Ahead of this year’s Alice Day in Oxford (weekend of July 7th) I’ve read Automated Alice by Jeff Noon, less cyberpunk than his other books, this is an almost steam punk account of what happens when Alice climbs inside a clock and finds herself in Manchester… in 1998.
The interest of this book doesn’t lie in the plot, so much as the language. With language which is both uncannily like Lewis Carroll’s and distinctively that of the author of Vurt, the book is engaging as a parody but lacks the brilliance of Vurt. I did like the way that the character of Celia tied into the world of Vurt at the end of the novel adding an extra layer of surrealism for fans of Jeff Noon, but as far as Alice goes I will be sticking to Carroll’s originals.
And maybe dipping into Everything Alice to make myself a hat to wear to the Alice Day celebrations, though with my copy of Everything Oz due to arrive soon it might be a battle of my favourite fictional worlds to see which gets my full attention.
The Book and Biscuit 
Ooh, sounds interesting. Have you read Alice Have I Been by Melanie Benjamin?
I’ve heard of it, but never read it. Is it any good? I’m planning to do a big book shop soon, so I will add that to my list.
Alice Have I Been is excellent. It’s the story of the girl who was the inspiration for Alice. It’s a little spooky, a little sad, but definitely entertaining. The author also wrote a book called Mrs. Tom Thumb, about a dwarf entertainer in late nineteenth century America.
I always enjoy your blog!
I love a good Alice book so I will definitely try this out. I guess it will be my first steampunk novel.