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Illuminations: Stories
Illuminations: Stories
Illuminations: Stories
Ebook568 pages13 hours

Illuminations: Stories

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 11, 2022
ISBN9781635578812
Illuminations: Stories
Author

Alan Moore

Alan Moore is an Architecture Modeling Specialist at The MathWorks. He has extensive experience in the development of real-time and object-oriented methodologies and their application. Alan was co-chair of the OMG's Real-time Analysis and Design Working Group and served as the language architect during the development of SysML.

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Rating: 3.3541666958333334 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    this has some good short stories and some other undefinable stuff for which even the structure can't be described (the long story one about the first femtosecond of the creation of the world, for instance). some of which cry out for an artist to translate into comic one-offs, but sadly Alan is done with that now. as he proves with the long and gorily-detailed novella about the comics trade and its perps and prospects, which leaves all the suspects lined up in the basement, eviscerated neatly and left in a row trussed up for final judgment, and really as well identified as they need to be. luckily, it's unlikely the victims will give the whole thing oxygen by suing, and there's little other leverage to be had over someone who just walked away. let Alan be Alan, he's happier that way. everyone should read it, of course. one of the most brilliant writers of our generation, after all, and an original mind that's always worth the fare.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There are some fantastic short stories in this collection, the kind that makes one pause and ask, “What goes on in Alan Moore’s head?” Of course, there a couple that feature his propensity to be a bit of an inkhorn, but we knew that. Worth it for the comics industry pisstake, What We Can Know About Thunderman. Required reading.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Incredible journey through short stories that walk the edge of satire and socio-economical politics in society while putting the reader's mind on the edge of the seat with twists and turns in plots. One story deals with the observer nearly silently watching lovers as they deal with their place in a relationship. One deals with the haunting of items. One deals with journeys of the beatniks. It's a wonderful ride with each story setting the scene for another adventure into twists and turns. Anyone familiar with Watchmen or any of his other works will most likely be drawn in and delighted by dark dives into the souls of each character presented. Submitted by Tanya Ellenburg-Kimmet

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Illuminations - Alan Moore

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