'Extraordinary' Susanna Clarke, bestselling author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

'Extraordinary' Susanna Clarke, bestselling author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

A continuation of The Great When; a dark and beguiling tour through the streets of London - fictional and real - by a legend of modern fantasy

It’s 1958. A time of Rock and Roll, of protest, riot and change… and London is full of danger. Dennis Knuckleyard is finally growing up, and above all he wants to leave the Great When in the past. For nine years, he’s avoided so much as thinking about the magical shadow version of London, managing even to palm off what should’ve been his last souvenir of that experience – an iron key he secretly brought back.

But while Dennis may believe he’s done with the Great When, it’s not done with him. The unsuspecting rube now in possession of the key has discovered its magical properties, bringing forth mythic, occult beings into Dennis’s London and sparking riots in the capital. Worse still, Dennis hears his first love Grace has returned to the Great When to investigate strange happenings in both cities.

Desperate to keep Grace safe and return London to normal, Dennis follows her back into the hidden city. But once it has him back, The Great When will not let him go away again so easily. He and Grace must fight to set things right or forever lose everything.

Electrifying, absurd, magical and more true than you might believe, I Hear A New World takes the reader back to Long London for a thrilling and fantastical second instalment.

Praise for The Great When: the first book in a new series by Sunday Times-bestseller and icon, Alan Moore.

'A breathless time-travelling classic. Savage, humane, comic, terrifying' Iain Sinclair

‘Brilliant and so powerfully imaginative’ Adam Curtis

'A weird book and a complete joy' Mariana Enríquez

'Extraordinary . . . very funny . . . It does what fantasy does best which is show us something beyond our experience' Susanna Clarke

"[Moore’s] lyrical style is a play of poetry and metaphor with a dash of dry humour ... This is a lavishly crafted urban fantasy tale with a caustic and colourful cast, perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke" - Library Journal

"The worldbuilding is extraordinary and the plot is utterly gripping. Readers are sure to be sucked in" - Publishers Weekly

"A masterful storyteller… [Moore] turns his impressive imagination towards London.. [his] exuberant prose demands we see the magic and beauty that are intertwined with the mundane life of the city" - City AM

"It’s a romp, full of loving attention to the past" - Sunday Times

"The horror and ghastly beauty of this nether-realm are vigorously conveyed by Moore, while his evocation of the post-war capital, all bombsites, deprivation and grubby behaviour, is wonderfully immersive... a heady tumble of language, full of allusions and ripe adjectives" - Financial Times

"In The Great When, [Moore's] language is inflamed, a beautiful riot. Onomatopoeia, rhyming slang, wicked anachronisms, slap-happy metaphors: this is the antidote to the Ozempic prose of modern, MFA-incubated novellas" - Guardian

"A portent of even greater wonders yet to come" - Times Literary Supplement

"Bestseller Moore’s satisfying second Long London urban fantasy … again adroitly blends the fantastic and the mundane … Moore’s worldbuilding is as fascinating as ever. Series fans won’t be disappointed" - Publishers Weekly