Alan Moore "The Great When" UK Signed Limited First Edition of 300, Exclusive Signed Collector's Edition

Personally signed by Alan Moore, the English writer widely regarded as the most influential writer in the history of comics and graphic novels, and is the name behind the famous book V for Vendetta.

SIGNED FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, LIMITED TO ONLY 300. 

Bloomsbury Publishing (October 2024). Alan Moore "The Great When". UK Signed First Edition, First Printing with the full number line as required on the copyright page. Signed by the author Alan Moore directly onto the limitation page. Signed limited edition of only 300 produced. Signed & numbered copies. Hardcover book with dust-jacket. Very Fine without any flaws. 

Alan Moore is an English writer widely regarded as the best and most influential writer in the history of comics. His seminal works include From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He is also the author of the bestselling Jerusalem. He was born in Northampton, and has lived there ever since.

The Great When

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...

Named a Most Anticipated Novel by Associated Press, NPR.org, Literary Hub, Reactor, Publishers Weekly, and Parade.

Reviews

“I'm not sure there's a God, but I thank Her for Alan Moore.” ―Entertainment Weekly

“One of the most significant fiction writers in English . . . Moore's influence can be felt everywhere-in our literature, on our screens, in our politics.” ―The Guardian

“[Moore's] lyrical style is a play of poetry and metaphor with a dash of dry humor . . . This is a lavishly crafted urban fantasy tale with a caustic and colorful cast, perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke.” ―Library Journal

“Like Dickens, Alan Moore has us waiting on the dock, impatient for the next installment of his breathless, time-travelling classic. A preternaturally convincing hallucination from London's fetid past transports us, in some mysterious way, over the abyss of our impoverished post-digital present. Savage, humane, comic, terrifying: and that's just the first page. Now read on.” ―Iain Sinclair

“A profound, gorgeous novel of secret magics and lost souls.” ―Sunyi Dean, USA Today bestselling author of THE BOOK EATERS

“Alan Moore is a visionary artist and a myth maker, and in The Great When he delivers the mystical core of the occult tradition of London: a fantasy novel that features Arthur Machen, Austin Osman Spare, an alternative world that is more real than ours, bookstores, crime and a city traumatized by the war. And he does this with fun, with challenging and beautiful writing, with delight and with the knowledge that there are portals and only a few can access them. This is a weird book and it's a complete joy.” ―Mariana Enríquez, author of OUR SHARE OF NIGHT

“The worldbuilding is extraordinary and the plot is utterly gripping. Readers are sure to be sucked in.” ―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Moore makes the parochial universal, the mundane sublime and the temporal never-ending.” ―Financial Times

“A rollicking adventure.” ―Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2024, Part Two

“Moore's latest is a love letter to the city of London, full of small ironies and nods to the history and character of its neighborhoods as well as its resilience post-WWII.” ―Booklist

“A wildly kinetic and entertaining adventure . . . as well as a kind of postwar coming-of-age tale for its young protagonist and his spirited companion.” ―Locus Magazine

“A dynamite story collection . . . remarkable.” ―The New York Times Book Review on ILLUMINATIONS

Alan Moore

Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English writer known primarily for his work in comic books including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The Ballad of Halo Jones, Swamp Thing, Batman: The Killing Joke and From Hell. He is widely recognised among his peers and critics as one of the best comic book writers in the English language. Moore has occasionally used such pseudonyms as Curt Vile, Jill de Ray, Brilburn Logue, and Translucia Baboon; also, reprints of some of his work have been credited to The Original Writer when Moore requested that his name be removed.

Moore started writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as 2000 AD and Warrior. He was subsequently picked up by DC Comics as "the first comics writer living in Britain to do prominent work in America",[3]: 7  where he worked on major characters such as Batman (Batman: The Killing Joke) and Superman (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?), substantially developed the character Swamp Thing, and penned original titles such as Watchmen. During that decade, Moore helped to bring about greater social respectability for comics in the United States and United Kingdom.: 11  He prefers the term "comic" to "graphic novel".[5] In the late 1980s and early 1990s he left the comic industry mainstream and went independent for a while, working on experimental work such as the epic From Hell and the prose novel Voice of the Fire. He subsequently returned to the mainstream later in the 1990s, working for Image Comics, before developing America's Best Comics, an imprint through which he published works such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the occult-based Promethea. In 2016, he published Jerusalem: a 1,266-page experimental novel set in his hometown of Northampton, UK.

Moore is an occultist, ceremonial magician,[6] and anarchist,[7] and has featured such themes in works including Promethea, From Hell, and V for Vendetta, as well as performing avant-garde spoken word occult "workings" with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

Despite his objections, Moore's works have provided the basis for several Hollywood films, including From Hell (2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), V for Vendetta (2005), and Watchmen (2009). Moore has also been referenced in popular culture and has been recognised as an influence on a variety of literary and television figures including Neil Gaiman, and Damon Lindelof. He has lived a significant portion of his life in Northampton, England, and he has said in various interviews that his stories draw heavily from his experiences living there.