at the center of their faith. There is more to the novel than the simple journey the brothers take across Europe and the ocean to Gyptland. Bullington's knowledge and love for stories is apparent. The novel contains stories within the larger novel and along the Brothers' entire journey, elements of folklore are evident. In many ways, I was reminded of Angela Carter's fairy tales in //The Bloody Chamber.// In particular, Bullington's rendering story of Nicolette the witch was powerfully engaging. Another element that might be initially off-putting considering the novel is set in Medieval Europe is the speech pattern of the Brothers. I was put in the mind of a backwater, uneducated redneck dialogue. However, it wasn't long before I grew accustomed to, and enjoyed reading, their dialogue. The novel is gripping, despite a relatively predictable outcome. However, the path is well worth the journey if you can stomach protagonists who murder with the same ease as most people breathe, and with a calmness inversely related to the joy and amount of violence they inflict on their victims. The novel can't be easily categorized because it has flavors of fantasy and horror along with elements of folklore and historical fiction. Readers who can handle Hegel and Manfried as protagonists will be rewarded with an ultimately rich and entertaining reading experience, that is especially more impressive since it is the author's first novel. Reviewed by Rob Bedford

There are heroes - mighty heroes. They're honest, reliable, deeply moral and they vanquish evil and smite dragons with mighty swords. They're shining in glory and holiness. And there are villains - evil villains. They are foul and twisted, with no morals, obsessed with their cunning ways and determined to bring their forces of forceful evil into the world so the dead can rise, and all will bow before the mighty knees of MISTER EVIL muahahaha! Inbetween these two lies the Brothers Grossbart. They're pure evil and pure heroes all at once. But how can this be? They can't both be the Kwisatz Haderach. Or maybe they can... The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is an exceptional novel, written by Jesse Bullington. It is exceptional because I've been racking my brains and just can't think of anything like it at all. Not that I'm a big fan of comparing novels (it's like comparing paintings), but sometimes it's nice to know where something fits in that inventory of the mind. The plot itself isn't extremely taxing - it's a simple one, really, which is when the skills of a writer can really shine. Our mad graverobbing heroes begin the book with a single act of ruthless depravity and then shuffle off on their way to the land of the Infidels in search of Gyptland - where Grossbarts were wont to go in search of hefty gold looted from graves laden with such mighty treasures. Along the way they battle witches, monsters, demons and an assortment of rogues, all the while convinced of their own holiness due to their worship of Mary because "she loves them what stands up to the Lord more than those kneelin' down to'em." Their twisted logic turns the Grossbarts from being the villains of the piece outlined in the opening, to being the heroes of the work - an odd twist which far from redeems them as their goal never changes and neither do their morals. Pursued by the man they did wrong who picks up a small army of his own along the way (including a witch's brood), the Grossbarts shuffle onward from disaster to disaster in time for a truly epic final confrontation with those they have wronged. What makes this book work so well is Mister Bullington's style which never wavers from beginning to end. The very stylised language used by the Grossbarts looked to be very hard to maintain, yet Mister Bullington carries it with an enviable ease through to the conclusion. I was deeply amused by his style, which shifted smoothly between a folkloric fairytale manner to a more conventional fantasy pulp style which kept the plot moving at an exciting and sometimes gruesome pace. I could find only one single gripe with the entire book, and that is the final pages, for me, seemed a little rushed to a conclusion and while I do appreciate it added to the folkloric feel, it wasn't the end I was hoping for. Not that I can think of a better one, me being a hack and all. However, I think I wanted something more. Something a little more satisfying as befitted these two wonderful chara

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is one of the most original books I've read all year in terms of style and it is a debut to boot. It also sports one of the best covers of the year with M.C. Escher like art from István Orosz. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbarts reminds me a lot of Christopher Moore's recent Fool, only not as nice. Jesse Bullington twists folktales to places they have never gone before with the strength and bravado of an author much more seasoned. Forget about the Brothers Grimm. Long live the Brothers Grossbart! They kick ass, get their asses kicked, and kill demons and monsters of all sorts in their fumbly, vomit encrusted ways. This disturbingly funny tale is placed in Europe during the tumultuous 1300s when the height of the black death and fear of witches was at the tip of everyone's tongues and where magic of the worst and darkest kind is practiced. Centered on the more than aptly named Grossbarts are Hegel and Manfried. Their story goes to unexpected depths with the most unremorseful characters found anywhere. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is dark, evil, vile, and repugnant yet somehow endearing with the narrative. The Grossbarts through all the murder, debauchery, and vomit somehow see themselves as pious. You just have to follow the boys through on their journey to Gyptland where all the treasures they so richly do not deserve are housed. The ending is very satisfying as was the final conflict. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Gorssbart won't' be for everyone, especially those that want and need a hero of sorts in their tales. Yet the Grossbarts do things that would be considered courageous by most, just their reasons for doing them are more out of selfishness or self-preservation. That said even the most despicable things done and said are tempered with a humor that permeates. Hereafter the name Grossbart shall mean the most vile type of being on earth ever to have lived. I give The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart 9 out of 10 hats. Bullington is an author to watch.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is not the type of novel I usually read-- violent, nasty, and filled with unpleasant people-- yet, somehow, from the first time I picked up this text, I was entranced. Bullington's version of medieval Europe is grim but realistic, terrifying but familiar, a nightmarish landscape utterly devoid of the characters who populate your standard sword-and-sorcery romps. Yet, out of the chaos of "vomit, gore, and turnips" (so says Publishers Weekly) Bullington crafts a beautiful narrative about the actual problems real people must deal with when the world around them always seems to work to someone else's advantage. Even though many of those characters have supernatural or arcane aspects to their personalities, they never lose their grounding in humanity-- glorious, disgusting, beautiful, despicable, loving, hateful humanity-- and that is what Bullington is most adept at capturing. The best part is, it's also darkly funny and self-reflective, so it never comes across as being more than it is: a solid read as elusive as the Brothers themselves, vacillating between gross potty humor and more honest discussions of theology, women's rights, race, taxonomy, and might-makes-right cultural entitlement.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is a thrilling read, full of realistic, wince-inducing violence, monsters out of the darkest avenues of folklore, and a rich helping of gallows humor. The Grossbart brothers wander through darkest Europe in the wake of the Black Death, attracting deeply uncouth and disreputable henchmen as they do the right things for the wrong reasons, the wrong things for the wrong reasons, and debate theology from the orthodox to the heretical all the way around to a twisted orthodoxy. Townsmen, demons, and witches beset them, and yet they muddle their bloody way through it all (not unscathed!). You'll enjoy this book if you like fantasy that doesn't come from a cookie cutter, or grittily detailed historical fiction. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart isn't quite like anything else I've ever read, and I couldn't put it down once I started.