Two Alan Moore books in October?! October is already the best month of the year! It was announced recently, or somewhat recently, that Alan Moore has a new novel being released October 1st, and then just a couple of days ago it was announced that finally, The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, which has been in the works for a VERY long time, also has a release date. It was co-authored with Alan's close friend Steve Moore (no relation) who left this mortal realm in 2014. There are multiple illustrators including Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch and Ben Wickey. As someone who would regularly go to the Top Shelf website to check for a publishing date...I am beyond ecstatic this is being released October 15th!
Quite frankly, this fangirl Alan Moore blog post is merely an attempt to get this out of my system as all I've been thinking about is "hurry up, let's get to October!" and honestly, time has already sped up a lot for me over the years as it does the older you get, so I don't think we need to rush it along!
My admiration of Alan Moore is based mainly on his books and not originally his work in comics, which is a bit backwards I know. I've actually still never read some of his best known works, The Watchmen and V for Vendetta. I have read much of his comic work though, and the story collection, Illuminations (released October 2022), Voice of the Fire (his first novel published in 1996 by Gollancz Books then republished by Top Shelf Publications in 2004) and then the absolutely brilliant Jerusalem (published by Knockabout in 2016) and which I have read 4 times since then. I'm due for a new reading of it I think. And I think after that reading I'll make a review here about what it is that I find so brilliant about it, because I truly think it is.
Anyway, back to novel being published October 1st! It's called The Great When: A Long London Novel and there is no cover as of yet. Goodreads has this writeup on it: From the New York Times bestselling author and legendary storyteller Alan Moore, the first book in an incredible, enthralling new series about murder, madness, and magic in post-WWII London.
Dennis Knuckleyard is a hapless eighteen-year-old who works and lives in a second-hand bookstore in 1949 London. Aspiring writer though he is, his life feels quite uneventful. But one day his boss and landlord, Coffin Ada, sends him to retrieve some rare books from a strange and paranoid dealer, and he discovers that one of them, A London Walk by Rev. Thomas Hampole, does not exist; Hamphole and A London Walk are both fictions made by another author, so how did they come to be physically in his hands? Coffin Ada informs him they come from the other London, the Great When, a version of the city that is beyond time, in which every aspect of its history from its origin to its demise is somehow made manifest. There epochs blend and realities and unrealities blur and concets such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous and terrible beings. Further, Coffin Ada tells Dennis, if he does not return the book to this other London, he will be killed, literally turned inside out.
So begins Dennis' adventure in Long London. To return the otherworldly book, he must dive deep into the city's occult underbelly, meeting an eccentric cast of sorcerers and gangsters, including Grace Shilling, a sex worker who agrees to help Dennis with the caveat that she will stab him if he makes any advances, Prince Monolulu, an infamous horse race tipster who claims to be an Abyssinian Prince, and Jack Spot, a ruthless mob boss looking to cement his status on top of the city's underworld. But upon entering The Great When, Dennis finds himself at the center of an explosive series of events, one that may have altered and endangered both Londons for good.
Hilarious and mystical and magnificently written, The Great When is Moore's most imaginative work yet. It is the unforgettable introduction to the brilliant, staggering, consciousness-altering world of Long London.
Look amazing right? And I'm thrilled it is part of a SERIES! Yes!!!
It's available to pre-order now, from Bloomsbury or Amazon.
The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic DOES have a cover, and has for years actually. Which has made the wait even harder!
And the write-up for the book over at Top Shelf: The most acclaimed writer in comics history, Alan Moore, joins his late mentor Steve Moore (no relation) for one last graphic grimoire: a sprawling and stunning introduction to magic in all its timeless forms, brought to life by five wondrous and whimsical artists.
Splendid news for enquiring minds, and guaranteed salvation for humanity! Messrs. Steve and Alan Moore, current proprietors of the celebrated Moon & Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels (sorcery by appointment since circa 150 AD) are presently engaged in producing a clear and practical grimoire of the occult sciences that offers endless necromantic fun for all the family. Exquisitely illuminated by a host of adepts including Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch and Ben Wickey, this marvellous and unprecedented tome promises to provide all that the reader could conceivably need in order to commence a fulfilling new career as a diabolist.
Its contents include profusely illustrated instructional essays upon this ancient sect’s theories of magic, notably the key dissertation “Adventures in Thinking,” which gives reliable advice as to how entry into the world of magic may be readily achieved. Further to this, a number of “Rainy Day” activity pages present lively and entertaining things-to-do once the magical state has been attained, including such popular pastimes as divination, etheric travel and the conjuring of a colourful multitude of sprits, deities, dead people and infernal entities from the pit, all of whom are sure to become your new best friends.
Also contained within this extravagant compendium of thaumaturgic lore is a history of magic from the last ice age to the present day, told in a series of easy-to-absorb pictorial biographies of fifty great enchanters and complemented by a variety of picture stories depicting events ranging from the Palaeolithic origins of art, magic, language and consciousness to the rib-tickling comedy exploits of Moon & Serpent founder Alexander the False Prophet (“He’s fun, he’s fake, he’s got a talking snake!”).
In addition to these manifold delights, the adventurous reader will also discover a series of helpful travel guides to mind-wrenching alien dimensions that are within comfortable walking distance, as well as profiles of the many quaint local inhabitants that one might bump into at these exotic resorts. A full range of entertainments will be provided, encompassing such diverse novelties and pursuits as a lavishly decorated decadent pulp tale of occult adventure recounted in the serial form. Completing this almost-unimaginable treasure trove is a lengthy thesis revealing the ultimate meaning of both the Moon and the Serpent in a manner that makes transparent the much-obscured secret of magic, happiness, sex, creativity and the known Universe, while at the same time explaining why these lunar and ophidian symbols feature so prominently in the order’s peculiar name. (Manufacturer’s disclaimer: this edition does not, however, reveal why the titular cabal of magicians consider themselves to be either grand or Egyptian. Let the buyer beware.)
A colossal and audacious publishing triumph of three hundred and fifty-two pages, beautifully produced in the finest tradition of educational literature for young people, The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic will transform your lives, your reality, and any spare lead that you happen to have lying around into the purest and most radiant gold. -- a 9" x 12" hardcover.
Book design by John Coulthart. Co-published by Top Shelf Productions & Knockabout LTD (UK)
Here also are a few pages (you can see a couple more at Top Shelf.)
It looks fabulous doesn't it! It can be pre-ordered from Top Shelf or Amazon, and I imagine Knockabout will likely sell copies in their Ebay shop. I can barely stand to wait, for both these books!
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
― Aristotle
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