Alan Moore’s latest novel, The Great When, is Waterstones Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of the Month this September. You can pick up the bookseller’s exclusive paperback edition of the intriguing first “Long London” adventure in any of their shops.
The Exclusive Edition features a double cover, sprayed edge, an exclusive essay from Alan and a sneak peek at what’s coming next in the world of Long London.
Thanks to its Book of the Month status, if you buy the novel in some larger Waterstones stores, you’re currently entitled to a free drink if they also host a cafe, as some shops – coincidentally those in central London – do. Which makes the £9.99 cover price even more of a bargain…
I was in the wrong London. It was horrible. I’d fallen in by accident, and it was all alive and trying to eat me.
First published last year, the opening instalment in the fully mapped out Long London pentology, The Great When sees Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, From Hell and Jerusalem, weave an intricate tale of sorcerers, booksellers and the occult in a mystical version of the capital.
It offers a propulsive tour through a fantastical London, where history and myth collide, murder stalks the streets and the mundane becomes very magical indeed…
In his review of this first of the planned quintet for downthetubes, Joe Gordon described the novel, featuring a cover by Nico Delort, as, “unusual and fascinating” and the author’s take on his alternate London as a “Surrealist acid trip.”
The year 1949, the city London.
Hapless second-hand bookseller Dennis stumbles through a city still shaking off the war. While out procuring inventory, Dennis’s life changes forever when he chances upon a novel that shouldn’t exist; an entirely fictional book from inside another novel.
The book hails from The Great When, a magical shadow-London, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts like Crime, Poetry and Riot are incarnated as mystical beings that stalk the streets. This discovery brings terrible danger, as the book’s presence leaves the doorway open between the two Londons, and The Great When must remain a secret.
Soon Dennis finds himself in the city’s occult underbelly, negotiating sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers – some imaginary, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. If Dennis cannot return the book and close the gate, he risks dire repercussions…
Neither London will ever be the same again.
History collides with magic in The Great When. Dark, ridiculous, propulsive, Sunday Times bestseller Alan Moore opens the gates to capital metafictional chaos in the genre-busting first instalment of the Long London series.
Alan Moore is most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written novels and performs “workings” (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.
TV adaptation in the works
Colin Callender’s production company Playground Entertainment, the producers of Wolf Hall and All Creatures Great and Small announced it had secured the rights to make the book into a television series late last year.
Despite past issues with previous adaptations of his work into film and TV, Moore is fully onboard with this project and, Deadline reported last December, “excited and enthusiastic” about collaborating with Playground on The Great When TV series.
“In Playground, I feel that I’ve connected with people who respect both me and the narrative and are receptive to such input as I can offer,” he said. “And, given Playground’s track record, I have little doubt that this will be anything short of spectacular. It’s taken me some time, but I think at last I’m ready for my closeup.”
• The Great When: A Long London Novel (Exclusive Paperback Edition) is available in Waterstones stores and available to buy online here | Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | ISBN: 9781526643247
• Read Joe Gordon’s review of The Great When here on downthetubes
• The Great When is also available in paperback and hardback editions from other good bookshops now | uk.Bookshop.org Affiliate Link | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
• Nico Delort is online at nicolasdelort.com | Instagram
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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