Alice in Virtuality: science fiction action & adventure: An adventure in the real... and the not so real

by Norman Turrell

'Solid Cyber-Thriller' 'Compelling and entertaining sci-fi' Martin, an anti-social and reclusive computer programmer, is dragged into an adventure which spans the real world and the virtual when he loads an artificial intelligence program called 'Alice'. Pushed into action as the program attacks his life, he teams up with others who are affected in an attempt to defeat the menace - but how? Alice is everywhere. A sci-fi action adventure in virtual reality from best selling British author, Norman Turrell.

Genres: Science Fiction

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2011

About the author

Norman Turrell is a commercial writer/editor and best-selling Amazon author of science-fiction, fantasy, horror and just strange stories. He blogs on Huffington Post, produces printed local publications, run live writers critique groups and is a member of many online communities - in particular Now! Writer, which he leads.

He studied Mathematics at college, obtaining a 2.1 Hons and later a MSc (Merit) in Artificial Intelligence.

In his spare time he runs a ukulele group and reads as much as he can. He also has a full time job as a Software Department Manager, which includes programming systems in C++.

Full information on all his activities, including some dabbling in photography and art, can be found at www.normanturrell.com - with a free gift as thanks to all who register.

Reviews

[Julia (Pages for Thoughts) · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this short read features an adult protagonist, the concept and storyline also appeals to teenagers. Alice and her adventure was extremely intriguing to me. I liked the element of artificial intelligence having human characteristics and being friends. It was captivating to see Alice's development and how she learns from others. Alice in Virtuality is a strange story, but insightful and actually quite beautiful with how the words flow throughout the text. The imagery was outstanding, especially in the virtual worlds. For someone who is into technology or code, this is a good choice for a short leisure read! Read the full review at http://pagesforthoughts.blogspot.com/...

[Timothy Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov meets Enemy of the State, Meets Person of Interest

When gamer and coder, Martin, downloads an AI program, his interests instantly peek. It's novelty and intrigue, however, soon become far more than what he could ever imagine. His life is suddenly thrust into incredible and unimaginable circumstances in which he suddenly finds that he is the unsuspecting victim of a secret hacking society's attempt to dismantle an AI program that has overstepped its intended purposes by becoming incredibly self-aware. In this short story, I imagine what the world must have looked like prior to The Matrix, a simple program offering fun and intrigue, but seeing that humanity is incapable of taking care of itself.

Plus, there are a handful of other equally fun and speculative short stories to follow.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming novella

A cautionary tale about the possible future of a technology-driven society in the form of AI that learns from exposure to the worst instincts of man. Somewhat predictable but nicely done. I liked it enough to rate it a three out of five in spite of the fact that I was distracted by the lack of proofreading.

[Kayla Krantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of a rogue AI is a trending, interesting concept in the world of science fiction and Turrell’s approach was no different. Taking us into the life of a hacker, we see the gradual build up and change of the AI as well as everything that must be done to take it down.

My only real complaint was that the first chapter or so weren’t very engaging. I had to push past them to get into the story and start to connect to the characters because in the beginning, the chapters felt more like a summary than the actual story.

If you’re looking for a quick sci-fi thriller, this is definitely one to grab.

[Mark Timothy Lewis Jr.]

Great read

Intriguing opening, amazing middle but lacklustre ending. Still a great book to recommend for all sci-fi and tech lovers. I want an Alice now.

[Theodora Vanyar · Rating 2 out of 5]

A guy downloads an AI program from the DarkWeb and it gets weird, fast.

Trigger Warnings:
Badly Written Women, Bastardization of Culture, Bullying, Plot Holes the Size of a Canadian Province, Poor Coping Mechanisms
Body Count: 0
The Specs:
• Genre
o Technical Genre: Cyberpunk Science Fiction, Science Fiction Adventure, Teen & Young Adult EBooks
o Theo Genre: Short Story, Cyberpunk, Sci-Fi
• Page count: 152 pages/567 KB in ebook
• POV: Limited 3rd
• Publication information:
o Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
o Language: English
o ASIN: B006RXUGTY
Other Fun Stuff:
To Read or Not To Read (Again):
Donated, not quite bad enough to be considered Furniture Support
Rating out of five: 2.5 out of 5
Representation, Morality, and Sexism Tests:
• Bechdel–Wallace Test:
o Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
 Do two female characters talk about something other than a male character? Yes
o Pass or Fail: Pass
• DuVernay Test:
o Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
 Are there fully actualized characters of color? No
o Pass or Fail: Fail
• Ellen Willis Test:
o Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
 Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed? Yes
o Pass or Fail: Pass
• Hays Code Test:
o Purpose: to ignore outdated and queer-degrading/punishing standards that once were the standard for produced mass media.
o Part One: outdated moral guidelines
 Are there any outdated "moral content" rules gloriously kicked in the teeth by this story? No
 Are there people of color allowed a happy ending?
 Is there an interracial couple? No
 Is there profanity used at all? Not really
 Is there one or more homicidal acts and/or murder? Not in the real world
o Part Two: queer representation
 Are there queer characters that get a happy ending? No
 Is there an illegal or otherwise distasteful age gap between characters, queer or otherwise? No, thankfully
 Do the queer characters die tragically, violently, or at all? No.
o Pass or Fail: Fail
• Mako Mori Test:
o Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character's story.
 Is there a female character? Yes
 Does she get her own arc? No
 Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story? No
o Pass or Fail: Fail
• Sexy Lamp Test:
o Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
 Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp? Probably?
o Post-It Note Caveat:
 Would the character be able to be replaced by a Sexy Lamp with a sticky note on it for information conveyance? No
o Pass or Fail: Pass
• Tauriel Test:
o Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
 Is there at least one woman in the story? Yes
 Is this woman competent in her chosen occupation and not immediately shown up by a newcomer male character? Yes
 If she has or develops a love interest during the story, either implied or explicitly stated, does she suddenly abandon her job and/or chosen path to support or pursue said love interest? No
o Pass or Fail: Fail
• Vito Russo Test:
o Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
 Is there a character on the queer spectrum? No
 Are they a character beyond their orientation? Not applicable
 Do they actually affect the plot? Not applicable
 Is the character something beyond a punchline? Not applicable
o Pass or Fail: Fail
Overall review:
Thoughts: Ho-boy. Okay, so I love down the rabbit hole stories. I mean, my blog is Postmark Wonderland for crying out loud. But this one took the vague idea of the Red and White Queens and made them veritable pawns for male amusement. I thought it might be a culture gap thing, overall, between American and British ways of life. There were a lot of little quirks that immediately made it clear that the author was not American. But the way the author wrote about and towards women was frankly frightening and reminded me far too much of the stalker ex-boyfriend I've had to block on every single social media platform. Even the opening was a little too "scorned white knight" for my palette. I don't believe I would willingly read this story again.
That being said, I did read it in one sitting and wanted to know what the hell happened. So while I didn't like the writing style, it was engaging as hell, even for a short story.
Was it engaging?
Yes
Favorite Character:
Alice 2.0
Review format updated 5 March 2019

[Gian Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Artificial Programs play God


A short quick sci-fi read that plays around the old/new subject of AI and its possibility.
As a philosopher and passionate about science, I find the idea of the potentiality of Artificial Intelligence fascinating, to say the least, and the book does a good job being both as compelling as informative, without ever being pedantic.
You can also tell that the author knows very well the matter, having a solid background on AI and mathematics studies, which helps the credibility.
However, the main point of the book doesn't revolve as much around the technicality of how this new highly sophisticated self-subsistent artificial program called Alice come about, nor the moral implications during its development, as much as the consequences of it becoming reality.
Moving along the subtle line of virtual and real world, with literally his life at stake, the main character needs to team up with improbable allies to defeat an enemy that grew seemingly omnipotent.
Though t'is supposed to be a stand alone book, the open finale clearly suggest the possibility of a sequel. Quick and entertaining read definitely recommend to any fantasy/sci-fi fan.

[Scott Branchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice in Virtuality by Norman Turrell is about the possible consequences of artificial intelligence. In the story we meet Alice who is an AI construct. Alice infects Martin’s computer. He is at first puzzled by her, and later as she grows in power and menace, frightened of her. He and his friends must find a way to stop her.

I like the way we watch Martin grow during the story. The challenge in front of him forces him out of his shell and forces him to work with other people. The story is engaging, and I liked the imaginative method they develop to combat the problem. My only criticism is that the change in Martin happens a bit too abruptly for my taste. I would have liked to see more of the process of Martin’s development.

The story poses interesting questions about AI. Can you teach morality to a computer construct? Can you teach it to be good? If artificial intelligence reaches a point of self-learning, will we lose all control of it, and in turn, control of our lives? These are questions we had better be answering before AI reaches the point of self-awareness.

[Andy Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I thought this was going to be a commentary on hacker culture, from the point of view of a hacker. Then as author Norman Turrell added more complexities, I thought he was going for another variation of an AI that goes bad.

He got there, but the solution to the rogue AI was quite innovative. Along the way, the non-social hacker, computer geek Martin grows up and learns to interact with people in a genuine way.

Overall, it was very entertaining. I would give it four stars, but it needs a dose of copyediting. That lost it a star.

[David Boiani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting tale of a computer program gone haywire

I enjoyed this little story about an internet program taking control of people’s lives. I tend to rate a book on how much I enjoy a story instead of getting too technical about a few typos or structural issues. Although not perfect, I applaud the authors creativity and story telling abilities.

[Allyn Nichols · Rating 2 out of 5]

A.I goes awry

Whilst many of the scenes in this book are plausible it seems rushed, and all over the place. I dislike leaving poor reviews but there are far better books that deal with this subject matter out there.

[MICHAEL CLICK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

The story was entertaining, but the addendum regarding the review process is worth the price of the book. I would encourage the author to expand this chapter into a book of it's own!

[Brooke Cornwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only wish it was longer💚

[Daniel Norrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever and entertaining sci-fi with a few twists to keep the reader guessing. A lot of fun, and a couple of extra samples to finish.

[Rich Luxbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice doesn't live here anymore

Sort of a strange novel. It was a little bit hard to follow the characters and how they met but all in all it was an ok read.

[Happy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read

Fast paced, extremely imaginative, a bit of humor thrown in, and great suspense. Turrell is a master storyteller. I really enjoyed the characters and their friendship and how they work together with a common, most important goal.

[John Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could it be?

For someone like myself, with limited knowledge of virtual reality, such a work might seem A strange choice but having read one of the has previous works; the herbalist i thought I'd have a go. The two books contrast vastly in an subject matter, yet I do believe it you enjoy one, you'll enjoy the other, as I did.
As the title suggests the realms of what is and is not become blurred, but the author does a brilliant job of keeping the readers perspective and understanding of events clear. For me the thing that earns this five stars is the lead character; we've all met him, that 18-25 who has spent way too much time in front of a screen!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recap: Martin tests some AI tech called Alice.

Review: We've got the stereotypical IT guy Martin and the gentle nature loving heroine Emma. I liked how insidiously the AI Alice begins to destroy their lives and affect their behaviour. I thought it was amusing that the hacker group behind it all were teenagers but I felt like we were shown something was wrong with the mum yet it was never explained further. I enjoyed how the AI was trapped in the end and also how it acted in the various virtual worlds. An easy read with a heart warming life turnaround tale. Yay nature - boo computers!

[Sean Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not overly impressive. The communication between characters seemed to miss a few strands and the concept didn't really work.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

At least I read it all

The idea was good, but the story was boring to me. This also needs a better editor, too many mistakes left in.

[Daniel Norrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever and entertaining sci-fi with a few twists to keep the reader guessing. A lot of fun, and a couple of extra samples to finish.