Review: The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington

For readers expecting more gruesomeness, grotesquerie, and vulgarity from the author of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, Jesse Bullington's second novel, The Enterprise of Death, will not disappoint. Cannibalism, necrophilia, venereal diseases, the walking dead (sometimes all at once!): Enterprise has these - and more! - in spades. "Pity Boabdil," Enterprise begins, and pity the reader with a weak stomach, for Bullington is a master at gritty, harrowing and awe-inspiringly macabre detail.

Enterprise follows Awa - lesbian African slave and reluctant necromancer - on her strange journey to find the book that may (or may not) break the curse her master put upon her through a Europe in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way Awa encounters fictional and nonfictional characters alike - from the pistol-toting mercenary Monique to the real-life Reformationist and artist, Niklaus Manuel of Bern. Some of these people help her, others seek to destroy her and name her for what she is; throughout, however, is Awa's perserving spirit.

If Enterprise's humor is sometimes darker and smattered less generously than its predecessor, it's because, at is heart, Enterprise is a more serious and deeper investigation into our humanity. Bullington isn't afraid to tackle questions of morality, particularly whether the performance of necromancy is good or evil, because Awa - for all that she is a witch and raises the dead with or without their permission - is trying to live the best possible life a black homosexual woman with supernatural powers can live during the Inquisition.

Bullington utilizes his writing strengths - clever, gritty prose and witty asides - much as he did in his debut. The difference is, instead of the heretical graverobbing murdering bastards at the heart of Grossbart, Enterprise has characters - despite their many sins - you can root for. Manuel and Monique, and especially Awa, all strive for genuine goodness. But, as Awa surmises, "The problem with telling tales about real people [is] no summary can convey every truth, every facet, and what is good for the hare is not good for the fox."

Enterprise skillfully continues the macabre niche Bullington is carving out for himself, but also brings something new to his table.

-Dustin J Monk

Review: The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, the debut novel by Jesse Bullington, is not for the faint of heart. The book follows antiprotagonists and twin brothers Hegel and Manfried Grossbart, graverobbing bastards and whoresons that they are, on their journey south from Germany to "Gyptland" for the riches of the Infidel tombs.  Along the way they battle witches and manticores, demons and sirens; the brothers believing themselves fighting on the side of the Virgin (though this line of thinking may not be wrong, exactly, twisted as it is).

It's sort of an anti-Odyssey with intermingling folktales, Nicolette's and the priest's tale as standouts. Sad Tale is written at times almost as an historical text (see the preface, specifically), but with closer points-of-view throughout so that the reader isn't too distanced from the pain and suffering and evil rampant throughout. Bullington wants you to feel this imagery and you do, you really do.

When it debuted, Sad Tale caused quite a ruckus because of its incredibly grotesque imagery and language and harsh depiction of Medieval Europe, and because it is difficult for readers to emphathize with its main characters, unless of course, you're an unsympathetic murdering bastard. Regardless, Sad Tale is a wonderfully readable and engrossing story. The Brothers Grossbard, for all their inane qualities, aren't stupid (or, rather, they're just smart enough). The bearded brothers are philosophers, debating theology with themselves and priests and laypersons throughout the novel; they are fierce fighters, unafraid of battle and death; they're crafty and remain cool under duress (for the most part); hell, they've got a sense of humor about things (I was laughing out loud as the brothers debated how many demons they killed and whether or not the pig was a demon; or Hegel's mistrusting of four-legged animals in general).

It is that playfulness, alongside the brothers' evil, that sets Bullington in a class all his own. In lesser hands, this book would've been too serious, too dark, too grotesque, too adrift without plot; but with Bullington it is all of those things and something more, something akin to perfection.

The Gods Be Sometimes Good: Signal Boost Wednesday

There are a great many things happening this month and next month (and for the rest of this year) with my writer comrades and, in general, upcoming books I can't wait to read. I'll try not to bog this down with too many links, but I make no promises.

Short Stories:

First, there is an excellent short story from my good buddy and Clarion kiwi, Tamsyn Muir, appearing in Fantasy Magazine this month. During the final week of Clarion, her story, "The House That Made The Sixteen Loops in Time," was less critiqued than remarked upon its absolute beauty.

You'll be able to find another Kali Wallace's story in the March/April issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Kali wrote "Botanical Exercies for Curious Girls" at Clarion and, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if she sold all six of the stories she wrote. Yeah, she's that good. In June, Kali also has a piece appearing in the Jeff & Ann Vandermeer-edited anthology, Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet of Curiosities, which you can read more about here.

John Chu's story, "Thirty Seconds from Now," is out in the Boston Review for either its May/June or July/August issue (might as well buy both). At Clarion, John was one of those writers who labored over every word. I remember sitting in the common room listening to him typing. Occasionally, he'd look up and join in whatever conversation was going on. Then he'd disappear into his room for several hours to work it all out. Junot Diaz, guest editor for Boston Review and a Pulitzer-prize winning author, selected this story.

This month Weird Tales Issue 357 will have Karin Tidbeck's "Augusta Prima." Another story, "Jagannath," will be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine. The first story is a Clarion submission story and the latter was Karin's last story critiqued at Clarion. Both are short, tense stories with a command of language veteran storytellers would kill for. Karin will also be working as a translator of foreign language stories for Leviathan 5, yet another anthology in the seemingly endless anthologies edited by the ever-busy Vandermeers (more on this in a moment).

Tom Underberg, who also labored over his words during Clarion, tending to each story as if it was one of his children, will also have a piece in the Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet of Curiosities in June. His piece, concerning an African quilt, is gorgeous and strange.

Leah Thomas, Clarion cool kid, sold her first story a few days ago to Daily Science Fiction. It might be a bit before we see this on the website, but fear not, I will keep you updated. In the meantime, you should check out her online graphic novel, Lawn Order. Zombies v. Teenagers = Win.

Adam Israel will have a story featured in the upcoming ebook anthology, "Extinct." Adam is an all around gentleman and the first of the Clarionites to dye his hair purple.

Novels:

The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington. March 24th, 2011. I'm about halfway through Jesse's first novel, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, and am thoroughly impressed. Expect a review later this week or early next on it. His second novel follows an apprentice of a necromancer during the Spanish Inquisition. Yes, please.

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine. April 25th, 2011. It's a circus story at the end of the world, sort of. I don't know much more than that but I don't think I really need to know more. That, in itself, is TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME!

The Dagger & the Coin: The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham. April 7th, 2011. I fell in love with Abraham's Long Price Quartet (if you haven't read them, I highly recommend you do) and cannot wait for this next big epic fantasy series.

The Expanse: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck). June 15th, 2011. Big space opera trilogy by, yep, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under a pen name. There's a great interview of the two of them talking about writing the book here.

Daniel Abraham, busy man that he is, also has a story on Podcastle (written under yet another pen name, MLN Hanover) and it is quite horrific - err, in the good way. He says it's the best story he's ever written. I'm not sure I agree with that but, regardless, it is quite excellent.

Anthologies:

Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories edited by John Joseph Adams. Out now. Go. Buy it. Genevieve Valentine, Paolo Bacigalupi, Ursula K. Le Guin, Cory Doctorow, freakin' Ray Bradbury.

In case you missed it, Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet of Curiosities edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer. June 2011. Two Clarionites, alongside powerhouses like Ted Chiang, Amal El-Mohtar, China Mieville, Charles Yu, Jay Lake, Tad Williams. Head. Explodes. From. Too. Much. Awesome.

Leviathan 5: The Next Wave edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer. 2012. Though this anthology isn't coming out for awhile, I thought I'd mention it because it's going to be fantastic. Jeff explains it best here. It's going to have some wonderfully weird writers from all around the world (apologies for the alliteration, but not really). Writers who don't often see their work translated into English will get that chance with this anthology. The Vandermeers are paying for the translations out-of-pocket and asking readers to donate via paypal. Go to the link above, if you haven't already, and check it out.

Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow. July 2011. Urban fantasy short stories from Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Lavie Tidhar, Naomi Novik, and more. I've never really gotten into urban fantasy, but with writers like these, you can't really go wrong.