The Difference Engine

by William Gibson, Bruce Sterling

1855: The Industrial Revolution is in full and inexorable swing, powered by steam-driven cybernetic Engines. Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine and the computer age arrives a century ahead of its time. And three extraordinary characters race toward a rendezvous with history - and the future: Sybil Gerard - dishonored woman and daughter of a Luddite agitator; Edward "Leviathan" Mallory - explorer and paleontologist; Laurence Oliphant - diplomat and spy. Their adventure begins with the discovery of a box of punched Engine cards of unknown origin and purpose. Cards someone wants badly enough to kill for...

Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine is the first collaborative novel by two of the most brilliant and controversial science fiction authors of our time. Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, it is a startling extension of Gibson's and Sterling's unique visions - in a new and totally unexpected direction!

Genres: Science Fiction, Steampunk, Fiction, Alternate History, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

429 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

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 worldwide.

While his early writing took the form of short stories, Gibson has since written nine critically acclaimed novels (one in collaboration), contributed articles to several major publications, and has collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians. His thought has been cited as an influence on science fiction authors, academia, cyberculture, and technology.


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William Gibson. (2007, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:30, October 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...

Reviews

[Aliaksei Shota]

Ледзь дачытаў. Нейкія асобныя абрыўкі, якія не вельмі складаюцца ў адзін сюжэт. Выглядае даволі забаўна - быццам проста антураж кіберпанка замянілі на сцімпанк, але па сутнасці сюжэтныя хады, тыпажы і ўсё астатняе - засталося як і было ў Гібсана ў больш ранніх творах. Вельмі файна прапісаны свет, але адсутнічае хоць нейкая сэнсоўная гісторыя, якая б звязвала часткі кнігі. Як экспазіцыя і апісанне свету ў межах нейкага большага цыкла - файна. Як самастойны твор - не варты асаблівай увагі.