Alan Moore and his million-word novel

[The Bluestocking]

Alan Moore has declared the first draft of his second novel - to the tune of 1 million words - complete:

He says: "“Any editor worth their salt would tell me to cut two-thirds of this book but that’s not going to happen. I doubt that Herman Melville had an editor – if he had, that editor would have told him to get rid of all that boring stuff about whaling: ‘Cut to the chase, Herman'"

Uh. So. Anyone up for reading this double doorstop of a novel?

*Note: Not sure where to stick this since Alan Moore is first and foremost a seminal comic book writer but this is about his latest novel so I'm putting it here and leaving the moderators to decide whether to shift it (sorry...)

 

[Brian G Turner]

It's a novel, so it sounds like the right place for it.

What was his first novel, and how did it go down?

 

[HareBrain]

I'd like to give it a go. I was very impressed with his "Voice of the Fire" -- though that was a lot shorter. (Brian, that was his first one.)

Moore is a visionary, and there aren't many of those writing in SFF at the moment. That (for me) will make it worth a look.

If it's as varied as it sounds, maybe it'll be published as a sequence of linked novels rather than one massive tome.

 

[Vince W]

I've enjoyed many of Moore's efforts in comics, but I've not read his first novel. However, I'd be wary of any book weighing in at a million words being consistently good enough to hold my attention until the end.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I'd like to give it a go. I was very impressed with his "Voice of the Fire" -- though that was a lot shorter. (Brian, that was his first one.)

Moore is a visionary, and there aren't many of those writing in SFF at the moment. That (for me) will make it worth a look.

If it's as varied as it sounds, maybe it'll be published as a sequence of linked novels rather than one massive tome.

In the article I linked to, Moore said that he's holding out for them to publish it in one big fat tome so he can put that monster of a book on his bookshelf! Haha!

I reckon it would take me about a month or two of diligently reading every day to actually finish the whole book when it gets published.

I'd probably also need something to prop it up while I read because that book will be a killer for the wrists...

 

[HareBrain]

In the article I linked to, Moore said that he's holding out for them to publish it in one big fat tome so he can put that monster of a book on his bookshelf! Haha!

I'm not sure how that would be possible. It's longer than Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, which is >1500 pages in paperback (I assume on very thin paper) -- many fantasy epics much shorter than that have been published in two volumes in paperback because the spine won't take the length.

My guess is that it won't be published traditionally. Moore's a big name in comics, but he's not known as a novelist, and the effort of editing such a beast might not be worth it for what I'd expect to be pretty low sales. I predict a low-volume hardback print run, costing many tens of pounds, for hardcore fans. But who knows?

 

[Vince W]

costing many tens of pounds, for hardcore fans. But who knows?

Costing or weighing?

It would be really funny if at the end of the book Moore put TLDR at the end.

 

[Maximillian]

Costing or weighing?

It would be really funny if at the end of the book Moore put TLDR at the end.

Vince, You should note hat HareBrain is from West Sussex...when he says pounds, he means money.