Review - 断片のアリス / The Fragmented ALiS

断片のアリス / The Fragmented ALiS

Daniel - 

Although I'm a fan of the NEX label of 新潮文庫, it's difficult keeping up with all of their releases, so I've mainly been sticking with the 階段島 series (which is fantastic by the way). However this book grabbed my attention when one of my favourite illustrators (Ilya Kuvshinov) unveiled their cover art for it on twitter. Luckily the blurb summarizing the book also sounded pretty interesting so I dashed out to pick it up on day one.

断片のアリス is set in a distant future where the world is blanketed in smog following a nuclear war (referred to as 'The Great Chaos' in the novel), rendering most of the world uninhabitable. Although the current world is at peace, the heavily reduced population live in relative isolation spread out across the globe. 

After a period of recovery, in order to facilitate socialization and provide some form of entertainment and escapism, a VR world and headset system named ALiS (Augmented Life Internet System) is developed and rolled out, becoming very much a staple of everyday life. Many people even choose to take on jobs in the virtual realm to pay for their lives in the real world rather than go out and work.

The story opens with our protagonist ハル (Haru) waking up as per usual and diving into ALiS to start her usual work day. Just after she logs in a stranger in distress asks for her assistance and leads her to a building. This stranger however forces Haru through a doorway, transporting her to the 'Pinocchio Cluster', a strange server that seems to defy the normal rules of ALiS, running a twisted program inspired by the classic tale it's named after. On this server avatars feel pain, are unable to log out or transfer to another area and death in this realm means death in the real world (by sealing the person's consciousness in the server, rendering their bodies in the real world brain dead). Haru is joined in this realm by 12 others, similarly abducted, and tasked with finding 'the blue haired girl' in order to escape.  

The opening chapter very much serves just to set up the world (both real and virtual) but then we're quickly thrust into a tense suspense tale in which the fragile alliances forged between the captives are constantly shifting as they get increasingly desperate to escape what slowly becomes a twisted death game. The bulk of the story takes place in the claustrophobic 'Red Lobster Inn' which holds plenty of mysteries and hazards for the group to overcome.

Who created the 'Pinocchio cluster' and for what purpose? Who was the mysterious stranger that brought these strangers together? Why were they selected? And is there really a way out that doesn't require bloodshed? These are the questions that kept me coming back and I was gladly not disappointed. 

As we get deeper into the novel there are plenty of twists and turns and the revelation at the end of the novel is definitely worthy of the buildup and also raises some interesting questions (which I can't say anymore about without spoiling things). Things are really well paced, with just enough downtime between each twist to reflect on new pieces of information and the changes in behavior among the group before the next hit.

The author's style took a little while to get used to but if you're familiar with general IT, VR or game terminology (especially for online games and fantasy RPGs) you'll likely be safe in terms of vocabulary. One thing that did catch me off guard though is that sometimes the deaths and corpses are described in very gruesome detail. It definitely adds to the sense of dread pervading in the later parts of the story but if you're not a fan of that kind of thing then you can likely skip those little bits without losing much from the story.

All in all, if you're after a tense suspense mystery be sure to check it out.