Nov. 20
5:22 PM
Novel Excerpt and Reviews in Forbidden Planet and Realms of Fantasy
The current issue of Realms of Fantasy (Dec. 2009) has a review of the Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart that rocked my socks right off my feet and onto my hands, whereupon I performed sock puppet theatre in honor of said review's author. By which I mean it's a great and very flattering review, and reviewer Matt Staggs picks up on some things that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere, such as my Southern Gothic influences. He goes so far as to draw comparisons to Flannery O'Connor, which puts me over the frickin moon, and some Faulkner guy. Staggs concludes with, "...A blackly humorous fantasy full of monsters, demons and witches, there's more than enough here to engage the reader looking for that, but beneath the surface The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is a novel of surprising complexity." Thanks Matt!
And over at the Forbidden Planet International Blog Log there's a review by Joe which I'll let you read for yourselves but says, in part, "...It's not for the easily offended but for those who do pick it up its one of the most original fantasy novels I’ve read in years (if you loved SF writer Richard Morgan’s hardboiled, noir take on fantasy the other year then this is for you) and, much as I love the genre, it’s fair to say it has more than its share of interchangeable generic series, so its immensely refreshing when someone comes along and kicks the genre up its leather britches-covered behind like this. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart will be making my list of best books of the year; highly recommended." Thanks Joe!
Also, Orbit has put the first chapter of the novel online for free reading, so check it out if you're on the fence--the first chapter is, in my opinion, one of the harshest in the entire novel, so if you read it and think "I couldn't take anything stronger than that" no worries, it gets easier to stomach...or maybe you just build up a tolerance!
[Cross-posted to my website]