Preview
  • The Great When

  • The Long London Quintet, Book 1
  • By: Alan Moore
  • Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
  • Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (17 ratings)

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The Great When

By: Alan Moore
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
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Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents The Great When by Alan Moore, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

This audiobook features an exclusive essay, The True History of What Didn’t Happen, written and read by Alan Moore.

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.

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.
©2024 Alan Moore (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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What listeners say about The Great When

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Well-written Fantastical Tale

I just have the feeling that people more familiar with this author’s works will get more from the book than I did.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another great outing.

Moore’s command of the English language ranges from flowery and decadent to grimy and elegant in the span of a heartbeat, and every descriptive got a reaction from me. Engrossing and thought provoking, especially the last act. It could use a second volume!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A struggle for the first two thirds

Much of the first half comes off as decorative, pretentious word salad but I had to hang in because I know the genius of Moore all too well. The last third is quite engaging, so much so that I will be re-listening soon. For now, though, I can only give it a middling review.

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