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I Hear A New World
- Author
- Alan Moore
- Narrator
- Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 21 May 2026
- Run Time
- 13 hours 56 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'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
Critics Review
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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
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A riotous tour of occult London . . . a sustained feat of bravura brilliance. Bring on the next instalment.
Guardian
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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
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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
Sunday Times
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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I Hear a New World is more speculative fantasy than crime fiction, yet it has enough criminous content to enchant mystery readers … Mr. Moore, who has created acclaimed comic books and fiction, draws on all his talents in crafting this lurid collage of English culture past, present and future
The Wall Street Journal
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A breathless time-travelling classic. Savage, humane, comic, terrifying: and that's just the first page. Now read on
Iain Sinclair
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Wonderfully immersive . . . a heady tumble of language, full of allusions and ripe adjectives
Financial Times
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An absolute blast, following its characters through alternate versions of London. It’s a thrilling voyage through one city’s uncanny history
Inside Hook, 10 Books You Should Be Reading This May
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A profound, gorgeous novel of secret magics and lost souls
Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times Bestselling author of The Book Eaters
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A rip-roaring, swashbuckling, often hilarious exploration of a dreamlike version of London
Parade
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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
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A powerful, imaginative and beautiful battering ram that blasts through the narrow, static vision of the world we have today.
Adam Curtis
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A portent of even greater wonders yet to come
Times Literary Supplement
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A masterful step from one of our very best, uncompromising storytellers
Heather Parry
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Just as brilliant and entertaining as his best comics work.
Publishers Weekly
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Electrifying, absurd, magical and true, I Hear a New World is a literary masterpiece
Eli Beverley-Schack, Sydney Arts Guide
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Alan Moore
- Narrator
- Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Duration
- 13 hours 56 minutes
- Release Date
- 21 May 2026
- ISBN
- 9781526643278
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Science fiction, Dark fantasy, Historical fantasy, Conjuring and magic
Synopsis
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 NorrellA 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
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