This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 11, 2022.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart

By Jesse Bullington – Orbit – October 27, 2009

Review by Robin Marx

Natural Born Killers in the 14th century. Grand Theft Wagon. This grimdark picaresque romp through the Holy Roman Empire and points beyond follows two grave-robbing brothers on a grandiose journey to loot the tombs of Egypt.

Hegel and Manfried, the titular Brothers Grossbart, are not good people. They rob from the dead and have zero compunctions about creating new corpses. Shortly after being introduced to them, we see the pair murder a family of farmers with no real provocation. This inciting event plants the seeds for future strife experienced by the brothers as well as marking the start of their medieval international crime spree. Along the way they encounter witches, demons, and brigands every bit as cruel and vicious as themselves.

The brothers are churlish, thuggish, and ignorant. They’re hot-tempered, violent, arbitrary, and petty. They’re also pious in an idiosyncratic way: they’re reverently horny for the Virgin Mary, but they don’t think much of her son. Like most villains, they view themselves as the heroes of their narrative, and despite their repellant natures, they make compelling protagonists.

The Grossbarts are perfectly at home in the medieval Europe portrayed in the book. The people they encounter tend to be every bit as treacherous and untrustworthy as themselves. The supporting cast is vicious, diseased, demented, avaricious, and/or occasionally literally in league with the devil.

This book isn’t for everyone. People who require likable protagonists and happy endings should stay away. The book is full of graphic violence and drenched in various bodily fluids. Children are casually murdered. Blasphemy is present and accounted for. But for those who can enjoy grim and dark tales, this book is exhilarating and slyly humorous.

The dialogue was the highlight of the book for me. The brothers speak in a crass and blunt dialect that never ceases to entertain. Their interactions with other characters pleasantly reminded me of Jack Vance’s Cugel the Clever stories, albeit with Cugel’s highfaluting bloviating replaced with hammer-blunt gutter slang.

My only real complaint with the book is that the pacing lags in some sections. The brothers’ sojourn in Venice seems to go on longer than necessary, and there’s an ocean journey that feels a little slow. That being said, a lot of territory (geographically and spiritually) is covered over the course of the book, and it was sufficiently gripping that I finished the final third of the book in a single sitting.

As I said, this book isn’t for everyone, but I found it a lot of fun. If you have an affinity for grimdark, this is an entertaining and wryly funny read.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 14, 2012.

Wrath of the White Tigress: A Tale of Pawan Kor

By David Alastair Hayden – Typing Cat Press – June 25, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Billed as a modern sword & sorcery tale in the tradition of Moorcock and Gemmel, this book starts with a compelling premise: an assassin tasked with killing a high priestess manages to shake off decades of mystical brainwashing. Working with Zyrella, the high priestess, he turns against the evil emperor Salahn and attempts to destroy the regime he once helped build.

I enjoyed the book, but it had a few issues. The beginning and conclusion were quite strong, but the middle part seemed to lose focus and meander a bit. I liked the main trio of characters, Jaska, Zyrella, and Ohzi, but the middle third of the book rapidly introduces a number of new faces that failed to leave much of an impression. As a result there are a couple cases of dramatic self-sacrifice that fell flat. I didn't really need the archer twins with their vague prophecy or the desert tribesmen, they were all fairly interchangeable and I would've rather spent more time with the main characters.

The prose was solid, but not particularly ostentatious. Not much time was spent on world-building, but the setting seemed interesting and a pleasant change from pseudo-Europe. The magic presented was interesting, but perhaps a little under-developed (the star-based magic was especially vague). The fast pace and action reminded me a bit of my favorite sword & sorcery stories, but the frequent divine intervention and good versus evil plot are well-trodden epic fantasy tropes and appealed less.

Hayden is a newer author, and I suspect my issues with the book are related to that. It was a fun read, though. I own another Hayden book besides this one and I plan to keep an eye out for future releases as well.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 23, 2013.

The Kingdom of Shadows

By K. W. Jeter – Editions Herodiade – June 8, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

I started this book hoping for a decent horror tale, but it turned out to be quite a struggle to get through. Set mainly in Germany during World War II, half of the plot deals with a Nazi doctor's deranged and homicidal investigation into the Lazarene—a Romani-like Christian sect believed to possess the secret to immortality—and (the less interesting) half deals with an actress of Lazarene heritage.

Despite heartbreaking circumstances (forced to act as Joseph Goebbels' mistress, having her child torn away from her), actress Marte is presented as more or less a flat, passive cipher. Concentration camp internee Pavli shows a bit more initiative, but he too is more or less a reactive character until the climax. The plot is as weak as the characters. Events happen and then the book stops. Marte's child is hinted as having some greater importance, but he doesn't really.

Throughout the book Jeter demonstrates technical competence, but I can't remember the last time I read a story this uninteresting and unengaging. It's not poorly written, just tedious and bland. It sparked almost no emotion or surprise in me whatsoever. It was only my dislike of leaving books unfinished that kept me from abandoning it partway. This is the second book I've read by Jeter and assuredly the last.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 28, 2013.

The Yellow Wall-Paper

By Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Rockwell & Churchill Press – 1892

Review by Robin Marx

This story is frequently mentioned in connection with weird and Gothic fiction, with H.P. Lovecraft himself praising it in his Supernatural Horror in Literature essay. I'm glad I got around to reading it, as it's surprisingly effective despite its brief length.

The premise isn't shockingly new (and probably wasn't even in 1892): a young couple vacation in a creepy old house, and madness ensues. The vehicle for the insanity is novel, however, as the anxiety-ridden protagonist finds herself becoming more and more obsessed and disturbed by the elaborately patterned, torn, and stained wallpaper decorating her sickroom.

Lovecraft aside, most of the commentary on this story has to do with its feminism. Readers get the sense that the protagonist isn't very well-served by her doctor husband's dismissive paternalism, and her condition is likely exacerbated by—if not completely due to—her subservient role and lack of agency. This is communicated effectively and subtly; the protagonist seems largely unconcerned by the restrictions imposed on her by her husband, while the author is clearly critical of that treatment.

While the feminist subtext is interesting (especially given when this story was released), one shouldn't overlook that it's also a really good spooky story. The atmosphere is very claustrophobic and tense, and the descriptions of the wallpaper are intriguing. The truth of what's going on is left mostly ambiguous, but concluding that the protagonist has been driven insane (by the Patriarchy!) and should therefore be distrusted is probably the least interesting interpretation.

By all means, read this as an early example of feminist literature, but don't forget that it's a nice bit of Gothic horror!

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 23, 2013.

Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form

By Anna Anthropy – Seven Stories Press – March 20, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

I think Anna Anthropy's has done great work in spreading a sort of punk rock DIY mentality to game creation, and her articles and interviews are always a treat. I found this book to be curiously lacking in passion and depth, however. The title (and statements she's made in interviews, etc.) made me expect an inspirational manifesto, but while the book was logically structured and informative, it lacked much in the way of impact. There wasn't much about people “taking back an art form,” instead the central thesis was more like “Hey, you don't have to be a formally educated programmer to make games. Here are some tools that reduce the barrier to entry.”

The “freaks, normals, amateurs...” subtitle hinted there would be some discussion about the democratization of game development, and how marginalized people were using games as a powerful tool for self-expression, but that topic was only touched upon. One of the appendices introduces some indie games, but the discussion was fairly superficial and there wasn't much to suggest why these particular games are important beyond being made by one or two people and having an offbeat concept. Another appendix suggests tools an aspiring game designer could use to get his or her feet wet, but while interesting, this section is also disappointingly brief.

This wasn't a bad book, per se, just not as radical and impassioned as the title suggested and not as substantial as I had hoped. I'd still recommend Anna Anthropy's work to people interested in game design, but they could probably benefit just as much by saving their $15 bucks and reading some of her blog posts and interviews instead.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 23, 2016.

Remember Why You Fear Me: The Best Dark Fiction of Robert Shearman

By Robert Shearman – ChiZine Publications – November 1, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

Like most short fiction collections, this book is a mixed bag. The best stories (e.g, “George Clooney's Mustache”) are quite good, but the book is dragged down by a number of competently-written but uninspired stories. Making matters worse, most of these are concentrated in the second half of the book. The ebook edition includes a few stories not found in the print version, but all of these could have been cut without being particularly missed. Another slight disappointment was that the stories were mostly dark fantasy with a level of creepiness on par with Neil Gaiman, rather than the truly unsettling early Barkeresque horror suggested by the book's ridiculously badass title and cover artwork. Overall I enjoyed the book, and will keep an eye out for Shearman's work in the future, but it didn't live up to the cover.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 2, 2012.

Context: Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century

By Cory Doctorow – Tachyon Publications – October 1, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

This is a much more balanced collection of essays than the previous volume, Content. There's still a great deal of material dealing with Doctorow's two favorite topics—the evils of Digital Rights Management software and how “Big Content” is attempting to undermine Internet culture through the abuse of copyright law—but he also mixes it up with a variety of other subjects. There are essays about his approach to writing and what tools he uses, new media versus old media, tips on raising a techno-savvy child, and a critique of the freemium business model.

Context is a more mature volume than its predecessor. When compared to Content, Doctorow seems to have developed as a writer, and his views are more well-rounded and eloquently expressed. Much like the first collection of essays, this book is pretty superfluous for a regular BoingBoing reader, but it should be a worthwhile read for the uninitiated. I recommend that the first book, Content, be skipped entirely in favor of this sequel, as Context touches upon similar topics in a less monotonous manner.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 3, 2011.

Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future

By Cory Doctorow – Tachyon Publications – September 15, 2008

Review by Robin Marx

To readers of the BoingBoing blog, Cory Doctorow needs no introduction. The contents of this book will likewise be familiar, as it covers Doctorow's favorite topics, the so-called copyfight struggle of regular folks versus overreaching intellectual property owners, the wrongheadedness of digital rights management technology, and the growing encroachment of government surveillance into everyday life. These are all important topics, and Doctorow handles them deftly. However, like Dawkins' and Hitchens' books about atheism, the people who most need to learn about these topics are also the least likely to pick this book up.

The book also suffers somewhat from a lack of variety, especially during the first half. Taken individually, they're well argued, but because most of the essays are variations of the same few themes, the compilation as a whole suffers.

In the end, it's difficult to determine who to recommend this book to. BoingBoing readers don't really need it; they can just keep reading the blog for up to date arguments on the same topics. It may be more worthwhile for people who don't know much about DRM and the conflict between intellectual property owners and Internet society, but again, I'd probably just direct them to Doctorow's work at BoingBoing instead.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 5, 2014.

Blackbirds

By Chuck Wendig – S&S/Saga Press – May 5, 2015

Review by Robin Marx

Apart from all the vampire stories I've read through the years, urban fantasy isn't really my thing, but I picked this book up because of Chuck Wendig's interesting writing blog and the fact that he's worked on some roleplaying games I've enjoyed. Blackbirds was a quick, mostly fun read, but ultimately I felt it lacked substance, suffering from characterization and plotting issues as well.

Blackbirds introduces Miriam Black, a woman in her mid-twenties who possesses the ability to touch another person and see the moment of their death. For obvious reasons, this power causes her considerable distress, inspiring her to avoid becoming too close to others, leading a reckless life as a drifter. Things are further complicated when she has a premonition of a vicious murder in which the victim's final word is her name.

Miriam is an interesting character, but I also found her slightly off-putting. Wendig goes to great lengths to shake up stereotypes of what female characters can be like (as if challenging some imagined sexist reader) by making her a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed brawler that sleeps around. That's fine, I can get behind that, but I think that combination of traits would be equally obnoxious in a male character, especially exaggerated to the extent they are here. Flawed anti-heroes and anti-heroines are great, but unrepentant losers are less appealing.

Miriam's dialogue frequently grated as well. I enjoy Quentin Tarantino's work, but all too often it felt like Wendig was likewise trying too hard with the profanity, like a gleeful junior high school nerd trying to look cool in front of older kids. A line like “Fuck off and die, fuckpie!” doesn't really strike me as a cutting display of defiance, it's more like something from one of South Park's lamer episodes.

There were some other more minor issues as well. While the female thug is fun (with two great chapters written from her perspective), the antagonists are basically cartoon characters, way too psychopathic to be the organized crime figures they're described as. And despite all the buildup, the end was a little unconvincing as well (“You can't change fate...wait!”).

I suspect that devoted urban fantasy fans would enjoy this book more than I did. It wasn't bad, per se, just not my preferred thing. I also don't have heart palpitations when I encounter women (gasp!) that drink and swear, so perhaps that particular selling point was lost on me.

I'm not compelled to rush out and purchase the next book in the series, but I might give the STARZ TV series a shot if that becomes a reality.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on July 27, 2015.

Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division

By Peter Hook – It Books – January 29, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

This is a phenomenal look at one of the most influential and mythologized bands in modern music, written by one of its founding members.

The book is written in an immensely engaging style. Rather than go for an aloof, literary voice, Hook writes as if he's telling tall tales down at the pub. Joy Division fans will find a lot to love here; the book is packed with colorful anecdotes, including many that do a lot to humanize post-punk's pseudo-martyr figure Ian Curtis. There's so much detail about individual gigs, and the sections where he provides track-by-track commentary on Joy Division's albums were especially appreciated.

While immensely entertaining, I also got the feeling that Hooky was a bit of an unreliable narrator. Some passages—about drunken fights and pre-suicide warning signs from Ian that the band had turned a blind eye to—seemed very honest and self-reflective, but it felt like (due to the current and much-publicized acrimony between them) he minimized Bernard Sumner's contribution to the band. That was the only sour note in the book for me, everything else was pitch-perfect.

Wholeheartedly recommended to even casual Joy Division fans.

★★★★☆

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