I received an ARC of this from Netgalley. After loving Alan Moore's Watchmen, Swamp Thing and From Hell graphic novels I was very excited to see that he was writing a fantasy book about my hometown of London and immediately knew that I wanted to read it.
However I didnt enjoy it like I hoped to and actually found it a real slog to get through and only persevered because it was an ARC.
The book is about the main character of Dennis who gets embroiled with the unknown, strange and hidden side of London when a book that doesn't exist comes into his possession. He is tasked with returning the book and a lot of weirdness follows.
I found the writing style to be overly descriptive, to the point that a page of descriptive tangents would have me losing the plot and the will to carry on reading. The scenes set in the alternative london may have been 5-6 pages without a single full stop. This made it very hard to follow and understand what was happening, which I think was the point, but I didnt enjoy it.
There was humour to the book, which I liked. It reminded me very much of the film Lock Stock in a lot of ways but even that didn't redeem the book.

Overall I guess I would describe this book as a more meandering, drug induced weird uncle to Simon R Greens Nightside Novels. I am very glad that I read it but will not carry on with the series.

A mirror London exists and when Dennis Knuckleyard discovers it, his world will turn upside down. It is 1948 and he works in a bookshop. When he is sent to pick up some books and comes back with a book that doesn't exists in this Lonson his problems begin. Surreal and visual as you would expect from Alan Moore this story moves a pace with great setting in post war era and brings a good cast of characters into play.

Thank you very much to the publishers for the ARC, I was very excited to read this book as I've enjoyed Alan Moore's comics and loved the story concept. I couldn't read it, though. I tried. I promise you, I tried. But the mixed metaphors within single sentences and the over the top trying way, way, way too hard made it unreadable for me. I want to sink into a story and be entertained. I don't mind doing some work and I love creative use of language, but this was too much. I couldn't figure out what was happening unless I read every paragraph two or three times and then, well, not much was happening. An overabundance of unnecessary description. It all felt self-congratulatory and pretentious and I wasn't having any fun and started to feel quite angry. Not for me. Two stars for imagination and professional polish, but arrrrrgh.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, the synopsis made it sound just like my sort of thing. The story and characters were all interesting but I did find the writing style strange and heavy going, quite jarring at times. I'm sure that lots of people will love this but really it was just not for me.

The Great When is an alternative version of post war London, bringing together a familiar historical setting with a fantastical set of circumstances. Dennis is sent on an errand by his landlady and employer at the bookstore, which sets off a chain of events that leads him to another version of the world he knows. Once discovered, there is no turning back and Dennis finds himself in an intense battle to return a treasured item and put an end to the danger he has stumbled upon.

Alan’s writing style can be a challenge to begin with as new characters are introduced in the midst of heavy hitting metaphors, but it’s worth sticking with it. When you have got to grips with the who’s who in Dennis’ world, you can begin to appreciate the depth this writing style brings to the story. From the post war trauma to Dennis’ own self confidence, the characters all have their own flaws. Even the most unlikeable characters become more relatable as their journeys come together as a result of this strange and exciting new world.

Nearly impossible for me to read, though I certainly note how many fans he has. The writing is constantly interrupted both in characteristics, and dialogue and narrative line with content, making it a stumbling read for me. Very particular taste I suppose, which is not mine! I could not make heads nor tails of what was going on, and where we were headed ..nor who was 'on stage".

Mea culpa, this is my first Alan Moore, but I will certainly be hitting the back catalogue after reading The Great When.
Although it is far from a perfect book - of faults anon - overall it is a riot of colour and action and surreal imagination, as I am given to believe is usual with Moore. And that tiny niggle of slightly grubby occurrences re bodily events or fluids only add to the versimiltude for me (something that seems to turn other readers off); there has to be something to offset the magnificence of the rest of his premise and prose.
I wasn't crazy about the prologue, as only one of the characters had much input into the rest of the book, but there are sequels to come, so I mustn't be impatient. And the prose took a bit of getting used too; possibly I'm not taking enough drugs, but it was quite psychedelic. Once one got used to it though, this was perfect for the Long London scenes; Moore uses a share of it in the Shory London scenes at the start of the book too, where it needed to be scaled back a bit to contrast properly, but by the second half of the book he remedies this and the going is easier on the brain.
I guess the characters aren't particularly rounded, possibly a bit stereotypical, but this is not the Great Novel of the Human Condition, so I wasn't bothered; the world-building was excellent and so coloured and textured that mere humans weren't so important.
The plot was resovled relatively quickly too, some might say hurriedly; I say, there are three more books to come, and though I'm a Moore newbie, it looks like his speciality is taking the reader to places they will never reach otherwise without hardcore mind-altering drugs, so - again- I would give a little leeway.
Overall, this has turned me into a fan, I'm impressed and grateful - thanks, Netgalley, for the ARC; and, Mr Moore, phew, what can I say? You scare and impress me in equal measures, there's not many who do that!

I was intrigued to know just what a novel by someone who is generally regarded as the best comic writer would be like.
As was almost inevitable the novel includes two themes interweaved, one set in immediate post-war London and one in The Great When (Hidden London).
As I am not a great fantasy fan, I was not as impressed by events that happened in the Great When.
The storyline in post-war London was well written, intriguing and at times exciting.
Fantasy fans will love this novel, as some of the typical mechanisms of travelling between worlds were utilised together with the expected amount of horror, tension and thrills.

The story was excellent, spell-binding and strange, but just about possibly true.
Many thanks to the author for introducing me to this genre.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a joyously delightful surreal historical fantasy, darkly imaginative in the vibrant alternate London it conjures up, by the talented Alan Moore. Is it perfect? Nope, it drips with over indulgent adjectives and prose. Let's just say it is on the verbose side, but it is simultaneously smart, witty, boasts a remarkably marvellous, diverse and wide ranging cast of well drawn characters, and provides at times a sharp and cutting social and political commentary. We are in the post-war years, with a bombed out shabby London, with most of its inhabitants barely surviving. 18 year old Dennis Knuckleyard resides in miserable conditions with his malicious and malevolent employer, Coffin Ada, not a woman to be trifled with.

Not the brightest, the hapless Dennis is described as a thing made out of string with lumpy knots to represent his knees and elbows, he finds himself mired in danger when on a mission to purchase rare books, he inadvertently returns with a book that seems destined to kill him unless it is returned to the Great When, a situation which has Ada banishing him from the store. It does not take long before it dawns on a homeless Dennis just how much trouble he is now in as he becomes hunted by the worst of villains and suffers a harrowingly horrifying period of time in the other London, the Great When. Shaken, trembling and drowning in a screaming fear, his mental health looks as if it is set to splinter into a million tiny pieces, Dennis has to pick himself up, as he encounters artists, sorcerers, magicians, other terrors and more, a condemned soul battling to survive.

Even when he imagines that he might be free of the other world, Dennis is to discover there are further challenges and horror coming from a direction that comes as a complete shock and surprise. This was a fabulously entertaining read that I adored, and which is likely to appeal to Moore's established fan base and to readers curious about a strangely weird different London and who enjoy well written fantasy adventures with superb offbeat characters, and beautifully intricate, expert, and complex world building from a genius storyteller. I am greatly looking forward to the next in the series. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC

This was an ambitious and well-written fantasy, I enjoyed it conceptually but I'm not sure the threads all came together.

I read this book in great anticipation. I loved the idea of a London inside a London but I am not sure it worked. I found it quite a slow burn which picked up towards the end. It didn’t really thrill me though. I can quite believe it is my problem rather than a problem with the book. A very unique read.

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 and stories, it combines the ordinary and mundane with the very much not, and does so with extraordinarily vivid characters and locations. It’s funny, exciting, mysterious, and stuffed full of sensawunda. Next one now please.

After the mind blowing short story collection ‘Illuminations’ Alan Moore once again gives us the gift of his genius with the stupendously good ‘The Great When’.

It’s odd, surreal, hypnotising, and has a wicked sense of humour. And that’s just the plot. But what really grabs you is the writing. Oh what a treat! Each sentence has been exquisitely wrought. Every paragraph oozes with brilliance. It’s a literary feast of razor-sharp dialogue and wit.

An outstandingly outstanding novel. Truly top notch.

The Great When by Alan Moore

This review is based on an ARC from Netgalley and publishers Bloomsbury.
There’s a world beyond this world… There is a London we don’t see.
This is an idea that goes back at least as far as Plato. The world we see is just a shadow of the real. And as for books about the hidden version of London, well I’ve even written one of those myself.
I’ll say straight off that I do not read comic books, and though I have of course heard of Alan Moore, I have never read any of his writing. So I come to this with fresh eyes and no preconceptions.
Our protagonist is Dennis Knuckleyard, an orphaned 18-year-old who lives and works in a second hand bookshop run by Coffin Ada, his hilariously uncaring and unattractive landlady. The year is 1949, London is a bomb site, and Dennis walks around clutching his copy of 1984, and looking forward to Mr Orwell’s next blockbuster, which is surely imminent.
In his short life, Dennis has seen some things, including the Blitz and weird stuff he can’t explain. One day, Coffin Ada sends him on an errand. Another bookseller has some Arthur Machen books for sale…
Moore evokes the streets of worn-out London very well. The cold houses, the austerity, the shabby clothes, the general feeling that Britain has been bombed to fuck. When Dennis comes back from his errand, there’s a book in his box that shouldn’t be there. It’s a fictional book Machen made up for one of his stories: but there it is, for real.
Ada immediately kicks him out and tells Dennis that his life is in danger if he does not find a way to return it. Return it where? To that other London, that Lacanian Imaginary London. But how does a naive idiot kid manage that?
And so the adventure begins. As the first book of five, as it says on the cover, you know what kind of ending to expect, but it doesn’t leave you frustrated. It’s good. I really quite enjoyed it; the problem is, I can’t make my mind up about the style.
On the one hand, overwritten. On the other, some of the “overwriting” is funny and part of the entertainment. Step with me into this world. First of all, overwritten:
“With Ada’s second-best jug, he scooped up enough hot water to first drench his head, then, after rubbing up a lather with the dwindling bar of Lifebuoy soap, doused it a couple of times more to rinse away the suds. Inevitably, some went in his eyes, and so he dried them with a scratchy towel before removing shoes, socks, trousers, underpants, and stepping gingerly into the by-now-only-lukewarm tub…”
Need I go on. You could say, “After washing his hair with Lifebuoy soap, he took off his clothes and got in the tub.”
Or, “He took a bath.”
So, overwritten. The adjective to noun ratio is more or less 1:1.
On the other hand, this:
“The lounge [bar], with Spare’s work hanging everywhere about its walls, seemed to be going through a crisis of identity, unsure if it was a South London pub that had both educated and refined itself, or an art gallery that had unfortunately turned to drink.”
You see my dilemma.
It’s great, it’s good, it’s fun, it’s overwritten, it’s witty, it’s for Alan Moore fans (presumably), but also people who like to think about that other London. So call it four stars and look forward to the next volume.

I was so happy to join NetGalley and be able to get a review copy of this book. Alan is one of my favorite living authors. I was a bit disappointed in illuminations, but this one was incredible. Here was a post-war London that was magical on so many levels. Our unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a world of occult books, and a hidden magical London that is part fairyland part nightmare. Alan's prose is just remarkable for the magic it conjures up in the other London parts. It is so descriptive, and so vivid. You feel you are walking the streets of London while you read it. Not to mention drinking in my favourite London pub, the Cheshire Cheese! I very highly recommend this book. Particularly to Alan's fans of Promethea and League of extraordinary gentleman. I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this when it comes out and reading it again. I can't wait to read the rest in the series.

Alan Moore kicks his way back into the room with this kaleidoscopic tour-de-force. Equal parts British 1950s noir and hyperdelic nightmare, with a supporting cast of 20th century countercultural luminaries including (But not limited to) Austin Osman Spare, Prince Monolulu, the giant Gogmagog, Ironfoot Jack, Jack Spot Comer and, last but not least, a decrepit Aleister Crowley, and including (If I'm not mistaken) one of Don McCullins's anonymous bombsite meth-swigging tramps from a 1969 photograph. Once read, never forgotten.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received a copy of this book for a free unbiased opinion.
This book will no doubt appeal to so many fantasy readers with its premise of a hidden London existing beyond time, dangerous books and unusual concepts but unfortunately it wasn’t the book for me.
The book is well written with amazing prose, world building and characters that vividly described. The writing had a touch of humour and there were times when I found it laugh out funny especially the interactions between Coffin Ada and the rest of the world.
But I found this slowed the pace of the story and I struggled to keep reading. There were also times I struggled to keep up with what was going on in the midst of all the descriptions.
Looking at the book objectively, there are many positives and I imagine Fans of Alan Moore will love this, but I am disappointed that I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to.
Perfect for Fans of
Alan Moore, books about alternate Londons ( eh Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, London Calling, Witherward ( review here)

Part surreal dream and part overly verbose nightmare. The Great When is one of those books that many will love, but just as many hate. Me? I'm leaning towards the former.

Do I have the faintest idea what Moore was aiming for? No, I'm not sure that I do. Do I want to know? Ask me again when I've fully recovered from the experience.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing and the author for an advance copy.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. I found the sections set in the London of the Great When too surreal for me, and almost didn’t finish the book. I’m glad I stuck with it as the ending was quite a revelation.
The characters were interesting and believable, although some were rather unpleasant.
The second half of the book had better pace, and the great quality of the writing helped me get through the book.
Many thanks to Alan Moore, NetGalley and Bloomsbury books for the opportunity to read this book.

The book is about a somewhat hapless youth called Dennis Knuckleyard who, against his will, finds himself tied to the Great When, a sort of surrealist other London that acts as a metaphoric source of reality for real London.

Fantastic book. Alan Moore really, REALLY has a way with words. I could see every surreal item and scene he describes, when it is borderline incomprehensible. There were moments when it reminded me a lot of 'The Vorhh,' and reading his acknowledgements at the end, I can now see why! It is also just an entertaining book. If you were not a fan of The Vorhh (why?), I would say you would still enjoy this book. The surrealism is similar, but employs a more familiar narrative structure. It has a nice streak of humour also. I too cannot tell anybody's age.

I've only read random comics of his yonks ago, so I can't really compare his novel writing to comic writing, but I can certainly imagine an artist working with him seeing how articulate his description is!

Ps. Really unhappy with the description of an over-dunked digestive biscuit being described as 'an oversaturated morsel falling with a faecal plop into their laps.' I'll think of that every time my biscuit collapses ):