This is really daring early cyberpunk. It's a bit uneven: it has funny moments, profound moments, dashes of irony, set off by chapter endings I can only describe as EPIC FAIL. A pretty good job of emulating the Victorian writing idiom, although I wonder if I would have bought into it more with the right typography. (??) (Originally posted to LivingSocial 17 Jul 2008) ( )

Like most joint efforts of two favorite authors, I begin the read with such high expectations. My own fault really. I should know better and just relax and enjoy the read. ( )

Often referred to as a book to be admired rather than enjoyed (by idiots), 'The Difference Engine' is still the epitome of steampunk, and an admirable collaboration between two seminal science fiction writers. Still blows my mind. ( )

What might have happened if Charles Babbage had finished building his steam powered computer. This is an alternative history book in which steam power (steampunk) runs the current industrial revolution. The book is very good, but somewhat difficult to follow. In all honesty while I enjoyed what I was reading I often found myself lost as to what was going on.

All in all... a good read but not one you can just breeze through. ( )

The Difference Engine is considered to be one of the definitive works in the Steampunk genre, and is said to help bring the genre into being.

Gibson and Sterling present an alternate history, in which Charles Babbage actually completes his difference engine (sort of a steam powered computer). (Interesting to note: It's been proven that Babbage's analytical engine could have worked if he actually constructed it. The machine has been recreated according to his exact designs and the functioning machine is on display at the computer history museum in California.)

The story follows three characters through this world, Sybil Gerard (fallen woman), Edward Mallory (scientist and adventurer), and Laurence Oliphant (diplomat and journalist). The plot lays out as three separate stories from the point of view of each of these characters, and the narrative interweaves around a box containinga mysterious set kinotrope cards (sort of the difference engine's floppy discs). Various catastophe's and calamities befall the characters and the nation.

Due to the format, the book reads a little disjointedly, and I would have liked to have seen the characters interact on a greater scale. Mallory's story is the longest and most interesting, dipping into the realms of violent dystopia, and I was genuinely concerned for Mallory's safety throughout.

Certain threads are never resolved in the book, leaving the ending a little more open ending (which some might find annoying). Life however is not neatly tied, and I found this storyline to present an entirely believable world of intrigue had the computer age been brought to the world a century earlier than expected. I would not say that this is my favorite science fiction I've ever read, but it was enjoyable in its way. ( )