From theNew York Timesbestselling author & legendary storyteller Alan Moore, the first book in an enthralling new fantasy series about murder, magic, & madness in post-WWII London.The year is1949, the cityLondon. Amidst the smog of the capital stumblesDennis 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 theGreat When, a magical version of London beyond time & space, where reality blurs with fiction & 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...°°°“The grumpy god of graphic novels has fully moved into the prose realm (by his own admission)—and this first in a proposed series of five novels spanning the 20th century is a far more digestible read than his literary debutJerusalem. But have no fear: it’s still as language-drunk & story-crazy as anything he’s ever done. It is the story, on its face, of a young man in post-Blitz London doing odd jobs for a bookseller only to come across a book that shouldn’t exist, a book straight out of fiction. This leads him into a wondrous & polyphonic adventure that brings us to another London, the Fire to our London’s Smoke—and truly unbelievable things ensue. Maximalism is *in* again, folks: strap in & have yourself a blast.”—Drew Broussard,Rough Draft Bar & Booksin Kingston, New York