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The Enterprise of Death

by Jesse Bullington (Goodreads Author)

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 363 ratings · 68 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 464 pages

Published March 24th 2011 by Orbit (first published March 1st 2011)

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Oct 24, 2011 Nigel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jesse Bullington's follow-up to The Sad Tale Of The Brothers Grossbart is just as energetic, muscular, horrific, violent, inventive, fast-paced and icky as his debut. What wrong-footed me slightly was the sympathetic lead characters when I had mentally braced myself for more in the way of entertainingly sociopathic monsters wreaking havoc on the innocent and the guilty and the spectacularly evil alike. Instead we get Awa, an ex-slave forced into an apprenticeship by a necromancer, as nasty a pie...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Laurie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is historical fantasy like I’ve never read before. When a ship wreck leaves teenagers Awa, a Moorish slave, Omorose, her harem girl master, and Halim, a eunuch, stranded on what is probably the Rock of Gibralter, they are found, imprisoned, and trained by a necromancer. His attendants- including his mistress- are animated corpses ranging from the recently dead to skeletons and they prevent any escape. In the end, only Awa is left alive as the necromancer’s protégé. He leaves her for ten yea...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Sissel Mangurten rated it 5 of 5 stars

Once again, Jesse Bullington produces a hilarious work of fiction, rife with historical curiosa and universal depravity.
Having finished The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, I realised that I hadn't read anything as outright brutal since Blood Meridian. Needless to say, I was hooked. The Enterprise of Death is written in much the same style as The Brothers Grossbart, but the protagonist is decidedly more human and sympathetic.
Still, that doesn't prevent the book from being highly graphic. It...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

So not only is our heroine a competent black woman, she's a competent gay black woman. She's also not the only gay or bisexual character in the book, and "alternate" sexuality is never portrayed as something weird or bad. Monique and Awa are probably the strongest characters in the entire book, and what's better is they don't wind up in a romance with each other. That's right, there are two lesbians in the book, but they're allowed to decide they're not romantically suited to one another and mov...more So not only is our heroine a competent black woman, she's a competent gay black woman. She's also not the only gay or bisexual character in the book, and "alternate" sexuality is never portrayed as something weird or bad. Monique and Awa are probably the strongest characters in the entire book, and what's better is they don't wind up in a romance with each other. That's right, there are two lesbians in the book, but they're allowed to decide they're not romantically suited to one another and move on. Had the premise not intrigued me in the first place, I'm pretty sure that would have been enough to convince me to pick up the book. (On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure this book passes the Frank Miller test.)

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be uneven. There were some really strong parts that almost make me want to overlook the weaker parts, but this sadly isn't a case where one can make up for another. I love that while Awa is a gay black woman who deals with racism and the assumption that everyone is straight, neither of those parts of her dictate her character. They're allowed to be facets of her rather than standing in as an excuse for character traits, and I'm positively gleeful about that.

So what were the less than giddy bits? Well, let me pull out a passage for further discussion:

Two individuals of the opposite sex will, if forced to go on a journey together, fall in love. Often begrudgingly, and with a great deal of reluctance by at least one of the parties, to be sure, but love will fall as surely as night after day. In the unlikely event that one of the two is homosexual, asexual, already in a loving relationship, or otherwise disinclined from romancing their traveling companion, love will fall all the harder, like cannon fire upon a charging cavalry: indeed, the less likely the two are to fall in love naturally, the more certain it is that the sojourn will bring them together.
Somehow, preposterous though it may sound, Awa and Manuel did not fall in love on their journey together, in spite of the wife at home who adored Manuel, in spite of Awa's lack of sexual interest in men, in spite of their mismatched personalities, and in spite of their growing and mutual fondness for one another. The best they could muster was a lessening of fear on Manuel's part and the honest --if painfully disinterested-- observation on Awa's part that Manuel was not so bad-looking, and that was only observed as the result of some self-deprecating jibe the artist had made about his own downward-angling nose. Pathetic.

The genre-savvy of this passage entertains me to no end. I'm pretty sure I giggled out loud when I came to it. The sudden jump to omnipotent narration, though, doesn't particularly fit in with the general tone of the book, which tends to third person limited.

That's actually one of my issues with the book. It's all over the place. The only thread drawing everything together is Awa herself, as the story meanders from one setting to another. It tries very hard to make our protagonist a well-rounded character, and therefore wants to show everything in great detail. We get long chapters featuring Awa as a young slave, then the story changes completely to show her under the tutelage of the necromancer, and another shift to her on the road, running from religious folks intent on killing her as a witch. Whether she's searching for a way to break her curse with a pair of ghosts in tow or living in a brothel (as a doctor of sorts, not a whore), it's presented in great detail and while the lengthy passages are interesting on their own, they don't so much feel like they fit in together so well. It felt like reading a series of stories rather than one long narration, and as a result this book took me forever to get through. A few of them could have been trimmed or cut completely and very little would have changed plot-wise. That's right, there are long sections in which nothing happens to move the plot forward.

It's also not the smoothest prose I've ever read. In the two paragraphs above, there are at least two nitpicky things I could get petty over, but since this is a review and not a critique group, suffice it to say the prose manages to get the point across but never approaches anything like beauty.(less)

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Jul 30, 2011 Ruth rated it 1 of 5 stars

c2011. Now, I love fantasy and history and I readily admit that I must be a closet ghoul - but this book? Nah, no way, huh?? It has such good reviews which invegieled me into ordering the book in the first place. The plot didn't put me off but the style of writing was not to my taste. I really did not like the attempt at regional accents by means of apostrophes or misspelling - but that is a personal dislike of mine - I find it hard to pass such a sentence without sounding it out to get an idea...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Nathan Simpson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is probably the most interesting fantasy novel I've read on the topic of necromancy, and the first I've read by this author. I've a fair amount of knowledge on various occult/folklore topics, and it's clear that the author did his research both historically and "magically." The story follows a runaway Moorish slave in 16th century Europe as she attempts to free herself from the clutches of a mad necromancer who has taught her all she knows of the subject for sinister purposes of his own.

Thi...more

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May 16, 2011 Tj rated it 3 of 5 stars

(2011, Orbit Books) Jesse Bullington's The Enterprise of Death is a horrific romp through Medieval Europe during the Inquisition on the verge of the Protestant Reformation. This tale is sometimes dark, sometimes funny, sometimes meaningful, and sometimes all of these things simultaneously. Awa is a young Moor and slave. Her company is captured, and she finds herself under the tutelage of a vicious necromancer. She learns his dark arts and becomes a necromancer, too. Her tutor places a curse on h...more (2011, Orbit Books) Jesse Bullington's The Enterprise of Death is a horrific romp through Medieval Europe during the Inquisition on the verge of the Protestant Reformation. This tale is sometimes dark, sometimes funny, sometimes meaningful, and sometimes all of these things simultaneously. Awa is a young Moor and slave. Her company is captured, and she finds herself under the tutelage of a vicious necromancer. She learns his dark arts and becomes a necromancer, too. Her tutor places a curse on her and wants her for her body in the darkest of ways imaginable. She roams Medieval Europe, finds friends, and seeks out a way to break her curse.

The friends she finds include several historical figures including real-life occultist Peraclesus and the artist Manuel Deutsch (whose art provides quite an evocative cover image). Another friend, Monique, is a foul-mouthed gun-toting blacksmith and pimp who utilizes Awa's skills in communicating with spirits (including the spirits of venereal diseases) to keep the "cleanest" whorehouse in Paris running a profitable business. These friendships form the heart and soul of this novel.

There are massive battles, walking skeletons, monsters, and inquisitors with cellars full of torture devices. The novel is a manic hodge-podge of myth, fantasy, and history blended together into a contemporary pulp narrative. This is both the novel's strength and weakness. The narrative is quickly paced, but sometimes the modern language – especially in dialogue – is a little jarring considering the setting. The language utilized throughout – sometimes sounding medieval while utilizing modern sayings and profanity – can best be described as anachronistic. Also, Bullington tends to have a tendency to change perspectives and settings in his third-person narrative randomly which can be quite jarring at times.

Also, the action taking place in the novel is flat-out disgusting and profane, especially during the initial formative chapters. This may prove problematic for some readers. Fair warning: The novel contains liberal doses of gruesomeness including graphic scenes of necrophilia, cannibalism, and even self-cannibalism. In honesty, at one point during the first part of the novel I seriously considered putting the book down. I wasn't that into it, and it seemed to be disgusting and shocking simply to be disgusting and shocking. During the first half of the narrative, I couldn't quite get my head around the point of the nastiness. It seemed juvenile and, well, gross. And this is coming from someone who spent a large chunk of his formative years reading Clive Barker and devouring Cronenberg films.

But I'm glad I didn't give up. The book was truly worthwhile. The friendships that develop are extremely well-drawn and compassionate. The underlying themes of friendship, faith, and bravery in the face of adversity are nicely explored. The characters – especially that of the protagonist – are quite flawed but manage to be extremely understandable and relatable. In fact, this reader found himself extremely sympathetic towards the characters of Awa and Manuel in particular. The Bastards of the Schwarzwald and the hyena near the end are welcome additions and an interesting take on their folkloric roots. In fact, the final half of the book and the ending are actually quite wonderful. Despite the darkness of the earlier chapters, the book left this reader with a nice warm fuzzy feeling which was, well, unexpected, and quite nice. (But the story remains more than a little twisted – it's not all sunshine and roses in the end. A crazy Bollywood ending complete with big smiles, singing, and happy dancing would have been quite the disappointment, after all.)

Yes, I liked this book very much despite my repulsion during much of the first half. I guess you could say that The Enterprise of Death is a grower not a shower. In fact, I recommend it heartily if you have a strong stomach with a strong tolerance for the profane. My six pack rating: 4 out of 6 mugs of a stout mead accompanied by a nice shredded long pork barbecue sammich.
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Apr 12, 2011 Jonathx rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book to death!

I really enjoyed how uncomfortable this book made me feel and how I got to read about some truly different and difficult ideas. It was a truly mind expanding book, insofar as it put a whole slew of ideas in my head that I'd never encountered anywhere else before.

It's a very intellectually confronting book- hooray! Despite the generally grisly subject matter it's also a surprisingly tender book. I really came to love the main character, Awa, and I absolutely enjoyed r...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Ashish rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, horror

It started brilliantly, then lost itself in a wash of emotional outpourings and muddled, confused and somehow unlikeable new characters. Book One was almost reminiscent of the Larry Niven Warlock series - fantasy that essentially creates the environment and the tools for a puzzle - and then leads you to the resolution of it using only those same rules. At its heart, its an intellectual exercise - how would we do this - and in Books Two and Three, The Enterprise of Death loses that focus.
How? H...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Lee Battersby rated it 2 of 5 stars

Starts off well, with a thunderous, graphic and stomach-churning opening that makes it very clear that you're not going to be reading a stereotypical soft-focus Medieval wish-fulfillment fantasy, but fails to maintain its power. The ending rises near to the level of the opening, but there is a long, flat period in the middle that simply goes on far too long, with far too little happening, and it quickly becomes clear that the author has run out of genuine surprises and is simply relying on shock...more

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Jul 23, 2011 J. rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Enterprise of Death is nothing if not original and engaging. Awa, a young African slave is taken, against her will, by an evil necromancer who teaches her just enough of his craft to use her for his own nefarious designs. When he leaves his body Awa is granted ten years after which he will return to inhabit her body with his spirit.

Awa teams up with a Dutch mercenary, who has an artistic side and a penchant for painting nudes, and a Dutch prostitute to find the talisman that will help her to...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Sean the Bookonaut rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-review

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Enterprise of Death is the second of Jesse Bullington’s novels.

The first - The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart was likened to a cross between Tarantino and Rabelais by the Guardian and Jenne Bergstrom from the Library Journal described it as:

‘A zestfully grotesque adventure; not for the squeamish or faint of heart’.

So with Tarantino’s foray into pseudo-history (Inglourious Basterds) firmly in my mind I set out to read.

And it was a good thing to have such a sign post to prepare me - this...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Ryandake rated it 4 of 5 stars

after i read the sad tale of the brothers grossbart, i swore i'd never read another of bullington's books. while the aforementioned book was well-written and had some interesting scenes, the overall grossness of the book, the gratuitous viscera, and the general juvenilia really put me off.

but i'm glad i don't always keep my promises, because the enterprise of death was a really good read. i probably would not have bought it but for the Big Idea piece on Scalzi's site (read it here), which really...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is about necromancy and the Inquisition and European art and slavery in the 15th century, and is a thesis on the origin of Death and the Maiden. It's also a ripping adventure tale.

It is disturbing and gross enough that I can't recommend it to anyone, but it also contains some of the best friendship/chosen family stuff and the best homecoming scene between a husband and a wife that I've ever read. I had to put it down sometimes because the gross and horrifying parts are super-intense, b...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Lois Miller rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book gave me pause. What is Bullington trying to achieve with his characters? How does a white man create a protagonist who is black, gay and a slave with authenticity? Indeed, Bullington has two primary lesbian characters in addition to their lovers. As other reviewers have noted the book is filled with extreme violence, physically, sexually and emotionally. Awa, the main character, leads a doomed life. As much as I wanted to put the book down, I kept reading in hopes that her soul would f...more

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May 07, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Fantasy books take a few chapters for me to adjust to; I am always shocked that NOTHING is off the table. But once I get into the features of the world, I'm like, why not raise the dead, bring them back, use them to heal the living? So that part is fun. And the characters are likable, for the most part (maybe a little fuzzy around the edges toward the climax). I wish the writing style could have been more consistent throughout, and why did the author/editor keep using "alright"? When has that ev...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Chuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great follow up to the 'Brothers Grossbart'. I have a strong stomach and at times this one had me grimacing. I thought the premise of 'Grossbart' was better but the plot petered out toward the end, whereas 'Enterprise' ends much stronger. The character development in 'Enterprise' is deeper, you care a little more. Where the brothers were fun to watch, the characters in this one hold your attention because you start to care, just a little.

Don't get me wrong -- this is Jesse Bullington, it's sti...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lesbian, taboo

I’d never heard of Jesse Bullington before stumbling across The Enterprise of Death, so I had the pleasure of entering into it with no expectations. To be honest, I’m not sure having heard of him previously (or having read The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart), would have made a lick of difference. This is the kind of book that beats you over the head, robs you of your expectations, and then forces you to watch as it tears those expectations to shreds, stomps upon them, and gleefully urinates...more I’d never heard of Jesse Bullington before stumbling across The Enterprise of Death, so I had the pleasure of entering into it with no expectations. To be honest, I’m not sure having heard of him previously (or having read The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart), would have made a lick of difference. This is the kind of book that beats you over the head, robs you of your expectations, and then forces you to watch as it tears those expectations to shreds, stomps upon them, and gleefully urinates upon the mess . . . all while you nod delightedly and ask to do it all again.

Yes, 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 world of The Enterprise of Death is one populated almost entirely by the scum of society - soldiers, slaves, eunuchs, prostitutes, and criminals without an ounce of morality between them. Even those characters who don’t revel in evil and brutality are often casually cruel, and at least amoral, if not immoral.

Of course, when the choices available are between the supernatural horrors of zombies and vampires, and the all-too-human horrors of necrophilia, bestiality, and cannibalism, it’s really hard to fault the characters for not being paragons of virtue. They are, however, disturbingly endearing characters (particularly Awa and Monique) with whom we are more than happy to tag along on this journey through the horrors of the Inquisition, even if we’d prefer not to shake hands at the end of said journey.

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.

Quite possibly the strangest book I’ve read in a very long time, it’s also one I find myself thinking about reading once again (something I rarely do). I’d love to get my hands on a physical copy, to smell the ink, to feel the paper, to suffer the weight of it in my hands, and to get lost in the experience of reading. Perhaps too dark and morose for a beach read, I suspect it would be an entirely fitting read for a hot, stuffy, candlelit room during a violent summer thunderstorm. While not for everybody, if the subject matter and storytelling style present any appeal, then it’s worth investing the time in a read.(less)

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Apr 20, 2013 Jason added it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, read-2013

5 Stars

Enterprise of Death is my cup of tea. I loved it…I had so much fun reading and eating up every word. I will remember the heroine Awa for a long time, she is something else. Bullington has created a really cool, dark, dirty, and not very nice world, where 3 young people are kidnapped by a horrible necromancer. I was already a Jesse Bullington fan as I thoroughly enjoyed his first novel The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart which I read a couple of years ago. This book would be a better la...more 5 Stars

Enterprise of Death is my cup of tea. I loved it…I had so much fun reading and eating up every word. I will remember the heroine Awa for a long time, she is something else. Bullington has created a really cool, dark, dirty, and not very nice world, where 3 young people are kidnapped by a horrible necromancer. I was already a Jesse Bullington fan as I thoroughly enjoyed his first novel The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart which I read a couple of years ago. This book would be a better launching point for those unfamiliar with his style as it is not nearly as graphic as the Brothers, and it is more fully realized.

Bullington has created a unique story about necromancy, raising the dead, eating the dead, and torturing the living. He casts our heroine into an unimaginable situation and has a routing for her the whole way through. I loved all the world building around the necromancy. It is a fascinating type of magic that is done just right in this book. I loved much of the banter between young Awa and her captor the necromancer.

A conversation between the two discussing a major aspect of necromancy:

““You’re dead,” the necromancer breathed in her ear. “But you’re not. It’s how we can prolong our lives—instead of sleeping I let myself die for a little while, so that the days granted my mortal flesh are extended. Yes, days. Picture your life as a day, Awa, with dawn your birth and sunset your death, and everything in between a single, impossibly long day. The sun keeps its pace regardless of whether we are waking or sleeping, and eventually twilight comes for even the most long-lived creature. You already know several means for healing yourself, for slowing the sun, as it were, but now I’ll teach you something better —how to freeze the sun in the sky of your life, to bring it to a standstill. The only way to cheat death is to die first, to give yourself willingly, and with the methods for revival.””

There are some really deep themes that are explored in this book. What is Good? Or Evil? Is there a God? Heaven? Hell? Is there a balance that we must stive for??? The characters are all flawed, and they know it, yet it is that which makes them likable and real.

I really enjoy Jesse Bullington’s writing style and feel that this is the perfect book for people to get to know him. His books are real page turners. They are original. They are damn fun to read. The first of his books The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is a much more graphic novel that some will be turned off by. His novels really are not for the faint of heart or the squeamish…To me he is an author not to be missed and The Enterprise of Death is one of my favorite reads of 2013….Highest recommendations!!!

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Aug 22, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is probably the most gruesome, macabre and twisted book I have ever read. That said, it's also somehow weirdly gleeful and sweet at the same time. Bullington crafts an utterly original fantasy set at the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition, so the gory and macabre events kind of fit the time period. But be warned, this is seriously not for the faint of heart. For example, there is more than one instance of someone raping a re-animated corpse. If you're up for that sort of thing, it's a hel...more

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May 01, 2011 Sean rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jesse Bullington's follow-up to his massively enjoyable first novel The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart has ambitions to a greater complexity and richer characterisation. To some extent he succeeds, but I reluctantly have to admit that it didn't entirely work for me. The book is a convoluted tale of lesbian necromancers, whores, soldiers and artists, set against a Europe in turmoil. The Inquisition is in full swing, but Luther has posted his paper and the enlightenment is stirring. Bullington...more Jesse Bullington's follow-up to his massively enjoyable first novel The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart has ambitions to a greater complexity and richer characterisation. To some extent he succeeds, but I reluctantly have to admit that it didn't entirely work for me. The book is a convoluted tale of lesbian necromancers, whores, soldiers and artists, set against a Europe in turmoil. The Inquisition is in full swing, but Luther has posted his paper and the enlightenment is stirring. Bullington serves up a tasty collection of quirky individuals, all at odds with the conventions of their time in one way or another. His trademark vigorous salty language and fantastical beasties are all here, but there is another level that explores the struggle of misfits toward self-actualisation and the mutual support that develops between those for whom the mainstream is a threat rather than a nurturing womb. One of the charming aspects of the book is the use of actual historical figures in the form of the maverick doctor Paracelsus, and even more pertinently, the Swiss artist (and writer, and politician, and soldier) Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, whose artworks are woven into the set pieces of the story. The less effective parts of the book come early on. There is an extended segment describing the forced magical education of the black slave Awa by an evil necromancer wherein I found myself having to constantly double back and re-read to follow the narrative. There seems to have been some difficulty balancing out the introduction of the suite of characters, so that I was sometimes at a loss to sense where my focus should lie, and there is an amount of temporal back-and-forthing that is somewhat confusing. As the book progresses though, these start to fall more into place, and by the latter half I was rolling along quite nicely with their misadventures and foibles. Jesse introduces some pretty nice monsters, including a rather original take on the age-old vampire myth, but also makes you care ultimately for the cast of odd-bods and their particular struggles. While I remain critical of some aspects of this novel, in the end I would have to say I went away with a warm regard for the characters and their stories. Plus I also went and looked up the work of Niklaus Manuel Deutsch of Bern, who, though in some ways a rather ordinary man, was at the same time remarkable, in the way of his age.(less)

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Jan 10, 2011 Liviu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011_release_read, genre-fantasy, read_2011

This is an interesting book in many ways and i think that if you liked the author's debut - which I fast forwarded several times through and never found the entry point to make me read it more carefully, though I am not ready to drop it yet from the pile since I may once be just in the mood for it - you will like this more since the content is more unpredictable and the characters from Awa to Manuel and Monique are more interesting and less of a caricature, but I had two major issues with the bo...more

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May 03, 2011 Electric Funeral rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, fantasy

Memorable characters (especially the "villains"!), an original take on necromancy, solid research on the time and culture of the renaissance and a fast paced writing style - the perfect novel for all fans of gritty and grim but humorous fantasy. Bullington seems to loose his plot a little in the middle third of the book (due to some retrospective confusion) but makes up for it with a furious ending. Great entertainment for everybody who always had sympathy for graverobbers, necromancers and lesb...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Nicholas Lubofsky rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an absolute masterpiece — the best book I've read in many years. Bullington explores the supernatural to the exciting depths reminiscent of Anne Rice, all within a riveting adventure experienced by protagonists who are such vivid three-dimensional characters, one can't help but to fall in love with them. Plus, he's able to do all this while cleverly anchoring the story within a framework of real historical people and events.

Bravo, Bullington. You are a genius.

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Jan 13, 2012 Darshan Elena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Morbid fantasy as its most delightful! I loved this novel. It was smart and funny, creative and historical. Based on several historical figures such as Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, Enterprise of Death proves a pure pleasure for folks interested in the imperialist and renaissance movements of Europe in the 1500s and a boon for graverobbers and necromancers... or their fetishists such as myself!

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May 15, 2011 Daniel2 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not done reading yet, but this dude needs to read Strunk and White. The overuse of adjectives is driving me crazy. Just a very immature writer, technically speaking. A little lazy and self indulgent, too. And only four chapters in!

Alright, so i finished it. The guy is a talented writer, or could be with a more discerning pen. The book was just unnecessarily crass. The main character was sort of weak, enough so that i didn't really care what happened to her.

It read too much like a deadwood episo...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Efseine added it

Shelves: unfinished

46 pages in and it hasn't grabbed me, possibly because I either loathe or am indifferent towards all the characters. Bullington has a great prose style, though, so I might pick this one up again, or try his first novel, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.

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Apr 11, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-books

The book started out promising: unique premise, great authorial voice, lesbians, necromancers, the Middle Ages, just about everything I'd want in a book! Unfortunately, the promise of awesomeness did not last the whole way through, mostly (I think) due to odd plot pacing and poorly managed POV and time switches. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, though, thanks to the fun characters and very interesting amalgamation of history and fantasy. I look forward to checking out Jesse Bullington's first boo...more

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May 30, 2011 Tamara added it

Shelves: author-male, switzerland, bern, spain, paris, europe, female-protagonist, fantasy, france, germany, historical, horror, immortality, lgbt-content, male-protagonist, medieval, vampire, death, renaissance, you-can-choose-your-friends

For a rather twisted book, all about necromancy (and often graphic necrophilia) its also rather funny and ultimately life affirming, even happy. A few of the minor characters could have stood to get a bit more development, and some rather important elements seemed to come out of nowhere, but those are somewhat minor quibbles for a largely fun book with some interesting, disquieting currents running through it.

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Feb 05, 2012 Thomas Baltes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bullington's sophomore effort was in many ways, much better than his first novel "The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart", the character development was far more complex and complete as we see Awa develop from her state as an apprentice into the cunning and yet compassionate adult we see at the end of the novel. In terms of quality and background research Bullington is second to none, doing extensive research on all of his perspective subjects and filling in narrative voids, such as the chapters...more

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Fantasy > Dark Fantasy

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Historical Fiction > Medieval

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Dark

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Science Fiction

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Humor

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About Jesse Bullington

Author. Dream Weaver. Visionary. Plus Actor. So long as you're cool with discovering just how dull I really am, I welcome adds here, on FB, LJ etc.

My novels The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and The Enterprise of Death are available in a variety of languages. I have it on admittedly shaky authority that they are charming. My third novel, The Folly of the World, will be released in December of...more

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The Enterprise of Death

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