The Great When Dyslexia-Friendly Edition

I find it quite difficult to write about "The Great When" as it feels like I might be overselling it a tad. But then again a novel with this much raw force in its telling is incredibly rare. It's a celebration of London, which is nice enough, but at the same time it's also a celebration of writing itself and the love for the written word - and the honest belief in the magic it holds - is so apparent on each and every page and in each and every sentence, that I honestly belief overselling might be impossible after all. You might argue that the story itself isn't terribly original but when it is this well told, with so much passion, I simply don't care. This book is real-life magic and for me it's might just be the best novel of 2024.

Alan Moore is a literary legend for a reason, and The Great When certainly proves that his imagination is as wild and boundless as ever. Set in the grim aftermath of World War II, the story follows a young man who accidentally stumbles into a surreal, deeply magical, and often terrifying alternate version of the city known as "Long London." While the world-building is undeniably well done and dripping with a dark, eccentric atmosphere, this book demands more than your full attention. Moore's prose is incredibly dense, and the sheer volume of historical oddities and mystical tangents can sometimes weigh down the actual pacing. For someone like me (reading this as a non-native-speaker), this writing-style was, while expertly executed, a bit overwhelming. It’s a fascinating, deeply weird journey, but one that occasionally gets lost in its own complexity. If you love rich, demanding urban fantasy and have the patience to let a slow-burn, highly descriptive narrative wash over you, there is still a lot of unique magic to uncover here.

Dennis Knuckleyard is happy to have survived the Blitz and is now (at 18) already at a dead end job working at Coffin Ada's antique bookstore. When he purchases a book that should not exist, he comes into contact with a parallel, wondrous, and dangerous London.