The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart

David Gemmell Morningstar Award nominee 2009.

A genuinely new voice in genre fiction — and one of the most outrageous and remarkable fantasy debuts of recent years.

In the plague-wracked and devil-haunted darkness of Medieval Europe, an elite few enjoy opulent lives while the majority ekes out a miserable existence in abject poverty. Hungry creatures stalk the deep woods and desolate mountains, and both sea and sky teem with unspeakable horrors. For those ill-fated masses not born into wealth, life is but a vicious trial to be endured before the end of days.

Hegel and Mengele Grossbart could give a toss. Being of low birth means little, after all, when the riches of the mighty wait just inside the next crypt. The graverobbing twins know enough about crusading to realize that if one is to make a living from the dead, what better destination than the fabled tomb-cities of Egypt?

Embarking on a naïve quest for fortune, the pious yet ignoble and murderous Grossbarts attempt to keep their faith no matter the consequences. Theirs is a world both familiar and distant; a world of living saints and livelier demons, of beguiling beauties and cruel tragedies, 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.