If you like books that slather on ridiculously gory violence with a trowel and a heavy hand, offer thin plots and shallow characters, this books is for you. Aimed squarely at people with a middle-of-the-road IQ. ( )

Imagine Supernatural being recast in the 14th Century. Still there? Okay, instead of the brothers being buff and pondering their sexuality over slowly nursed beer, imagine the siblings as being bearded grave-robbers who also fight the paranormal. Was that a pitch or what? There were aspects of this book I found interesting, the long folksy conversations about theology were not bad. The problem was everything else.

I bought this novel last week in Indianapolis. There is something palpably hanting about the 14th Century. I harbored hopes the novel would plumb the psyche of such. It didn't. Some reveiews refer to this as an example of splatterpunk. I wasn't offended or shocked -- only bored. ( )

Holy crap this was awesome. I DEFINITELY recommend doing it on audio, the narrator is AMAZING!!!

It starts off REALLY brutal and you immediately want the main characters to all die. Then it gets funny. There were some parts that dragged for me, but they were outweighed by the brilliant dialogue and cool monsters. The Grossbarts give a new meaning to the words "Anti-Hero". This is a very unique book and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it.

If you don't mind gross, brutal, writing with lots of cursing and enjoy laughing your ass off, I would definitely give this a try. ( )

For the dark, cold, unceasingly wet and utterly miserable winter that’s in it, here’s a little something that’ll brighten up your day, albeit by reassuring you that if you think YOU’VE got it bad, better think again. Hegel and Manfried, the brothers of the title are a despicable pair of medieval European rednecks, narcissistically convinced of their own righteousness, who make their dubious living by robbing graves. After taking revenge on an old neighbour by murdering his family and burning his house, the brothers flee south, headed or the fabulous tombs and riches of Egypt with a lynch mob baying at their heels. Doggedly determined, cunningly violent and utterly ruthless, they carve their way across the heart of Europe encountering monsters, witches, priests, innocents, charlatans, plague and soul crushing poverty, all the while expounding their own idiosyncratic views on life and religion.

There is a great deal of nastiness in this book, as well as horrorness and disgustingness, but that doesn’t stop it from being wildly entertaining and blackly, bleakly hilarious. It’s also an effective portrait of life in 1346, grimy, grim and ugly, full of religious awe and superstition and likely to be cut short with little notice by violence, pestilence, starvation or pure random bad luck. Bad and all as the Brothers Grossbart are, there are things lurking in the mountains and valleys and forests that make them look cuddly by comparison. Well, not really,

This is one for those with a strong stomach and a wicked humour, but it is well written and hugely enjoyable, and boasts one of the best covers for years; a clever, insanely detailed optical illusion-woodcut by Istvan Oros, and while you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, this amazing image was what caught my eye initially. What I ended up with was a gleeful sort of mash up of Umberto Eco and Cormac McCarthy as written by Stephen King. So delve, if you dare, into the blasphemous, bloody, foul-mouthed world of the Brothers Grossbart. And their beards. ( )

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

I was rather excited about The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart coming out on audio. It’s excellently written and the audiobook is excellently performed by Christopher Lane who was given ample opportunities to show off his skills.

But the only parts of The Sad Tale I liked were those in which no action occurred — when the brothers were sitting around arguing with each other about philosophical topics such as Christianity (e.g., is it cannibalism to take communion, how Mary could have been a virgin, etc.). These blasphemous conversations were truly clever and funny, as were the brothers’ regular assertions that they were good Christians and their illogical justifications for their reprehensible behaviors.

But other than these bright (sort of) moments, the rest of the plot was full of horrid violence, lots of gross bodily emissions, and various other unpleasant items. I’m sure I had a look of disgust on my face the whole time, with occasional bursts of laughter during the dialogue.

I quit half way through chapter 7 when I realized that I was just not enjoying myself. However, I wouldn’t want to steer others away from this clever book, because I think it was unique and well written and likely to be enjoyed by those with more fortitude than me. And for them, let me recommend the excellent audio version of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature. ( )