Alan Moore Finishes First Draft of Million Word Novel, Jerusalem

Posted on September 12, 2014

Comic books icon and novelist Alan Moore has finished the first draft of his second novel which is called Jerusalem. The million word novel is nearly twice the length of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

The novel will be published by Knockabout Comics, who are the co-publisher of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen books. A release date has not been set. Knockabout is negotiating the foreign publishing rights. Moore's daughter Leah Moore announced the feat on Moore's Facebook page then dryly noted, "Now there's just the small matter of copy editing a more-than-a-million word document, and it's all done." Moore, who is best known as the author of V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and Constantine has been hard at work on the novel since 2008.

So what's is all about, this hefty tome? We have a few clues. The novel is not set in Jerusalem, as one might suppose. It is set in Northampton, England. In fact the book chronicles the history of the town where Moore grew up. The fictional history has been spruced up with fantasy elements, but is based on his family's past.

The Guardian does a nice job of tracking down what Moore has been saying about the novel in interviews since 2008. In 2008 he told the BBC that one part of the book will feature his brother's adventures in the fourth dimension. The middle part of the novel will focus on "a savage, hallucinating Enid Blyton," which we must admit does sound intriguing.

Each chapter is apparently written in a different literary style. One chapter features Lucia Joyce chapter, "which is completely incomprehensible … all written in a completely invented sub-Joycean text." Another is in the style of a noir crime novel. One is in the style of a Samuel Beckett play. It's starting to sound as if you're going to need a degree in English Literature to understand half of what's going on.

Moore has said he has no idea whether people will like the book, but that doesn't bother him at all. He says it's so long he's not sure people will be able to lift the book. Well, that's why we have ebooks. We look forward to seeing the final product.