Voice of the Fire

Alan Moore's debut (non-graphic) novel is a series of ghost stories that are interconnected through repeating themes and motives. The first one you meet is a hard read, as Moore attempts to portray a stone age village idiot through simple grammar and vocabulary, but as you move onwards with the book (and through history) most of them are more straight forward to read. The perspectives change a lot from story to story, not only in time, but also in age, gender, intelligence and social standing. One chapter is told by a woman burning to death, one is in the form of a diary, and one is told from the perspective of a decapitated head. Some of the stories goes straight to the supernatural realm, while other delve more into madness, only hinting at the mystical.

But after a while, despite recognizing bits and pieces showing up in different formats throughout the different stories, it felt more like individual ghost stories stories rather than pieces of a bigger picture. I found myself wondering if I were missing some vital connections, or if I should pay closer attention to minute details to fuller grasp how all of these come together. They all are based in Moore's home town, they're all around november and they all incorporate something from the historical period they're set in. And then there's decapitated legs and heads, blue pearls and black dogs, recurring motifs and places. Just as I am giving up thinking about what's the "full picture" - Alan Moore writes himself into the book, explaining the project in full(ish). An interesting choice, but I am not sure if it was the best one.

I did enjoy parts of this book, but more than the other works of Moore that I have read, this seems to be a project very personal to him. It's Northampton's history seen through his eyes, but that's only appealing to a degree.