Speculative Fiction Junkie

Jesse Bullington

If you regularly frequent speculative fiction sites, you've almost certainly heard about the much-hyped debut novel from Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. Author Jeff VanderMeer first blogged about it back in February of 2008 after falling into a conversation with a guy working at the local video store who turned out to be the future author. Quite a remarkable tale. As Mr. VanderMeer tells it

I was fully prepared to read the novel and make some polite sounds about it being promising–that’s just the odds. The odds of being handed a novel by a new, relatively young writer and being blown away by what you read are…very low. But that’s exactly what happened.

The story of the book's road to publication, Mr. VanderMeer's enthusiasm for it, and the awesome cover art from István Orosz made me eager to read this one. Alas, though assured that I was on the review copy list by someone at Orbit, this apparently meant the list of those who will not receive review copies. Needless to say when the book was publicly released I ran out and purchased a copy right away.

The book's plot is pretty straightforward: the Grossbart Brothers, Manfried and Hegel, are graverobbers forced by their despicable actions to flee across plague ravaged medieval Europe. They eventually hope to reach Egypt where they've heard the tombs hold untold riches. Along the way they encounter evils straight out of folklore and commit the most heinous crimes. It's no exaggeration to say that this book disgusts and repulses in almost every way that a human can be disgusted and repulsed.

But that doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable. Quite the contrary. The best thing about The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is the way Mr. Bullington integrates creatures from folklore into the medieval setting. The modern separation between the real world and the world of myth and folklore is completely eschewed here and the result is an unclouded glimpse into the horrors of the fourteenth century as seen through the eyes of that age. While much has justifiably been made about the brothers themselves, the cardinal achievement of this book is the way that it allows us to see the medieval world.

The Brothers Grossbart themselves are the second thing that distinguishes Mr. Bullington's debut novel. I've never encountered characters quite like them. Repulsively violent and disgusting they are nonetheless fairly witty and think themselves to be upright individuals. If I had to compare them to persons more familiar I'd say that they are the medieval equivalent of belligerent rednecks, rednecks whose behavior extends to far more than redneckery and displays a narcissism that completely ignores its own internal inconsistencies.

My only complaint about the book was not an insignificant one. Rather than getting more interesting as it progresses I found the plot to be less and less interesting as the book moved forward. Eventually, it felt like the characters had outlived the plot's ability to support them. It was at this point that the inclusion at the back of the book of an excerpt from K.J. Parker's The Company (review here) started to make sense.

Mr. Bullington is a great writer and I'm looking forward to reading his future work. I do not, however, think that The Brothers Grossbart is the groundbreaking book of the year that many seem to think it is, notwithstanding the wonderful story of its path to publication.

Rating: 7/10

The True First

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart was first published by Orbit books on November 16, 2009 in the United States and the United Kingdom simultaneously. Sadly, no hardcover edition is available.

[This review was not based on a review copy]