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The Difference Engine (SF Masterworks)

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 9,181 ratings · 541 reviews

A collaborative novel from the premier cyberpunk authors, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine takes us not forward but back, to an imagined 1885: the Industrial Revolution is in full and inexorable swing, powered by steam-driven, cybernetic engines. Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine, and the...more

Paperback, 383 pages

Published January 1st 2011 by Gollancz (first published 1990)

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Oct 20, 2011 mark monday rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: foggy-nights, rain-man-reviews

STEAMPUNK SALAD

3 (5-ounce) cans solid Victorian Era packed in water
1/2 cup minced Bruce Sterling
1/2 cup minced William Gibson
1/4 cup Technological Speculation
1 hard-boiled Spy Thriller, chopped in large pieces
1 soft-boiled Detective Tale, finely minced
3 Major Characters, lukewarm
1 Mysterious Box of Computer Punch Cards
Salt and Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Ambition

STEP 1
Place Victorian Era in fine-mesh strainer and press dry with paper towels. Transfer to medium bowl and mash with fork until finely flaked....more

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Dec 06, 2011 Keely rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, american, reviewed, steampunk

My Shakespeare professor was ravishing: clever and ebullient, and never to be found without knee-high leather heels. I drew playbill covers while she lectured, and gave them to her at the end of class. One day I went to her office hours and there they were, all arrayed upon the wall above her desk. Life is the better for beautiful, passionate people.

One day, at the end of class, she beckoned me over: "Are you going to turn your next paper in on time?"

Of course, I answered, non-chalant, with a cr...more

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Jul 24, 2008 Eli rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people looking for an entry point into steampunk

Shelves: fiction, steampunk-etc, spec

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A dense, dark book. Full of amazing ideas and richly realized settings and gadgets; whetted my appetite for steampunk. I know I missed a lot and might be willing to reread it at some point to pick up more.

But the plot is full of holes and jumps and places where the authors seem to have lost interest and wandered off into something else. Why spend the first 100 pages establishing Sybil as a major character and then send her away for the next 300? Why place so much emphasis on the French cards an...more

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May 17, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, two major SciFi powerhouses, joined forces to produce The Difference Engine, a classic steampunk novel which was nominated for the 1990 British Science Fiction Award, the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Prix Aurora Award. I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version which was produced in 2010 and read by the always-wonderful Simon Vance.Charles Babbage's Difference Engine

The...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, two major SciFi powerhouses, joined forces to produce The Difference Engine, a classic steampunk novel which was nominated for the 1990 British Science Fiction Award, the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Prix Aurora Award. I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version which was produced in 2010 and read by the always-wonderful Simon Vance.Charles Babbage's Difference Engine

The Difference Engine takes place in a nearly unrecognizable Victorian England. The fundamental “difference” between this alternate history and the real one is that Charles Babbage succeeded in building his Difference Engine — the first analytical computer. Thus, the information age develops (along with the industrial revolution) in the social, political, and scientific milieu of the 19th century. This little historical event — the development of the steam-powered computer — has a vast impact on subsequent history: Meritocracy takes hold in England (you’ll recognize many of England’s new “savant” lords), the American states never unite, Karl Marx makes Manhattan a commune, Benjamin Disraeli becomes a trashy tabloid writer, and Japan begins to emerge as a world power with England’s help.

The idea of an earlier technological revolution affecting the course of history is fascinating. But the best part of The Difference Engine is the flash steampunk setting: full of gears and engines, pixilated billboards and slideshows, unreliable firearms, and lots of rum slang that’s right and fly.

The problem with The Difference Engine is the plot. It meanders slowly and strangely and is vaguely focused on a box of computer punch-cards which contain unknown important information. Several people are interested in the cards including Sybil, a courtesan who’s based on Benjamin Disraeli’s Sybil, mathematician Ada Lovelace (daughter of Lord Byron), a paleontologist nicknamed Leviathan Mallory, and the author Laurence Oliphant. Unfortunately, Mallory, who ends up being an Indiana Jones type of character, is the only one who’s interesting or likable. His segment of the novel has some exciting moments, but they seem only tangentially related to what comes before and after.

Most of the events seem random, obscure, and unconnected. Perhaps the book is not at all about plot, though, because the authors seem to be trying to make a clever association between Gödel’s mathematical theorems, chaos theory, punctuated equilibrium, and artificial intelligence. I’m not really sure... If this is truly their intention, it is too thickly veiled and probably imperceptible to many readers. The Matrix-like ending will leave most people scratching their heads and wondering why they spent so many hours reading such inaccessible stuff.

The Difference Engine is a smart and stylish concept novel that just doesn’t quite work.(less)

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Jul 23, 2010 Scott rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Ach, I wish I could recommend this book more highly, but I was very disappointed in it.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, given how much I loved Gibson's "Neuromancer." However, "The Difference Engine" was over-long. The plot threaded together slowly. The character development of central characters was fragmentary and tended toward the superficial. The writing of the action scenes was unbelievably bad - the reader could barely piece together what was happening, and it almost made no sense. T...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alright, so it was a bit of a jolt to my system, as I haven't read anything set before 1900 in quite some time (I KNOW! HORRIBLE!), which is a shame. Once I got over the culture (which was rather disparaging to a variety of people who were not white men) as you have to do with things set in history, I rather enjoyed most of this book. The book is divided between three different main character perspectives, the largest section being given to Dr. Edward Mallory, who is a paleontologist or as they...more Alright, so it was a bit of a jolt to my system, as I haven't read anything set before 1900 in quite some time (I KNOW! HORRIBLE!), which is a shame. Once I got over the culture (which was rather disparaging to a variety of people who were not white men) as you have to do with things set in history, I rather enjoyed most of this book. The book is divided between three different main character perspectives, the largest section being given to Dr. Edward Mallory, who is a paleontologist or as they put it savant and adventurer sort. The beginning follows Sybil, who, once you get past the tiresome "fallen woman" motif is actually rather clever and I felt bad that her part was cut so short and had a certain focus. The last is Laurence Oliphant, who became my personal favorite despite having the shortest section. He also happens to be a Real Person, more or less (as much as any of the historical figures are).

There is... there is a lot in this book and if you don't have any sort of background in Industrialization or technology and mathematical histories, you might get a bit lost. I spent the past semester studying a lot of these topics and even I found myself having to look up things a couple times. This doesn't mess with the pacing of the story, oddly, I am just a completist that hates feeling like I'm missing something. It wasn't bogged down in technobabble either, and what was described seems workable and logical enough to be seen. The politics are insane, but that's what makes it Alternate History, really, for the technologies are merely a result of the social crazyness. I was particularly fond of the touch with Manhattan being some Socialist island, with Marx chillin' out there. No, really. I'm not kidding. There were Communists, which is Always Welcome.

Really, if you hate history, you'll dislike this book. Especially considering where the plot ends up. Though, I say you should learn to like history, lest you try to invade Russia in the winter. But I digress.

My only criticism of the book is the ending was too... I had to look it up on wikipedia to figure out just what the hell happened. Once I was aware what happened, I liked it, but it was a bit vague and abrupt for my liking. And if you can't stomach your history (alternate or no) un-whitewashed, then you'll not like that. I personally rather like that, as it reminds me that people are fallible and that progress while nifty and cool also tends to screw over certain people. But despite these negatives, the book had a strangely... optimistic feel? Especially when looking through Dr. Mallory's viewpoint (I also liked him quite a bit for strange reasons). It's kind of humbling for me, as someone that sometimes cannot see the computer for the circuits, so to speak.

Main reasons you should read this:

- Alternate history is fun and you may learn something! No really!

- Steampunk is wicked cool and far less dreary than Cyberpunk on the whole (though I still love Cyberpunk)

- The plot and characters are interesting, which is sometimes hard to find in "techie" fiction

I think I may have to read more of Gibson's work, as that was quite satisfying, if confusing.(less)

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Sep 14, 2007 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: to fans of the Victorian era as it might have been; with an interest in computing as well

An alt-history/steampunk tale, we follow three characters from mid 1850's London: Sybil Gerard, a fallen woman with higher aspirations; Edward Mallory, a paleontologist unwillingly embroiled in a political plot; and Laurence Oliphant, a high-class detective. Their common thread is a mysterious box of computer punch cards. None of them is quite sure what program it holds, only that people are willing to kill and die for it.

There are many mentions of contemporary personages - Lady Ada Byron and C...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Jake Mcconnell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The archetypical novel in the Steampunk genre, The Difference Engine explores an alternate history where Charles Babbage creates a precursor to the modern computer powered by steam and clockwork gears (in our own reality, Babbage works on such a device, but never gets a completely functional version). This Difference Engine changes the course of history, and becomes widespread throughout all facets of life in Victorian England, allowing Great Britain to remain the main world power at the time. T...more The archetypical novel in the Steampunk genre, The Difference Engine explores an alternate history where Charles Babbage creates a precursor to the modern computer powered by steam and clockwork gears (in our own reality, Babbage works on such a device, but never gets a completely functional version). This Difference Engine changes the course of history, and becomes widespread throughout all facets of life in Victorian England, allowing Great Britain to remain the main world power at the time. The mathematical processing power of the Difference Engine gives Great Britain an edge in manufacturing, navigation, commerce, reconnaissance, and military campaigns. It also allows for the formation of a Big Brother type government where every citizen and their vital information is stored on punchcards that can be read by the Difference Engines and allows for the authorities to keep tabs on the common people.

The United States is fragmented in this alternate reality. The Civil War is still going on, Texas never becomes part of the country, Alaska is never bought from Russia, and parts of New York City are ruled by the communists under Marx.

It is also interesting to note in this alternate Victorian England that certain key historical figures take completely different paths. The Duke of Wellington is despised by the English people and is assassinated. Lord Byron doesn't die in the Crimean War and becomes a very long lived Prime Minister. Percy Shelly becomes the main voice for the anti-technology camp and is exiled. Disraeli does not enter politics but instead becomes a biographer. Keats is a well known kinotropist (the forerunner of movies in this reality). Many of the famous minds of the time become involved in politics as members of a merit based lordship.

Of course, having a society with such powerful tools is not all fun and games. Many people see the dangers inherent with a society ruled by technology, and oppose such changes through violence, subterfuge, and sabotage. Other people try to find ways to profit from the Difference Engines through illegal means, usually by doctoring data on the punchcards or stealing the punchcards themselves for their own benefit (forerunners of modern day hackers).

All in all this is a very engaging read and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys the steampunk genre and speculative fiction.(less)

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Feb 01, 2009 Mina Villalobos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like history, technology, math and good story telling

Shelves: steam-punk

This book is pure brilliance. As all the other Gibson books I have read, the ending kind of.. dissolves into mist, leaving you with questions and giving you a lot of room to imagine and pursue ideas -this being a very positive thing, actually. I think Sterling's style gave Gibson a grounding tug, so the whole ending chapter is about closure, something Gibson doesn't always work well with, but this one made me go back and forth to refresh character, and I had wikipedia open to read the biographie...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-geek, steampunque, read-on-my-phone

Sometimes it *really* pays to re-read a book.

I wasn't very impressed when I first read this book. My favorite character at the time vanished with about forty pages left, and I didn't find the end compelling.

I can't remember when I first read the book, but it was years ago. Now that I'm older and have both read more and experienced more, I feel I got a lot more out of the book. I actually found Laurence Oliphant's struggle with his beliefs more compelling than Edward Mallory's accidental heroics....more

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Mar 03, 2008 Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-reviewed-for-kirkus

In their first major collaboration, sf heavyweights Gibson and Sterling spin an exquisitely clever filigree of Victorian alternate history, sparkling densely with ideas, moored by a challenging subtext of chaos theory and the lessons of recent paleontology. In London of 1855, Lord Babbage's steam-driven Engines (mechanical computers roughly comparable to Univac) have transformed the world, blueprints thanks to Victorian paradigms of science and order. England's hereditary lords have been replace...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Brian Tacik rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a total disappointment. I was hyped to read some "steampunk" after jumping back on thee comics and sf trains over the last year plus. The word on the web was don't buy this, don't read it, not worth it. Don't get pumped about reading a collab by Sterling and Gibson. I ignored the shouts...and shoudn't have. I agree with what I read in online reviews and blogs: steampunk is a good concept for art, comic books or even cinema, but it doesn't work in novel form, especially not in The Differ...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Joseph Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, steampunk

Solid 4 stars.

Review forthcoming . . .

"Like Pynchon’s Against the Day, The Difference Engine seems to be asking, what would it really look like if________? . . . There’s a level on which it works for a first read, but I’m pretty sure that, like Pynchon, a second, closer read will merit some new discoveries." -- Mike Perschon (http://bit.ly/RolBuM)

Should you choose to tackle this book, you might find this "Difference Dictionary" extremely helpful! http://www.sff.net/people/gunn/dd/

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Apr 30, 2013 Cécile Cristofari rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Difference Engine" is not an easy book. It has a very unconventional plot with no clear beginning or end, and to a contemporary reader may sound more like cyberpunk translated into the 19th century than steampunk. It does have its moments of brilliance that make it worth your while, even though it may not be the most accessible bedtime read ever.

The plot meanders through different characters that never seem to exactly grasp what's going on (there's a mysterious box full of punchcards whose...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Bjorn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the one hand, the world-building part of it is excellent and even believable (at least in an "i buy it as fiction" way). Computers happen to be invented 100 years earlier so that the industrial revolution and the information revolution coincide; now you have Victorians in 1850s London trying to make sense of a world where hackers (or rather "clackers", given that nobody's invented plastic, magnetic tape or transistors yet) control the information...

"But that's theft!"
" 'Borrowing,' according...more On the one hand, the world-building part of it is excellent and even believable (at least in an "i buy it as fiction" way). Computers happen to be invented 100 years earlier so that the industrial revolution and the information revolution coincide; now you have Victorians in 1850s London trying to make sense of a world where hackers (or rather "clackers", given that nobody's invented plastic, magnetic tape or transistors yet) control the information...

"But that's theft!"
" 'Borrowing,' according to him. Says he'll give me back my cards, as soon as he's had 'em copied. That way I don't lose nothin', you see?"
Sybil felt dazed. Was he teasing her? "But isn't that stealing, somehow?"
"Try arguing that with Samuel bloody Houston! He stole a whole damn country once, stole it clean and picked it to the bone!"

...where the United States quickly fell apart into several warring nations thanks to the UK's automated intelligence service, where rationalism has taken over completely (Lord Babbage, Lord Darwin, etc - Disraeli is just a hack writer) and the Luddites have become not only enemies of the state but outright terrorists - thoughtcrime, du-du-du-dudu-du. And they write it all like a saucier Englisher Jule Verne novel, complete with mustache-twirling villains and upright gentleman "heroes" saying things like

"Some folk pass their very lives in the mud of the Thames."
"Who's that then?" asked Tom.
"Mudlarks," Fraser told him, picking his way. "Winter and summer, they slog up to their middles, in the mud o' low tide. Hunting lumps o' coal, rusty nails, any river-rubbish that will fetch a penny."
"Are you joking?" Tom asked.
"Children mostly," Fraser persisted calmly, "and a deal of feeble old women."
"I don't believe you," Brian said. "If you told me Bombay or Calcutta, I might grant it. But not London!"
"I didn't say the wretches were British," Fraser said. "Your mudlarks are foreigners, mostly. Poor refugees."
"Well, then," Tom said, relieved.

...so that you have to keep your eyes open to notice that it's actually women doing most of the heavy lifting in the novel, with Ada Lovelace the original clacker, despite still being thought of as lesser creatures. It's two paradigm shifts at once. Or probably more than that.

Unfortunately, the plot is convoluted to say the least (or possibly just badly thought out). It's told in several interlocking storylines that don't really interlock, that don't really feel like they get resolved. Plus, with most of the characters being rather stuck-up unlikable fools in a lot of ways, it's difficult to find one to latch on to - especially since they tend to get written out for a few hundred pages. It's entertaining as hell up to a point, but when everything just drags on, I start to lose interest.

Fascinating effort though, and I'll never not like the idea of steampunk. I might have to go back to this one at some point.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Kathleen Farrell added it · review of another edition

Historical fiction has been a suspect genre to me. The idea of "characters" such as Lord Byron (who here is resurrected from death in exile and elevated to political eminence) and of his estranged daughter, Ada, along with a Victorian spectrum of characters from the visionary to the vulgar (often times both) flew in the face of my elusive notion of perfect truth. I always wanted to know what really happened. Each and every angle and perspective, however, are beyond the scope of my calculations....more

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Sep 07, 2012 Mykle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel slightly hornswoggled: I picked this up as research, to see how Lady Ada Byron Lovelace would be handled as a fictional character. As it turns out she is kept in the background through most of the book -- adored, revered and discussed constantly, but rarely seen. Oh well, buyer beware and all that ... I know it's the founding document of Steampunk and all, but I found it a bit tedious.

The Difference Engine exemplifies the difference between a great idea for a book and an actual great book...more I feel slightly hornswoggled: I picked this up as research, to see how Lady Ada Byron Lovelace would be handled as a fictional character. As it turns out she is kept in the background through most of the book -- adored, revered and discussed constantly, but rarely seen. Oh well, buyer beware and all that ... I know it's the founding document of Steampunk and all, but I found it a bit tedious.

The Difference Engine exemplifies the difference between a great idea for a book and an actual great book. It's meticulously, obsessively researched and realized -- it's a fully realized world of alternate-history London, where the power of Charles Babbage's general purpose computer* has changed the course of Empire. Fully, fully realized. The authors insist that we notice exactly what non-plastic material every single bit of digital Victoriana is made out of -- every elkhorn pistol grip, oiled hemp floormat, brass switch and burnished yak's knee doorknob, every mahogany windowsill and limestone brick, every garment of clothing, every pattern of tweed. This book actually rivals American Psycho in its obsessive cataloguing of superficiality, although the unhealthy mental state it's illustrating could only be that of the authors.

Speaking of: the prose of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling mesh like sushi and oatmeal. You can often spot the moments when they trade off. Gibson's prose is usually the more beautiful, esoteric & imaginative; I'm blaming Sterling for the endless litany of Rad-Victorian hallways, alleys and odors.

But my main beef is: despite all this style and research and impressive, alternately interesting and tedious alt-history imaginings, there's a real shortage of plot. The story begins with a heroine, but she's discarded early in favor of a second hero for most of the book, before there's finally a coda with a third guy plus a random assortment of bits-that-didn't-fit-elsewhere. The actioney bits are gratifyingly action-packed, but the talking heads and scenery recitations were a bit of a yawn. The plot, vaguely, is Bad Guys Are After A Thing, but the vagueness is never cleared up to my satisfaction. Criminal gamblers? Manhattan socialists? Are they the same thing? How are the French involved? The Japanese? Exactly why do these guys from Texas have their fingers in it? I'm willing to accept that maybe I nodded off during prescient moments when some of this was made clearer, but clarity sure did not feel like the authors' priority. They seem very pleased to wallow in their thickly upholstered alternative history, reciting their Victorian cyberslang & admiring their hand-tooled brass card punches. It's a very clever book, but for me the cleverness doesn't carry it.

* CS historians ache to mention here that Babbage's Analytical Engine is the engine this book is about, not his relatively boring Difference Engine, which only printed multiplication tables.(less)

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Sep 07, 2012 Catherine Fitzsimmons rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found numerous references to this novel as a quintessential steampunk story online, so I put it on the reading list and checked it out of the library. It’s difficult to summarize this book, as even after having finished it, I still don’t really know what the point of the story was. In a world where the computer is invented more than a century ahead of its time, three people come into contact with an extremely powerful and mysterious program, and the story chronicles their struggles as they dea...more I found numerous references to this novel as a quintessential steampunk story online, so I put it on the reading list and checked it out of the library. It’s difficult to summarize this book, as even after having finished it, I still don’t really know what the point of the story was. In a world where the computer is invented more than a century ahead of its time, three people come into contact with an extremely powerful and mysterious program, and the story chronicles their struggles as they deal with the ramifications the program presents.

This book was a bit difficult to get into. There were a lot of period terms and the authors’ own invented devices thrown in right off the bat, most – but not all – of which I could pick up in context, but rarely on the first instance. I’ll credit the authors for effectively blurring the line between actual period technology and the devices unique to their world, but it was all a little difficult to follow at least at first. In addition to this, passages would abruptly switch tense and purpose entirely out of context to the rest of the story, and the whole last part of the story, at least fifty pages or so, was written completely different to the rest of it and seemed jarring and out of place, little say extraordinarily difficult to understand.

I enjoyed the second part of the story. Some questions, some of them very essential ones, were still left unanswered at the end of it, but the events of that part of the story were interesting enough, the narrative itself taking me into the story enough for it not to matter much. It had an effective beginning, exposition, and ending, and even though I didn’t like all of it, it did keep my interest well throughout. That a good hundred or so pages followed it didn’t really detract from the enjoyment of that segment, but I simply didn’t feel as compelled to keep reading as I did before. The conclusion of the second part of the story made me feel like the rest of it should have been denouement, when it was meant as a complete story of its own, one which never really took off the ground the way the second, and to a lesser extent the first, parts of the story did.

It was different, and I’m sure it’s more to some people’s taste than others. I found it a bit jarring, and honestly, even setting those flaws aside, I’ve read better books. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, either.(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Planchette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Initiate or experts in 1800s England & aspiring or well-versed historians of computer sciences

Shelves: alternate-history, alternate-technology, intrigue, mystery

The only problem with this book, is that I don't know my British Reformation and Industrial Revolutionary history very well. Each new sentence spawns a full day of disappearing down a Wikipedia rabbit-hole.

Alterna-history usually chooses just one or two pivotal points that, having departed in a different direction, cause a series of otherworldly tribulations. This book is based on the idea that Charles Babbage completed his Analytical Engine, and the punched cards needed to program it become es...more

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

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary

It’s 1855 and the computer age arrives a 100 years ahead of its time. A mysterious box of engine cards are found. Cards worthy enough to kill for. 4 characters fight through their way of the terrorism that corrupted glorious London, sending waves of chaos rippling through the streets, men turning on men, governors murdered. Our 4 characters find their way through and get to the root of the terrorism.

Author’s Craft: 5/5

The writing has a nice archaic touch. Although written by American auth...more Summary

It’s 1855 and the computer age arrives a 100 years ahead of its time. A mysterious box of engine cards are found. Cards worthy enough to kill for. 4 characters fight through their way of the terrorism that corrupted glorious London, sending waves of chaos rippling through the streets, men turning on men, governors murdered. Our 4 characters find their way through and get to the root of the terrorism.

Author’s Craft: 5/5

The writing has a nice archaic touch. Although written by American authors, it seems authentically Victorian British. Metaphors and dialog are relevant towards its setting (Victorian Era England). Sentence variety tops it with cream, and differing starts to sentences plops a cherry on top. However, the syntax will be particularly odd for young readers, for the dialog, descriptions and figurative language is extremely arcane. This book is crammed with quite peculiar and advanced words, and flowing with a fair amount of French etymology, since this takes place at least 200 years ago, at that point in time words were influenced by the French. The writing seems to flow well if you know what the authors are talking about. It isn’t overflowing with character development, it provides just the sufficient amount.

Plot: 5/5

This plot is one of the most intricate ones I have read. The book takes place in several iterations, with different plots, but as you read further, you begin to notice that they collaborate. It is very much not predictable, adding to the suspense. Although, it is a bit perplexing and often you can get distracted from figuring out how this all fits together. The complexity of it makes it so interesting. I always find myself engulfed in an enigma of the plot. Beware, because this seriously influences your thoughts.

Character: 5/5

Our characters are so welly developed, I practically feel as if I am in the same room as them. The feel authentically British, talking oddly and with proper actions. The setting feels elegant. They are also rendered nicely, you can really tell what they are mentally and physically, and the characters seem realistic and can make connections to. However, due to the setting, it can sometimes be hard to tell about them because some of the things are very odd and never done today. Clearly, the author researched and delved deeply into Victorian British etiquette. As I said in the first paragraph, there is just enough character development, not too much, and not too little that the book becomes boring.

Steampunk: 5/5

Completely steampunk, and historically accurate in the alternate history sort of way. Gibson and sterling obviously spent quite a bit of time developing the numerous contraptions and mechanisms weaved through out the story. The machines are well detailed, and seem realistic enough that you could replicate one in the real world. I always find myself mesmerized by them.

Overall: 20/20

Excellent! This book isn’t for two year olds, if you seriously want a challenge to read pick this up any day. The syntax may confuse you a lot, so carry a dictionary!(less)

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May 26, 2012 Mel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Given my love of the Steampunk genre, most friends were astonished I hadn't read this yet. Given my proclivities tend more towards Jules Verne than George Orwell, I think I can be forgiven.

However, having read this in one sitting, I can say I loved the book! It is the epitome of Steampunk: what if Gaslight England developed modern equipment using Victorian technology?

Most of the characters appeared true to the stereotypes and mindset of the time period. The clothing, the setting; Stirling &...more

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Feb 08, 2012 John E. Branch Jr. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, alt-history

Charles Babbage was one of those geniuses whose work wasn't sufficiently appreciated at the time. Many people have wondered what would have happened if he had been able to complete a working difference engine (essentially an advanced calculator) and then construct a working analytical engine (essentially a programmable general-purpose computer) from the designs he had developed. In this novel, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling collaborated to answer that what-if question. The resulting story is...more

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Jan 28, 2012 John Carter McKnight rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Difference Engine is better read as Great Big Idea SF than as an exemplar of the genre it gave rise to, steampunk. Rather a grim alternate history of a proto-totalitarian Britain run by a government of science and industry and police steam computing, it couldn't be farther from the romanticism of the later genre.

It's very Gibson and Sterling though, painfully prescient in its depiction of the early days of the Panopticon, fiercely intelligent, tamping the worse excesses of both authors, thou...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk, science-fiction, technology, alternate-history

"Just one little thing" is a recurring theme in Alternate History and Speculative Fiction and the nugget of The Difference Engine is "what if Charles Babbage was able to get his calculating engines to run". Historically, limitations to precision machining prevented the very fine parts required for his machines from being created which some say delayed the computational revolution by a century.

Sure.

The book itself moves back and forth between a milquetoast plot about political intrigue regarding...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Daniel Cann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This collaborative effort from William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (the only to date) is a prime example of the ‘Steampunk’ genre and a bold imaginative ‘alternate history’ novel.

It is set in London in 1855 where the computer age has arrived a century ahead of time with the great steam-driven (Charles) Babbage Engines powering the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to this huge leap in technology Great Britain with her calculating-cannons, steam dreadnoughts, machine-guns and information technology bes...more This collaborative effort from William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (the only to date) is a prime example of the ‘Steampunk’ genre and a bold imaginative ‘alternate history’ novel.

It is set in London in 1855 where the computer age has arrived a century ahead of time with the great steam-driven (Charles) Babbage Engines powering the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to this huge leap in technology Great Britain with her calculating-cannons, steam dreadnoughts, machine-guns and information technology bestrides the globe like an unopposed colossus.

The Industrial Radicals led by Lord Byron and the scientists run things and the Tory Party and hereditary peerage have been eclipsed. Luddite anti-technological working class revolutionaries have been ruthlessly suppressed. In this alternate reality the once mighty USA is fragmented and divided into the United States, the Confederate States and the Republics of Texas and California and even a Communist Manhattan Island.

It is Great Britain and not America that opens Japan to Western trade, the Irish famine did not happen because the Industrial Radical Government assisted the grateful Irish and relations between the French Empire (Britain’s main rival) are cordial, with its ruler Napoleon III married to an English woman and an entente in place.

All seems rosy but there is treachery and intrigue at the heart of government and Sybil Gerard, fallen woman, Edward Mallory, palaeontologist, and Lady Ada Byron, compulsive gambler and mathematical genius are unwittingly caught up in a conspiracy that could change the world.

There is much to like about ‘The Difference Engine’ with its ingenious premise and concept as well as its well drawn and engaging characters. With a plot involving clackers (Victorian hackers geddit?), punch cards (acting as the MacGuffin) and looming artificial intelligence this is an intelligent and far reaching fantasy novel.

It can be enjoyed on many different levels: as a mystery, as alternate history, as science fiction and as a clever warning about investing too much into machinery and computers (James Cameron would love this if he has not already read it!) This is a Victorian era that really shakes the cage and turns the world upside down and inside out. As the pages turned I had to smile at the ingenuity and creativity of the two authors. They have certainly done their homework.

Kudos also must go to them as they capture the Victorian era so well: Accents, expressions and culture are expertly crafted into the larger narrative giving proceedings the necessary authenticity and believability. Others have tried and failed at this because we just cannot buy into what they are selling; well Gibson and Sterling succeed on every level with this wonderfully intricate and rewarding work.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you enjoy Jules Verne, HG Wells and their modern counterparts then this is an excellent novel that will not only entertain but entice you into learning more about Babbage and many of the other historical figures who play a part. In that regard it is clear why it is has been so highly regarded in the last couple of decades.

On an interesting footnote in 1991 a year after the novels publication, a Difference Engine based on Babbage’s original plans was completed by the London Science Museum. Once completed, both the engine and its printer worked flawlessly, and still do. The difference engine and printer were constructed using 19th century technology, resolving a long-standing debate whether Babbage's design would actually have worked. This makes the novel all the more plausible and in some respects, chilling! (less)

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Sep 01, 2011 manuti rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bueno, al menos escribo sobre los libros y no he dejado de leer. La novela parte de la ucronía que hubiese supuesto que Charles Babbage [1 y 2], hubiese conseguido hacer funcionar su proyecto de máquina diferencial [3]. Partiendo de ese hecho, tenemos una novela de Steampunk en la que Inglaterra y Francia habrían comenzado a "informatizar" la gestión de sus imperios coloniales y mejorar así su control a nivel mundial.
Todo esto parece muy interesante, pero luego la novela se convierte en una espe...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, steampunk

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ok, so as far as I can tell, this book pretty much invented a lot of the steampunk trappings we take for granted. And the world-building is seriously awesome. There's some fascinating alt-history, lots of SCIENCE!, and mies and miles of clockwork computers running everything. The great horse races are replaced by mechanical guerneys, Japan makes wind up dolls out of whalebone, there's even a weird kind of digital animation. The whole thing is put together exceedingly cleverly. First rate world-b...more

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Feb 26, 2011 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

"The Difference Engine" ("DGE") was a real surprise after reading previously published books by both authors. (I had probably only read "Islands in the Net" and the "Mirrorshades" collection by Mr. Sterling at this point.) I can't even tell you (and won't cheat and look up) if this book launched the "steampunk" genre (I suspect not), but even if it wasn't the first, this is a book to judge others by.

Forget it's genre or even sub-genre: this is a great book. It has excellent writing, plotting, ch...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

William Gibson was a young turk in Science Fiction in the 1980s when Neuromancer helped establish cyperpunk as a leading SF genre. My ex loved this book. It was cyber-literate, speculative and very smart. I read it, but it didn't stick with me. Fast forward 25 years. Gibson and Sterling's Difference Engine attracted my attention because it's counterfactual history. What would have happened if Charles Babbage's mechanical computer had been successful and the cyber-revolution happened in the 1800s...more

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Aug 03, 2010 CScott Morris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the first Steampunk books to show up, once the term 'steampunk' was in our literary consciences.
William Gibson and Bruce Sterling are two literary powerhouses, and their incredible skill shows in this masterful telling. Gibson is largely credited with being the father of 'cyberpunk'(it is worth noting that steampunk was initially a tongue-in-cheek reaction to cyberpunk), and Sterling himself helped to define both genres.
In the Difference Engine, Gibson and Sterling postulate an al...more

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About William Gibson

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

William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer(1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies wor...more

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