I Hear A New World cover art

I Hear A New World

The Brand New Fantastical Historical Novel from Icon Alan Moore

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I Hear A New World

By: Alan Moore
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
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Bloomsbury presents I Hear A New World by Alan Moore, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

'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©2026 Alan Moore (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Dark Fantasy Fantasy Historical
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Critic reviews

Extraordinary . . . very funny . . . It does what fantasy does best which is show us something beyond our experience (Susanna Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell)
A riotous tour of occult London . . . a sustained feat of bravura brilliance. Bring on the next instalment.
Think Terry Pratchett writing one of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London novels – but still unmistakeably Alan. This has ‘massive hit’ written all over it (John Higgs)
It’s a romp, and it’s full of loving attention to the past . . . Freed from the tyranny of the speech bubble, you sense Moore is really, really having fun.
'A breathless time-travelling classic. Savage, humane, comic, terrifying: and that's just the first page. Now read on (Iain Sinclair)
Wonderfully immersive . . . a heady tumble of language, full of allusions and ripe adjectives
An absolute blast, following its characters through alternate versions of London. It’s a thrilling voyage through one city’s uncanny history
A profound, gorgeous novel of secret magics and lost souls (Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times Bestselling author of The Book Eaters)
A rip-roaring, swashbuckling, often hilarious exploration of a dreamlike version of London
Alan Moore is a visionary artist and a myth maker, and in The Great When he delivers the mystical core of the occult tradition of London (Mariana Enríquez, author of Our Share of Night)
A powerful, imaginative and beautiful battering ram that blasts through the narrow, static vision of the world we have today. (Adam Curtis)
A portent of even greater wonders yet to come
A masterful step from one of our very best, uncompromising storytellers (Heather Parry)
Just as brilliant and entertaining as his best comics work.
All stars
Most relevant
Alan Moore continues to build a world that draws the listener as well as the characters into a magical realm like no other. Bittersweet nostalgia combines with startling humour and terror to conjure visions of wonder...

Magical

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Profound and important. Jesus Christ this is good. How does he just get better and better ?

How does Alan Moore just get better ?

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As soon as the final minute was uttered. I returned to the first book to listen to the whole amazing story again

didn't disappoint!!

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yes! I remember googling when this was released a few months ago, but this release caught up with me. i'm about a 1/4 of the way through and it's great of course.

The narrator is good, I would love if Alan Moore could read it also

surprise, surprise

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A slow start and the story doesn't feel very advanced at the end, but I can forgive a great deal for the pleasure of Alan Moore's beautiful and evocative descriptions of time and place.
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith does a pretty good job of narrating a wide variety of characters. I just wish he could pronounce Arthur Machen correctly!

Evocative

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