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Automated Alice

Jeff Noon

First published 1996
Type Novel
Series Vurt

On a dull and rainy afternoon, in 19th-century Manchester, desperate to avoid the question of ellipses (on which her strict great-aunt Ermintrude is sure to test her this afternoon), Alice works on a jigsaw puzzle, only to find (frustratingly) that 12 pieces are missing from the picture of the London Zoo. Lamenting aloud, Alice is answered by her great-aunt's very talkative parrot, Whippoorwill. Prompted by Whippoorwill's increasingly intriguing riddles, Alice frees the him from his cage. Suddenly, in pursuit of the elusive bird, Alice falls into the workings of a grandfather clock and emerges in the Manchester of 1998-a world of automated wonders and inspired nonsense with a distinctly 19th-century flavor. --From the jacket copy

This book belongs in both the "Vurt" series and "Alice in Wonderland". See the Wikipedia link for details.

YearAwardCategoryStatus
1998 British Fantasy Award August Derleth Fantasy Award (Best Novel) Nominee/Finalist

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1996 Automated Alice Bantam Books (UK) Novel
September 1996 Cover Automated Alice Crown Publishers Novel
November 1996 Cover Automated Alice Doubleday (UK) Novel
1997 Cover Automated Alice Corgi Novel
1999 Cover Alice im Automatenland Manhattan Novel
2000 Automated Alice Black Swan Novel