The Whispering Swarm (Paperback)

Every day of my life, after all I have learned and the many dangers I have survived, I still reflect on the circumstances which drew me to that part of the City of London I know as ‘Alsacia’, which her inhabitants call ‘the Sanctuary’. I learned that magic is as dangerous as we are told it is and that romance can be more destructive than reality. Worse, I came to know and fear the fulfilment of my deepest desires.

With his first full novel in almost ten years (not counting his contribution to the Doctor Who canon), Michael Moorcock - the most influential figure in modern fantasy and science fiction - returns to the city of his birth.

London has always been a central character in Moorcock's work, from the high-literary fiction of Mother London to the roof gardens of Jerry Cornelius. Now he returns to London just after the war, a city desperately trying to get back on its feet and to one young boy, Michael Moorcock, who is about to discover a world of magic and wonder.

Between his first tentative approaches to adulthood - a job on Fleet Street, the first stirrings of his interest in writing - and a chance encounter with a mysterious Carmelite Friar, we see a version of Moorcock's life that is simultaneously a biography and a story. Mixing elements of his real life with his adventures in a parallel London peopled with highwaywomen, musketeers and magicians, this is Moorcock at his dazzling, mercurial best.

‘This is a discursive book, with as many meditations on the nature of marriage, metaphysics, religion and science as there are rollicking sword fights.’ – The Guardian

Once described as a writer who ‘never saw a boundary he didn’t want to cross, blur or dispense with altogether’ Michael Moorcock is known for his seminal and influential works of science fiction, most notably his Elric of Melniboné stories as well as prize-winning mainstream fiction including Mother London which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize.