Review: The Sad Tale of the Brother's Grossbart

I wrote this on Amazon.com a few minutes ago, and repost it here.

This book was a maudlin, violent, disgusting, grotesque, and hilarious trek across Medieval Europe in the company of two of the most odious saints to ever consider themselves the blessed of the queen of heaven. The grave robbers of the title do unspeakable, horrific acts and even a few good deeds according to their own, particular moral code that is constantly, and hilariously hammered out in discussion between the twins. They smite demons, make deals with witches, murder children, and aid their fellow man as they see fit to judge them meritorious, living moment-to-moment on their journey from Germany, through Italy, and into Egypt. ("Gyptland" as they call it.) 

Beyond just the brothers, they encounter all sorts of comically individual characters, each with their own particular moral codes that get hashed out along the way as the constant moral debate of the scoundrels picks up or abandons, celebrates or condemns, blesses or murders all the people along the way. One thing is certain, the Brothers Grossbart are anti-heroes of the blackest sort, and as long as they are in a book where one need not actually smell them, wildly charismatic. 

I recommend this book to fans of Rowan Atkinson's "Black Adder" character in particular, and perhaps fans of Monty Python's "Quest for the Holy Grail".


I gave it four out of five stars at Amazon, but I would have liked to give it four-and-a-half. The only very, very minor quibble I had with the book (and this is like whining that there's just a little too much butter on your delicious pancakes. "Shut up, you got delicious pancakes! With butter, even!") was that some of the fight scenes had so much happening between all the different characters that I had to read them quite slowly and often reread passages just to keep all the many, many flying limbs and weaponry in order in my head. This is such a minor quibble, I felt no need to mention it at Amazon, and I'm half-debating deleting it now. (I mean, the pancakes were so very delicious, but that little extra butter you put on top was...)