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Voice of the Fire

by Alan Moore, José Villarrubia (Artist), Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 710 ratings · 84 reviews

In a story full of lust, madness, and ecstasy, we meet twelve distinctive characters that lived in the same region of central England over a span of six thousand years. Each interconnected tale traces a path in a journey of discovery of the secrets of the land. In the tradition of Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Schwob's Imaginary Lives and Borges' A Universal History of In...more

Hardcover, 284 pages

Published January 6th 2004 by Top Shelf Productions (first published January 1st 1996)

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May 01, 2012 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, literary, magical

Where to start with this incredible book?

I have just tried and failed three times to start this sentence. I sit here, drained after a day of university work, hard thinking and slow research and two pots of tea, drinking a gin and tonic and trying to recall the feeling of reading Moore's unbelievably ambitious novel. I guess I'll begin at the beginning (but not at Neil Gaiman's introduction, I'll save that for later).

The first chapter is incredibly hard to read, written in the first person from...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Wes rated it 5 of 5 stars

A masterpiece of voice, a vivid evocation of place, and a damn good piece of storytelling, this book is rewarding on every level, plain and simple. Moore drapes himself in 12 different personae (well 11 really, the final section is autobiographical...though, as he's careful to note, still fiction) beginning in 4500 BC and leading up to the present day, all of them inhabitants of or visitors to Northampton England. Some of these characters are based on historical figures, others are total fabrica...more

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May 01, 2011 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alan Moore may be best known for his comic book writing, "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" most notably, but his only
published "novel" (no comics in it) has always seemed like his ultimate tour de force.

"Voice of the Fire" is really like no other novel and you'll not hear people praising it as they do "Watchmen". Within
this book, however, is some of Moore's most magical, breathtaking, and awe-inspiring writing. It all takes place in the
same locale in Great Britain's Midlands (near Birmingham, the...more

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May 22, 2013 Matteo rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sinossi: una carrellata dall'et�� della pietra all'et�� moderna, la societ�� umana nello stesso punto ma in un diverso lasso temporale.
L'idea �� originale e Moore, almeno per quanto riguarda il fumetto, �� un genio assoluto... le premesse per un ottimo libro c'erano tutte. Peccato. Alcuni capitoli sono soporiferi, il primo �� al limite dell'illegibilit�� (al confronto Pigmeo di Palahniuk �� un libro per bambini) e pi�� in generale il pessimismo cosmico rompe le palle dopo poco tempo.
Moore vuol...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythological-fiction, short-stories

I finished reading this book yesterday, but I don't think my brain will have fully finished processing it for a couple of weeks longer, because it seemed like there was so much to take in. Not just the sweep of history, from neolithic to present day, but the jumble of lives, events and ideas.

At the moment I don't feel like I quite 'get' this book, hence the 3 stars rather than 4. I felt a bit like I was reading the words but they weren't going in - like trying to turn pages with gloves on (mayb...more I finished reading this book yesterday, but I don't think my brain will have fully finished processing it for a couple of weeks longer, because it seemed like there was so much to take in. Not just the sweep of history, from neolithic to present day, but the jumble of lives, events and ideas.

At the moment I don't feel like I quite 'get' this book, hence the 3 stars rather than 4. I felt a bit like I was reading the words but they weren't going in - like trying to turn pages with gloves on (maybe that's the 'veil' he refers to!)

Things that I liked about this book:

1)Most of the characters were very emotionally engaging very quickly. Even with some of the more unpleasant ones I found myself concerned on their behalf.

2)The language used through the book is appropriate to the time periods and feels authentic. It's a pet hate of mine when people write fantasy books set in psuedo-medieval worlds and litter them with modern day Americanisms, so it was great to not find that here, even if it did mean that I had to work a bit harder to understand some of the earlier chapers fully.

3)Although each story was distinct, the underlying themes and meta-references linked them together nicely, so you felt that each chapter was a stage of a much longer journey.

4) I love that the author wrote the last chapter from what seems to be an autobiographical point of view - I think it's a really refreshing way of showing how stories can be relevant to 'reality' and it was also a nice device to bring the fourth wall back in gently and prepare the reader for the close after such a vast arc of time and storytelling.

Things I wasn't so keen on:

1) Maybe I'm prudish, but I found the slightly menacing tone in how sex within the stories was treated was a bit troubling. (view spoiler) Maybe it's supposed to be written like that, and maybe it's historically accurate, I don't know, but the consistency of it made me feel quite uncomfortable.

2) The final chapter felt a tiny bit too long for me, listing out every suburb etc. I can see how it was important to the author, but for me personally, I think the point could have been made more succinctly.

It's definitely worth a read if you want to read something challenging, maybe slightly disturbing and that will stay with you for a long time after you read the last page.(less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Christopher Riley rated it 4 of 5 stars

A collection of stories spanning 6,000 years in the environs of where the town of Northampton currently stands. A brilliant debut in this medium by someone more familiar with writing comics.

Alan Moore adopts the masks of a range of characters with an engaging panache. These different characters lead to a variety of styles and tones across the whole work. Re-readings will be worthwhile to pick out the related strands that run through the millenia.

A couple of the tales did pass me by, but the majo...more

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Aug 11, 2009 Joshua rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone looking for a difficult, yet unfulfilling read

Shelves: quote-literature-unquote, other-genre-fiction

Alan Moore is one of my favorite writers. His work on Watchmen, Swamp Thing, Superman, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and many others have shaped my comic book reading tastes ever since I was a kid. To me Alan Moore is a magician of the field, figuratively and literally, a master of his craft able to spin wonderful tales with such finesse that you'll wonder through all the smokes and mirrors if his work is indeed magic. I guess what I'm trying to say in my long-winded way, is that I was v...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Tancredi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: inglesi

"Lontano in dietro a colle, là verso sol-che-scende, cielo è ora come fuoco e io fa cammino lì, senza fiato in pancia, ed erba fredda e bagna piedi a me.
Niente erba è su alto di colle. Solo terra tutta in torno che colle è come senza ca-peli in testa. Io mette su piedi e volta faccia a vento per sente odore, ma niente odore viene da lontano. Pancia fa male, qua in mezzo a me."

Dall'autore di V per Vendetta mi aspettavo qualcosa di geniale. Invece mi sono trovato davanti qualcosa di... di pietoso,

...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Kev Bickerdike rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been reading Alan's writing since the early 80's, through his 2000AD work, and through his 'graphic novels' such as From Hell. The themes he has favoured are in evidence here aplenty, and the familiar, darkly magical images remain.
As noted in other reviews, the first chapter is challenging, but as one of my favourite novels is A Clockwork Orange I found it a very brave move by Alan to use such difficult language. Don't let a bit of hard work put you off persevering with the rest of the boo...more

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Nov 28, 2009 Tim Howard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2009, for-review

This review originally appeared at The Enthusiast:

Voice of the Fire is the first, and to date only, prose novel by comics demigod Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell). It’s something of a neglected entry in the Moore bibliography, even among his avid fanbase.

This is doubtless partly due to the book’s fitful publication history. Originally published in 1996, it has been out of print more often than not, with Top Shelf’s new edition making it available for the first time in six years. The book’s uncon...more This review originally appeared at The Enthusiast:

Voice of the Fire is the first, and to date only, prose novel by comics demigod Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell). It’s something of a neglected entry in the Moore bibliography, even among his avid fanbase.

This is doubtless partly due to the book’s fitful publication history. Originally published in 1996, it has been out of print more often than not, with Top Shelf’s new edition making it available for the first time in six years. The book’s unconventional, occasionally difficult nature probably hasn’t helped to bring in readers. Voice’s rewards are rich, but it lacks the immediate appeal that even Moore’s most sophisticated comics work exudes.

Even I – a card-carrying, false-beard-wearing, Roman snake god-worshipping member of the Alan Moore army – wondered if I was going to make it through the first chapter, ‘Hob’s Hog’. Without preamble, Moore teleports us to Neolithic Britain, 4000 BC, and into the fractured consciousness of a dimwitted young hunter-gatherer. The loin-clothed lad is in a bad way, orphaned and subsequently exiled from his tribe. Eventually he finds illicit shelter in the chicken coop of Hob, a mysterious holy man, and sexual awakening at the hands (literally) of Hob’s daughter.

It’s a brilliantly paced story, alien and erotic, with a twist ending that packs a punch. The youth’s voice is evoked to perfection, literally primitive in its grammar and syntax, constrained by the present tense. As a reading experience it is awe-inspiring but also, it must be said, bloody hard work. The opening sentence will suffice to demonstrate why: “A-hind of hill, ways off to sun-set-down, is sky come like as fire, and walk I up in way of this, all hard of breath, where is grass colding on I’s feet and wetting they.” Fifty pages of this makes for a slog; the best compliment I can pay ‘Hob’s Hog’ is that it is worth the effort, even if it does leave you needing a large alcoholic beverage and a dose of straightforward English prose.

Fortunately the next chapter – the story of an itinerant con artist and murderer set in 2500 BC – is easier going. Voice of the Fire turns out to be not one story but 12 interconnected stories set in and around Northampton, Moore’s hometown. What the setting lacks in geographic range is more than compensated for by its temporal girth: the stories span some six millennia, from our previously introduced prehistoric friend up to the mid-1990s, when Moore himself takes a turn as narrator.

There is no overarching narrative as such; rather, Moore unifies the book using a complex set of symbolic imagery that echoes through the pages. Voice of the Fire is a kind of psychogeographic excavation of Northampton’s history, the layers of event and myth upon which it stands. There’s potential for pompous wankery with this kind of thing – there’s potential for pompous wankery in merely describing such a thing – but Moore’s mystical inclinations are tempered by his innate sense of metaphor and ironic wit.

The allusions and symbols Moore uses to create the book’s meta-narrative are subtle, often enigmatic. Each story could stand on its own, but the cumulative effect they achieve as an integrated novel is profound. I can’t remember the last time I was so intoxicated by a book, nor when I last read a book that felt so complete. Voice of the Fire resists being reduced to talking points or cheap analysis; it demands to be read on its own terms.

Lest I give the wrong impression, I ought to mention Voice of the Fire’s sheer addictive readability. (Leaving aside the first chapter. Consider it a trial by the titular element.) Like the best of Moore’s comics, Voice of the Fire is high art with a pulp sensibility, or vice versa. It features rich language, stunning imagery and skilfully developed motifs; it also features lesbian witches, a pervy old judge who gets his ironic comeuppance and an impaled human head reminiscing about its part in an attempted assassination. I reckon it’s almost perfect.(less)

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Sep 14, 2012 Ross Byrne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Begun in the 1990s upon a new creative surge to move his writing away from the confines, thematic and structural, of mainstream comics, Voice of the Fire was Alan Moore's debut novel after many groundbreaking and experimental comic series for the American and British fields. While he'd proven that comics, even superhero ones, could explore weightier ideas and with far greater impact than they had before, no one knew quite what to expect with a prose work from the Northampton scribe.

Focusing on t...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Federiken Masters is currently reading it

El problema con este libro es que en un principio lo quise leer íntegramente en inglés pero el primer capítulo me inhibió por su lenguaje bárbaro y lo dejé. Ahora lo tengo también en castellano pero todavía no junté el valor para reconocer mi fracaso como anglo-lector que prefiere mamar leche adulterada en la lengua materna.

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Jul 09, 2012 Steve Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Most people know that, in addition to being a very talented writer, Alan Moore is also a ceremonial magician, and a lot of his books read like they're examples of his ritual "workings" as well as works of fiction. In his first non-comic novel, Moore goes one step farther. In Voice of the Fire, Moore isn't so much performing a ritual as uncovering a ritual that his hometown of Northampton, or history itself, or Fort's Cosmic Joker, or maybe that freaky snake god thing that he talks to, has been s...more Most people know that, in addition to being a very talented writer, Alan Moore is also a ceremonial magician, and a lot of his books read like they're examples of his ritual "workings" as well as works of fiction. In his first non-comic novel, Moore goes one step farther. In Voice of the Fire, Moore isn't so much performing a ritual as uncovering a ritual that his hometown of Northampton, or history itself, or Fort's Cosmic Joker, or maybe that freaky snake god thing that he talks to, has been slowly casting over the past 6,000 years.

Fort himself turns up in Neil Gaiman's intro to the Top Shelf edition of the book, specifically his line that "one measures a circle starting anywhere." Gaiman says that the book, like Fort's circle, can be read starting anywhere, and it's probably true--I ignored Gaiman's advice and read the thing front to back. Although the chapters are arranged in chronological order and the final chapter does kind of tie things together, the stories of each chapter are self-contained and tend to bleed into one another with little regard for which chapters the reader has finished off so far. Characters, places, and themes glimpsed or hinted at in one story may be more fully explored earlier, later, or not at all.

Each chapter tells a story of an inhabitant of Northampton between 4000BC and 1995. As you go through the book, the themes and patterns of the stories create kind of a map of Northampton's sacred geography, revealing, as Moore puts it, "the idea of the city." Like From Hell, the fictional parts of the book are strongly rooted in historical reality. Unlike From Hell, there aren't copious annotations to help the reader tell the two apart. Even if you think you know about history, you'll probably find yourself heading to Google at least a few times in hopes of either confirming historical details or adding some context.

After just one reading, Voice in the Fire is already high on my list of Moore books, but that doesn't mean it's an easy read. The first chapter, written in the very limited vocabulary of a main character who is slow even by his contemporary Neolithic-era standards, is not easy to get through and may give some readers Sound and the Fury flashbacks. After the first chapter, things get easier, but it still takes a few stories to really get into the swing of things and start picking up on what Moore's getting at. Even then there are some chapters (such as the one narrated by poet John Clare in the throes of insanity) that are a little trying to get through. After 11 chapters narrated by Neolithic idiots, shaman, criminals, witches, poets, crusaders, heads on pikes, and other Northampton residents, Moore puts on his ficton suit for the final chapter, touring modern-day (circa 1995) Northampton as he reflects on history, cities, the book, his own life, politics, and magic.

Voice of the Fire is a must read for Moore fans and is highly recommended for anyone who kept reading after the "the author is a wizard" line at the beginning of this review. (less)

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Nov 06, 2011 Eleanor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical, history, mad-as-a-box-of-frogs

When I first heard Alan Moore had written a novel, I wasn't sure what to expect. Obviously he's Alan Moore, one of the world greats in the world of comics and graphic novels, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can write a great novel, does it? And to be honest, he's not written a novel at all. It's more a series of connected short stories, following a landscape over an epic timescale, from the Neolithic to the present day. The landscape, of course, being Moore's home town of Northampton. There...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Aries rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romanzo

Prendere in mano un libro scritto da Alan Moore può non voler dir molto per chi non ha mai letto certi tipi di fumetti.Ma per chi conosce capolavori (sì, VERI capolavori) come "V for Vendetta" e "Watchmen" non può non avvicinarsi ad un romanzo dell'autore/sciamano con un misto di soggezione, rispetto ed aspettativa.Ed è questo che è successo a me iniziando "La voce del fuoco".Come descrivere un libro del genere? Penso sia quasi impossibile spiegare veramente cosa "la voce del fuoco" sia, per cer...more Prendere in mano un libro scritto da Alan Moore può non voler dir molto per chi non ha mai letto certi tipi di fumetti.Ma per chi conosce capolavori (sì, VERI capolavori) come "V for Vendetta" e "Watchmen" non può non avvicinarsi ad un romanzo dell'autore/sciamano con un misto di soggezione, rispetto ed aspettativa.Ed è questo che è successo a me iniziando "La voce del fuoco".Come descrivere un libro del genere? Penso sia quasi impossibile spiegare veramente cosa "la voce del fuoco" sia, per certi versi è altrettanto difficile assimilarne l'essenza ad una sola lettura.Superficialmente stiamo parlando di un concetto quasi semplice: prendiamo un luogo come Northampton (residenza di Moore) e viaggiamo a ritroso nel tempo, fermandoci a 4000 anni Avanti Cristo e cominciamo a scoprire la vita di qualcuno dell'epoca; poi torniamo ad avvicinarci, 1500 anni dopo, e sbirciamo anche qui uno scorcio di vita... ed ancora... ed ancora.... in un viaggio inquietante e turbolento che si fermerà in casa dell'autore stesso, nel 1995.Ed ogni capitolo non ci racconta le vite di coloro che andiamo a sbirciare: ogni capitolo si svolge nella loro mente, ci fa entrare nei loro pensieri, usa le loro parole, in un esperimento linguistico e stilistico senza pari.Ma anche questo non basta a descrivere il contenuto del libro: Moore si è autodefinito sciamano ed il suo romanzo si concentra sulla magia, esplicita od implicita, sulla meraviglia e sull'orrore, sull'odio e sull'amore e sul loro crescere, diminuire o modificarsi nel corso dei millenni.Moore ci porta nella mente degli essere più disparati: un ragazzo delle caverne ritardato ed emarginato, una ladra d'identità, un crociato disilluso, un bastardo di prima categoria, due giovani streghe innamorate e compagne di vita ed, infine, se stesso, anello di congiunzione tra l'inizio e la fine della storia; e se un autore "normale" riporterebbe i loro pensieri con la propria voce, Moore fa di più: si fa tramite per la voce di quelli che sono di volta in volta i protagonisti; la loro voce, i loro pensieri, la loro lingua riportata alla luce dallo sciamano.Moore ci racconta come nulla si perda, come la storia stessa si tramandi nei millenni non nei racconti, non negli scritti, ma nell'inconscio di persone lontane come epoca ma non come essenza.Un libro diffiicile, lento, che fa sentire piccoli e stupidi e che probabilmente andrebbe riletto tante volte prima di andare sotto la superficie.Brutto? Assolutamente no, anzi.Difficile? Parecchio.Consigliato? Se non vi ho spaventati, sì.(less)

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Mar 06, 2013 Maya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, short-stories

'So, what's this book about, then?'
It's about the vital message that the stiff lips of decapitated men still shape; the testament of black and spectral dogs written in piss across our bad dreams. It's about raising the dead to tell us what they know. It is a bridge, a crossing-point, a worn spot in the curtain between our world and the underworld, between the mortar and the myth, fact and fiction, a threadbare gauze no thicker than a page. It's about the powerful glossolalia of witches and their...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I am really impressed with Moore's ability to write in so many diverse voices! He is a fantastic storyteller, revealing only the details you need and, usually, still able to surprise you at the end. My only slight disappointment was the ending - the book raises so many questions, I was hoping desperately for loose ends to be tied up. Once again, he surprised me. Moore provides philosophical food-for-thought, gives you themes to consider, but ultimately leaves the mysticism for you to interp...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction, 21st-century-fiction

So I thought I better try and get down some of my thoughts about this book before I get too far re-reading it as my first impressions of it were so strong. When I finished this book I was totally overwhelmed by it. The last chapter is equivalent to Kerouac, in the way that Alan describes all the terrible things about his town with such an amazing descriptive and so much love despite all the crime and the feelings of hoplessness there. There was one sentence I actually read aloud (even though I w...more So I thought I better try and get down some of my thoughts about this book before I get too far re-reading it as my first impressions of it were so strong. When I finished this book I was totally overwhelmed by it. The last chapter is equivalent to Kerouac, in the way that Alan describes all the terrible things about his town with such an amazing descriptive and so much love despite all the crime and the feelings of hoplessness there. There was one sentence I actually read aloud (even though I was alone in the house) because of it's sheer brilliance, I believe it had something to do with Trumpton! On Monday night at the BL Alan and Stewart Lee were joking about how the first chapter of the book was utterly incomprehensible and made no sense. So I was expecting the worst when I started it, but what I found was an amazing epic narrative of a stone age guy struggling to stay alive, getting caught up with all sorts of terrible things. It was so simplistic and yet so beautiful, using a very limited vocabulary, yet still including songs and poetry. And I totally loved it. The stories of different narrations continue down through time. The stories are told by murderers and victims, but with the exception of the 20th century guy in I travel in suspenders they were all likeable and sympathetic. They are tales of survival, though most end in the narrators death. Previous characters haunt later ones without explanation, as hallucinations and devils. A mythology is created but not explained as black dogs wander the night and people are sacrificed. Dying doesn't always end the story, one of the middle ones is told by a head on a spike at the edge of town. The more you read the more it comes together. Which I think is why when it was done I wanted to go back and re-read. Bringing the knowldge of the future back to the begining. It's kinda impossible to talk about this all rationaly as I get so caught up in the feel of it just thinking about it. It is a very atmospheric book! The language is just gorgeous. The voices of the different characters really come through. When in the last chapter the narrator is the author you can instantly here the words in Alan's deep midlands accent. Creation fields was a story about a girl who murders a girl she meets while traveling and takes this girl's place. Pretending to be the daughter of the local shaman/witch doctor because she's heard he has hidden wealth. In the drownings is one of the best stories and the character one of the most haunting as a man whose family disappears from the village and he makes himself a strange bird costume to go hunting. The head of diocletian is all about the fall of Rome and barbarity. November saints is another great story of posession and time slipping and martydom. Limping to Jerusalem had a protagonist who was not so likeable but was building a round church. Confessions of a mask is the great story told by the decapitated head. Angel language is very odd as a corrupt judge is a bit of sex maniac. Partners in knitting is a wonderful story told by a witch about how she got involved with the spirits and the things her and her girlfriend did. The sun looks pale upon the wall is a very odd tale of madness, quiet and sad. I travel in suspenders is modern, early 20th century, it reminded me a lot of Nick Cave's Bunny (which came later) but combined with WWI trauma. And the last piece, narrated by Alan himself was pure brillance. All the stories take place in Northhampton over a period of thousands of years. It's just fantastic. Re-reading it was lovely. So many more things became clearer the secound time around, subtle things that I'd missed the first time. So many little details fit into place. Once again completely blown away by the language in the last chapter. Without a doubt one of the best books ever written. (less)

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Mar 08, 2012 Pandem rated it 1 of 5 stars

As big a fan as I am of Alan Moore's comics, I thought reading his novel would be just as thrilling an experience.

It wasn't.

To be honest, I couldn't even make it through the book's first section.

The story is ambitious - telling the history of a place from pre-historic times to the present through a series of vignettes that occurred on the site - and really, it should have been a great book. But in his ambition, Alan Moore overreached with the first part of the book.

The first vignette, if a secti...more

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May 13, 2010 Leon Sandler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Review of Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore.
Moore, Alan. Voice of the Fire: a Novel. Top Shelf: Marietta, GA, 2003. $14.95
By Leon Sandler

Alan Moore is best known for his revolutionary work in comic books. The critical and commercial success of works such as Watchmen (1986) and V for Vendetta (1982-1989) was paramount in establishing the graphic novel as a viable literary genre. Breaking onto the scene in the 1980s, Moore quickly proved that his comics were anything but childish fantasies, as bot...more Review of Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore.
Moore, Alan. Voice of the Fire: a Novel. Top Shelf: Marietta, GA, 2003. $14.95
By Leon Sandler

Alan Moore is best known for his revolutionary work in comic books. The critical and commercial success of works such as Watchmen (1986) and V for Vendetta (1982-1989) was paramount in establishing the graphic novel as a viable literary genre. Breaking onto the scene in the 1980s, Moore quickly proved that his comics were anything but childish fantasies, as both the aforementioned works examined issues of social control, surveillance, and the human flaws inherent in our mythologized notion of the superhero. Voice of the Fire is Moore’s first attempt at fiction outside the graphic form. The novel is an examination of the history and lore surrounding Northampton, the author’s birthplace, where he resides to this day. This examination takes the form in a series of first-person narratives (one per chapter) which are arranged chronologically at periods from 4000 BC to AD 1995. Thus the novel might best be described as an archeological dig in literary form, a work in which Moore attempts to dig back through the centuries to unearth some of the energies which have helped form the town: energies ranging from the shamanistic magic of pre-history to 20th century capitalism.
Spanning the breadth of human civilization in one novel is no easy task, but Moore comes prepared. His ability to render characters with distinct, individual voices is nothing short of remarkable. Rather than taking a wide-angle view of history, Moore’s first-person narratives allow readers to get remarkably close to each character he produces. For instance, in AD 290 Moore, as narrator, takes the form of a Roman treasury officer who is newly stationed in the village that will, in modern times, become Northampton. He describes the way his teeth ache and fall out, the way he views the Britons as uncultured and how they mock him for his height and Roman manners. How he secretly lusts for their women, as well as his thoughts on how linking the new Christian cult to the forgeries he’s been investigating might help his career. These are remarkably close character sketches, and rather than providing an overview of history, they conjure the immediate worlds in which the narrators found themselves. The effect of the first-person narrative is to turn the stories into something more like conversations, as if in each chapter we, the readers, were sitting down to listen to the voice of someone who once lived, who is communicating to us from his or her station in history. The element of voice is crafted with stunning detail in Voice of the Fire; each narrator truly sounds as though they were speaking from inside their world. Moore’s command of prose is such that he can modify language itself to reflect his characters’ worldviews. The novel opens, for example, with him speaking as a man in 4000 BC, walking along the empty hills that will become Northampton:

“A-hind of hill, ways off to sun-set-down, is sky come like as fire, and walk I up in way of this, all out of breath…” (15.)

Such an alien mutilation of language and syntax no doubt reflects Moore’s view of how a man alive 6,000 years ago would view his world; how such a man would communicate, even in his own mind. These opening words may seem bizarre, but they demonstrate a central formula of writing craft that is well employed through the entire novel, a formula running something like this: stories are established through characters, and character is established through voice. Voice is established through personal manipulation of language. These personal languages, each a mirror of their own historical moment, are what makes each chapter so immensely fascinating, making each conversation so close.
Aside from its ability to carry the vital energy of voice, Moore’s prose is often imbued with a masterful and haunting quality. Each character’s language is so unique, and often so foreign, that the prose simply transforms into prose-poetry. In 2500 BC Moore is a young woman who has killed her traveling companion, slitting her throat to assume her identity. Finding that her corpse has floated downstream to the village, the depiction is given thus:

“Boiled fish her breasts. Weed-tongued and staring…how may the dead have destinations?...A poor thing river-born and fish-mouthed at the throat” (90)

This description again relates to the craftsmanship inherent in the novel’s voices. Here, language is more than just the medium which conveys the story, it is a living thing, evoking all the worlds which we visit in this literary excavation. Here, the shamanic qualities of storytelling are apparent.
Hearing the Voice of the Fire is no easy task. Moore’s prose, while beautiful, is difficult and unexpected; his characters are often alien and his settings are varied, reaching back in time. The plots are incongruent, being separated by centuries. But for those who endure, relishing Moore’s magical ability, letting each opportunity to hear living voices from centuries past, this first novel is simply a masterpiece of language.
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Feb 21, 2010 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can be quoted as having said that i'd read Alan Moore's grocery list if he published it. This book tested that claim.

I found some of it to be almost impenetrable, as it is written in so many voices. All first person accounts from various people over a few thousand years. And each piece is written in the linguistic style of its particular narrator. Almost every one is difficult in some way. Yet all of them are beautiful in their crafting of a vivid present.

Like all of Moore's work this book cas...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I've had this book on my shelf since 1996, when a friend tracked down a copy (this was when it was available only in the UK) and gave it to me for my birthday, knowing how much of a fan of Alan Moore I was/am. Yet I allowed nearly 15 years to pass before finally sitting down to read it. Though I can't say I regret this (it's not like I've been reading crap not worth my time this last decade and a half), I am eminently happy now to have finally read it.

More a collection of stories than a novel, b...more

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Aug 16, 2007 Tommy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alan-moore

This is Alan Moore's first prose novel. If you don't know his comic work, check it out first, as he is, for me, the single greatest comic creator in history. Currently he is writing another novel, and i can't wait for it to come out.

This book reads more like a collection of connected short stories than a single long narrative. but if Voice of the Fire is a novel, than Northampton is the protagonist.

Alan Moore begins the book in 4000 BC in the story "Hob's Hog".It is the longest in the book, and...more

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Sep 11, 2010 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alan Moore describes "Voice of the Fire" as a novel but it really reads as a series of stories or novellas with thematic and geographic relationships. Starting in 4000 BC with nomads near what would become Northampton England and concluding in Northampton with a nonfiction narrative in 1995 it tells a number of dark, violent, supernatural, and perverse tales.

I was bother quite a bit by the 8 point serif type used. Very hard to read when tired. Cheap of them really.

Also not especially a fan of th...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alan Moore è un visionario, un pazzo o un genio.
Probabilmente tutte e tre le cose insieme.
Un libro costituito da una serie di racconti legati dal luogo in cui si svolgono le vicende e dal tema del fuoco e della magia.
Un libro strano e ben scritto, alterna capitoli brevi e scorrevoli e capitoli in cui il flusso di coscienza si fa contorto.

Come ha scritto Neil Gaiman, nell'introduzione, un libro circolare,
che si può iniziare a leggere da qualsiasi punto senza perderne l'eccellente fattura.

Alan Moo...more

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Oct 24, 2008 Daniel Sheehy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book... It wasn't bad. Unfortunately it wasn't that great either. I'm a big fan of Moore's comics, next to Grant Morrison he's probably my favourite comic book writer and has accomplished so much with what was once dismissed as a childish medium. The guy is a power house in the comic book industry and so maybe I was expecting too much from what is his debut novel (and still his only published novel to date though I hear he's working on another one right now).

The book is a more or less a his...more

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Jan 22, 2010 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Okay...I have never read anything like this. The story follows 12 people's lives who lived in the same area of England (where the author lives) over a 6,000 year period. Each character has a distinct voice. The interesting chapter is the first where the story of a character from 4,000 BC is told. The character has no concept of tenses so he speaks in the present tense and cannot discern reality from dreams. I have a feeling I will learn more once I read it again.

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Oct 04, 2011 Michael Coats rated it 4 of 5 stars

The land is the central character in this work. Different characters, from the Stone Age to the Space Age, live their lives in Northampton. The first tale is the most challenging, as it is told by a dim-witted youth; the unreliable narrator! I particularly enjoyed the humor in the tale of two heads, mounted on pikes, as they engage in conversation. Give this a read; you won't be disappointed.

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Sep 04, 2010 Neven rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

An overwhelmingly rich book, constantly harrowing and occasionally heartbreaking. It tells a dozen tales in radically different voices, putting you in some heads you'd never want to visit otherwise.

Moore's poetry is as purple and as earnestly effective as ever. If there's a flaw to the book, it's that the strained connections between the stories often distract from the present plot. They're necessary to the concept, but also repetitive. This doesn't harm the book much; you'll need that respite...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Rego Hemia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I felt like if I was going to say anything about this book, I ought to say something about all the different parts of it that occur to me. The characters seem utterly and completely human, from their simple fears and desires and hurts, to the complicated lies and narratives they tell themselves and others. The setting of Alan Moore's home town, from it's Iron Age roots on up, is distinct and characteristic: he tells it the way we remember our own historical landscapes. Each individual story is r...more

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About Alan Moore

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces)...more

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1

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“... the most probable of all my theorems, is that life is ordered by the principles of some religion so peculiar and obscure it has no followers, and none may fathom it, nor know the rituals by which to court its favour.” — 4 people liked it

“Above, great constellations wheeled to which our bonfire sparks ascended in their tiny mimicry” — 1 person liked it

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