Great When HC

From the New York Times bestselling author and legendary storyteller Alan Moore, the first book in an enthralling new fantasy series about murder, magic, and madness in post-WWII London.

If this London is what they call the Smoke, then that place is the Fire...

The year is 1949, the city London. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless eighteen year-old employed by a second-hand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How?

Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret: if Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse).

So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers – some from legend, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. Soon Dennis finds himself at the centre of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever...

" The Great When is a corker . . . Moore is entirely in charge here, confident and witty and pulling us along. The Great When is the first book in The Long London Quintet. If you read it, that fact will make you very happy indeed." -- Parade

"In his expansive and ambitious new novel, The Great When, Alan Moore pens a love letter to art, literature and London that's sure to capture readers' imaginations . . . He illuminates every little detail of a London reeling from the end of the war, and his joy in doing so is palpable; this book is as much a celebration of our London as it is the creation of a new one. Characters are so vividly rendered that you can practically see them in full-color illustrations . . . Readers seeking big ideas and colorful splashes of language will love exploring The Great When-and look forward to future entries in the Long London series." -- BookPage

"[ The Great When] - about a parallel London that must never be revealed - is straightforward, yet as effectively moody as you might expect from author Alan Moore, best known for his benchmark comics Watchmen and V For Vendetta." -- The Chicago Tribune

"A time-travelling epic from the mighty Moore? Yes please." -- New Scientist

"Exactly the type of hyperreal historical fantasy you would expect from Alan Moore's fertile imagination. It is also just the first installment in what is being billed as the Long London Quintet. I cannot wait to see what happens next." -- BookReporter.com