The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart
Jesse Bullington
Language: English
Pages: 464
ISBN: 0316049344
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Hegel and Manfried Grossbart may not consider themselves bad men - but death still stalks them through the dark woods of medieval Europe.
The year is 1364, and the brothers Grossbart have embarked on a naïve quest for fortune. Descended from a long line of graverobbers, they are determined to follow their family's footsteps to the fabled crypts of Gyptland. To get there, they will have to brave dangerous and unknown lands and keep company with all manner of desperate travelers-merchants, priests, and scoundrels alike. For theirs is a world both familiar and distant; a world of living saints and livelier demons, of monsters and madmen.
The Brothers Grossbart are about to discover that all legends have their truths, and worse fates than death await those who would take the red road of villainy.
disciples chanted from across the campfire, the enormous twins among the company and devouring two slaves apiece with the maws on their legs. Magnus thrust his left arm at Hegel, the snarling rat-hand snapping its jaws over his head. Hegel’s pick went into Magnus’s groin with a dull thunk and he jumped back, blood jetting into his face. Then the monstrosity’s leg kicked out, the mouth on the sole of its hairy paw just the right size to bite off Hegel’s head. Galvanized by the Grossbarts’ heroic
their rotting hosts as the demons wreaked the full extent of their evils upon the flesh of their human mounts. The demons sprang toward the Grossbarts, bringing their stinking miasma with them. Even this could not penetrate their circles, and the Grossbarts heckled the demons and spat upon them until they realized this pleased the creatures. As the darkness dwindled and light began to creep over the sands a strange transformation in attitude took place, all three demons piling against each other
interview Have you always known that you wanted to be a writer? To the best of my memory I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller but I wasn’t always sure in what medium I would most prefer to work. I was writing short stories as soon as I could spell, and my first rejection letter was from Highlights or Cricket, one of those children’s magazines, when I was maybe seven or eight years old. At first it was just an innate desire to tell tall tales, and as I grew up I vacillated amongst ambitions
badly it slipped and shattered on the floor, dark purple berries rolling everywhere. Hegel cuffed him and gathered a handful, then guided Paolo back to a chair. He stood behind the boy, awaiting his brother’s word. “You have them, now leave us be!” pleaded Cipriano. “Thing is,” said Manfried, “this burg done sold us out. Set us up. Handed us over to bandits.” “Ain’t Christian,” Hegel added. “Wasn’t me!” Cipriano gasped. “Neither here nor there,” said Manfried. “See, you also sold us this
Manfried asked from just behind Hegel. He sidestepped the fallen horse and hefted the weapon Gertie had ambushed him with the night before. Standing beside his brother, each Grossbart looked more sinister and dangerous than he did alone. “Don’t stand to reason, try and kill us both.” Hegel nodded at Hans, who twitched on the ground, gasping and clutching the bolt in his crotch. “Want what he got? Said he did, seems to have changed his mind.” “Got no need to truck with you,” Manfried said, and