The Enterprise of Death [Paperback]

Jesse Bullington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2011

As the witch-pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse. Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent.

She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr. Paracelsus, and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank, and church wall, the young apprentice becomes increasingly aware that death might be the least of her concerns.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Moorish slave cast out of her Spanish home by war, Awa is captured by a necromancer who forces her to learn his skills. When she eventually flees, she discovers the necromancer placed a curse on her that will destroy her soul in 10 years' time-unless she can find his book of secrets, which could be hidden anywhere in the world. During her quest, Awa befriends Manuel, a painter-turned-mercenary; Monique, a lesbian gunsmith-turned-madam; and others both dead and undead. Bullington (The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart) bounces almost giddily between gruesome and tongue-in-cheek, from more horrific aspects of raising the dead to the odd problems faced by a necromancer with a conscience. Spiritual terror, Awa's star-crossed loves, and Manuel's guilt over becoming a mercenary to pay for art supplies are all grist for a relentless dark humor blended with occasional tragedy. (Apr.)
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About the Author

Jesse Bullington spent the bulk of his formative years in rural Pennsylvania, the Netherlands, and Tallahassee, Florida. He is a folklore enthusiast who holds a bachelor's degree in History and English Literature from Florida State University. He currently resides in Colorado and can be found online at www.jessebullington.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition (March 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316087343
• ISBN-13: 978-0316087346
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jesse Bullington spent the bulk of his formative years in rural Pennsylvania, the Netherlands, and Tallahassee, Florida. He is a folklore and outdoor enthusiast who holds a bachelor's degree in History and English Literature from Florida State University. He currently resides in Colorado, and his blog, as well as fan art, news, and exclusive content, can be found at www.jessebullington.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books I've Read in a Long Time April 18, 2011

By Orrin Grey

Format:Paperback

While both Jesse Bullington's debut novel and this follow up take us on a madcap tour of supernatural and historical Europe, their protagonists could not be more different. The story of The Enterprise of Death concerns Awa, who is apprenticed against her will to a necromancer and subsequently finds herself caught up in his machinations. Awa is a Moor, a lesbian and a necromancer in her own right, any one of which would probably be enough to get her into a great deal of trouble in 16th Century Europe, and she's joined in her adventures by real-life historical figures like painter and mercenary Niklaus Manuel Deutsch and even Paracelsus himself, not to mention larger-than-life figures like Monique the gun-toting soldier of fortune and Awa's various undead allies and enemies.

Like The Brothers Grossbart before it, Enterprise isn't for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. There's necrophilia, cannibalism, syphilis, reanimated corpses, and corpse-eating monsters, to name just a few. But while Enterprise is often just as gruesome, macabre, profane, and scatalogical as its predecessor, it's also much more human. While the titular Grossbart Brothers were great broad characters, the cast of Enterprise all seem more fully created and their pathos more deeply felt. It would be hard to find a hero in all of The Brothers Grossbart, but Enterprise is full of characters who, while deeply flawed, are also often genuinely heroic in their longing to do what's right.

Ultimately, The Enterprise of Death, like so many great fantasy novels, is a story of friendship and acceptance. There's a quest, as well, and magic, and monsters (just wait 'til you meet the Bastards of the Schwartzwald), but the friendships form the book's beating heart. While the exploits of Awa and her companions are still leavened liberally with a gallows humor, Enterprise is seldom as laugh-out-loud funny as The Brothers Grossbart, but the genuineness and humanity of Enterprise more than make up for any deficit. And, y'know, a bunch of Ray Harryhausen-style skeletons running around don't hurt a thing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing like it... July 4, 2011

By aliunde

Format:Paperback

Jesse Bullington's Enterprise of Death is incomparable to anything I have read to date. It tells the tale of Awa, an African slave who is marooned with her mistress on an island populated by the walking dead and their necromancer master. She survives to become a reluctant apprentice to the necromancer, and buys her time until she can escape. However, her freedom has a ten year expiration date, thanks to a precautionary curse placed upon her by the Necromancer. So she must set out to lift the curse and defeat the old Wizard, and does so by enlisting the help of renaissance painter/mercenary solider Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, who is based upon the artist of the iconic Death and the Maiden, which the cover art for the novel is based on.

One thing that makes this book unique is the balance that is struck between the fun and silliness one can have in fantasy adventure yarns, and the poignancy one can conjure from the supernatural and unexplained. Fans of Grossbarts will find the same well-researched and immersive historical backdrop, but rather than medieval Germany, it is Renaissance Spain. There are horrendous and terrifying monsters, and scenes that'll make the faint of heart squirm, and the hard of heart fist-pump the air. However, the tone is different than Grossbarts, and is not as darkly humored, because at its core Enterprise is a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love, of lifelong friendship, bildungsroman, and sexuality. Having serious themes like this set upon a backdrop of a ghoulish and terrifying world makes a magical and poetical concoction that toes the lines between Thomas Hardy's philosophical disparity and Lovecraft's cosmic fear. But unlike the characters in Hardy and Lovecraft, Awa finds people who accept her for who she is, and helps her find herself by their acceptance, and ultimately gets by with a little help from these friends. Really, that's all any of us can hope for, so I don't find the novel that bleak--just honest.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A strange, wonderful read that I would love to revist again April 21, 2011

By Sally

Format:Paperback

This is a wonderfully messed-up book, set in a wonderfully messy world, that comes across as a mixture of Terry Gilliam's most surreal, Tim Burton's most unusual, and Clive Barker' most sexual. It's a book of nightmares and fantasies that are as much the Brothers Grimm as they are the Marquis de Sade. This is a darkly cynical tale of human history, told not by the historians (and not even by the victors), but by the sad souls forced to live out its cruelties and delights, armed only with an unflinching eye and a very dark sense of humour. As readers, this is a story that demands of us an empty stomach and an open mind, as it repeatedly gives rise to open eyes and open mouths - as often in delight as in disgust.

The only thing that initially bothered me about the book was the writing style. The story regularly leaps between past and present, a narrative device that is further confused by frequent jumps in viewpoint from one character to another. As far as the language goes, it's a story that's written in a 15th century style (with some quirky turns of phrase), but full of very 21st century dialogue (that, at one time or another, is guaranteed to make every reader blush at least once). Yet, despite the contradictions and confusions, it all works . . . once the story comes together in your head, it holds fast for the duration.