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Illuminations: Book summary and reviews of Illuminations by Alan Moore

Illuminations

Stories

by Alan Moore

Illuminations by Alan Moore X
Illuminations by Alan Moore
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  • Published Oct 2022
    464 pages
    Genre: Short Stories

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Book Summary

From New York Times bestselling author Alan Moore-one of the most influential writers in the history of comics - "a wonderful collection, brilliant and often moving" (Neil Gaiman) - which takes us to the fantastical underside of reality.

In his first-ever short story collection, which spans forty years of work, Alan Moore presents a series of wildly different and equally unforgettable characters who discover--and in some cases even make and unmake--the various uncharted parts of existence.

In "A Hypothetical Lizard," two concubines in a brothel of fantastical specialists fall in love with tragic ramifications. In "Not Even Legend," a paranormal study group is infiltrated by one of the otherworldly beings they seek to investigate. In "Illuminations," a nostalgic older man decides to visit a seaside resort from his youth and finds the past all too close at hand. And in the monumental novella "What We Can Know About Thunderman," which charts the surreal and Kafkaesque history of the comics industry's major players over the last seventy-five years, Moore reveals the dark, beating heart of the superhero business.

From ghosts and otherworldly creatures to theoretical Boltzmann brains fashioning the universe at the big bang, Illuminations is exactly that--a series of bright, startling tales from a contemporary legend that reveal the full power of imagination and magic.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Legendary graphic novelist Moore further burnishes his reputation in his first prose collection, which features nine career-spanning tales...subversive...The superhero genre's loss is fantastic fiction's gain." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[T]ight, clever, and vivid...A mixed bag with a misshapen boulder in it." - Kirkus Reviews

"Moore's dark humor and expert twists are on full display in these fictions. Fans of dark fantasy and dark humor will enjoy this collection from one of fantasy's greats." - Booklist

This information about Illuminations was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Alan Moore

Alan Moore is an English writer widely regarded as the best and most influential writer in the history of comics. His seminal works include From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He is also the author of the bestselling Jerusalem. He was born in Northampton, and has lived there ever since.

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more short stories...

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