The Great When: A Long London Novel: Signed Exclusive Edition

Hardback Published on: 01/10/2024
Price: £20.00
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Great When
The Right Now
The multiverse of Londons is a fecund idea in fantasy, home to some of the best stories of the genre. So, when one of the genre’s greatest writers turns to... READ MORE
Richard Hayden in Rye
The Great When
Alan Moore guides us through a sidereal London.
Having completed his conjuring to place his hometown of Northampton at the centre of the country's collective historical consciousness with his epic tour d... READ MORE
Mr Wyrd
The Great When
Not and easy read but so worth the effort.
A phenomenal achievement. Whilst The Great When requires some serious concentration to understand it is easily one of the best books I’ve read. Dennis Knuc... READ MORE
Sarah in Wolverhampton
The Great When
My first foray into Moore's work....
A thrilling, tense and mind-bending yarn that is full to the brim with witty British-isms and cockney slang and bizarre turns of phrase that, even as a nat... READ MORE
Jackson, Expert Bookseller
The Great When
A splendid book that might not be for everyone, but that certainly grew on me...
A thrilling, tense and mind-bending yarn that is full to the brim with witty British-isms and cockney slang and bizarre turns of phrase that, even as a nat... READ MORE
Jackson, Expert Bookseller
The Great When
A surprisingly fun read
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this one, I've liked most of Alan Moore's work but there have been some of his stories that I've not liked at ... READ MORE
Sarah
The Great When
A thrilling "hold on to the seat of your pants" type of ride!
A word of warning when you start to read this book, there is a prelude - The Music at the Beginning - and it will not make sense. Read it with an open min... READ MORE
Alpa at Waterstones Brighton

Synopsis

A dark and beguiling tour through the streets of a magical London by the Sunday Times bestselling master of modern fantasy, Alan Moore

The year is 1949, the city London. Dennis Knuckleyard is a hapless eighteen-year-old who works and lives in a second-hand bookstore. One day, on an errand to retrieve rare books, Dennis discovers that one of them does not exist. It is a fictitious book, yet it is physically there in his hands nonetheless. How? It comes from the Great When, a dark and magical version of the city that is beyond time. There, epochs blend and realities and unrealities blur. If Dennis does not take this book back to the other London, he will be killed.

So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers, many of whom have their own nefarious intentions. Soon Dennis finds himself at the center of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons.

Mystical, magnificently written and hilarious, The Great When is Moore’s most imaginative work yet and the first in the fantastic new Long London series.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • ISBN: 9781526682871
  • Number of pages: 336
  • Dimensions: 238 x 154 x 34 mm
  • Weight: 540g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Great When
Moore or Less
I am both familiar with and a huge fan of Alan Moore’s graphic novels; most notably The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman, weaving the English culture of l... READ MORE
Kev McCready
The Great When
British fantasy at its very best
What a wonder this book is! Just when I thought that the fantasy wells of London had run dry comes this magnificent and unexpected treasure, opening up Lon... READ MORE
Huttson Lo
The Great When
A great start to a new adult fantasy series by the master of the graphic novel
Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for a review copy. The premise of this book was irresistible, a hapless 18 year old with a lethal magical book on the stre... READ MORE
Tabu
The Great When
London...but different. Genius
For those who lean toward immense world-building ingenuity in a sci-fiesque novel, The Great When may be precisely what you've been looking for. In it we t... READ MORE
KimG9
The Great When
The Great Bore
Firstly - thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Where do I begin with The Great When? I cannot avoid talking about Moore'... READ MORE
CollectingAndReading
The Great When
An alternative London and its myriad inhabitants
Dennis Knuckleyard is 18, still wet behind the ears, and living in 1949 London. The Luftwaffe have left their mark in the capital and, aged 9, he witnessed... READ MORE
Carole Tyrrell
The Great When
A great beginning
A new novel from The Greatest Living Englishman is always something to look forward to, and The Great When does not disappoint. Full of the joy of words an... READ MORE
The Dynamite Kid
The Great When
Mysterious and compelling
A mysterious kind of story - It seemed to take us from one decade to another and then into an alternate dimension - London and yet not London. At times the... READ MORE
Gillian Frost
The Great When
Brilliant
This is a bit….mad…..it did take me a while to get into it to be honest as it is wild, but once I got the hang of it I absolutely loved it. I felt so so... READ MORE
Elaine
The Great When
Dang it's good
Alan Moore’s The Great When is a spellbinding journey into a post-WWII London like no other. The intricate world of Long London, where magic and reality co... READ MORE
Lewis at East Kilbride
The Great When
The Great When
*The Great When* is set in 1949 London, where Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless eighteen-year-old working in a second-hand bookshop, stumbles upon a novel that... READ MORE
Mark Redman
The Great When
Promising start to a new urban fantasy series
"The Great When" marks the debut of a new urban fantasy series by Alan Moore, renowned for his work in comic books and graphic novels. Set in 1949 London, ... READ MORE
Magdalena
The Great When
One for the worst books of the year list
Where to start? I was really looking forward to this based on the premise blurb and ordered the special edition... i may as well have set fire to my money... READ MORE
Johanna Grunwald
The Great When
You will be turned inside out by the brilliance of this book
What an extraordinary story, ‘the Great When’ is, an astonishing piece of work. Seemingly fashioned from the very heart and soul of its legendary author, ... READ MORE
John Disley
The Great When
The Great What?
As a fan of Moore's storytelling via graphic novels, I was excited to pick this up and expected to enjoy every minute. Whilst the general plot is unique... READ MORE
Graham Roberts