Jones, Kinnear and Clifford join starry cast to read Moore’s audiobook

Actors including Toby Jones, Rory Kinnear, Sian Clifford and Emilia Fox are among those who will be recording the audiobook of Alan Moore’s Illuminations (Bloomsbury).

In his first-ever short story collection, which spans 40 years of work and features many never-before-published pieces, the author of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen presents nine stories “full of wonder and strangeness”.

Joining the ensemble are fellow actors Laura Haddock and Nina Sosanya. Haddock will read “A Hypothetical Lizard”, which follows two concubines in a brothel for fantastical specialists, who fall in love with tragic ramifications, while Sosanya voices “Location Location Location”.

In “Not Even Legend”, narrated by Kinnear and Fox, a paranormal study group is infiltrated by one of the otherworldly beings the group is investigating. “Illuminations” revolves around a nostalgic older man, who decides to visit a seaside resort from his youth and finds the past all too close at hand. It will be voiced by Jones. 

Meanwhile, Clifford will read “The Improbably Complex High Energy State” and Samuel Barnett will narrate “Cold Reading”.

Moore’s novella, What We Can Know About Thunderman, which charts the surreal history of the comics’ industry over the past 75 years, will be narrated by Matt Reeves. Moore will read the last story, “And, at the Last, Just to Be Done with Silence”.

Samantha Halstead, director of audio for Bloomsbury said: “The opportunity to translate such a unique and imaginative collection of work into audio is something we at Bloomsbury Audio have been delighted by. Working with a legendary writer such as Alan Moore is an honour, and every narrator has delivered a breathtaking performance. We know listeners will love this recording as much as we do.”

The book publishes simultaneously in the US and UK on 11th October 2022.