Product Description

The computer age has arrived a century ahead of time with Charles Babbage's perfection of his Analytical Engine. The Industrial Revolution, supercharged by the development of steam-driven cybernetic Engines, is in full and drastic swing. Great Britain, with her calculating-cannons, steam dreamnoughts, machine-guns and information technology, prepares to better the world's lot . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14004 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
William Gibson began writing in 1977 and burst upon the literary world with his acclaimed first novel, NEUROMANCER, the book that launched the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction, the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards. His most recent books include PATTERN RECOGNITION and IDORU. Bruce Sterling burst onto the sf scene with the birth of Cyberpunk and co-authored THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE with his colleague William Gibson. His biggest UK success was with THE HACKER CRACKDOWN. He lives with his wife and daughters in Austin, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Superb!
This book is the best `alternative history' novel, and one of the best SF novels I have read so far. The authors did their homework before writing this book; the atmosphere, the historical details and the psychology of the 19th-century characters are utterly credible, as is the science. I had no problem with the numerous digressions from the main storyline; they thoroughly immerse you into the culture of the time - or the alternative culture that might have been.

I'm a great fan of Baxter, who also has stories in which some discoveries or inventions are made "too early", but those lack the feeling of authenticity The Difference Engine manages to generate. There should be more books like this.

Alternate History by a Cyber-Punk master
This is a story of how things might have been if the brilliant Charles Babbage had succeeded in creating his Computer (the Difference Engine) - all brass cogs, gears and thundering steam.

William Gibson (whose other books such as the stunning Neuromancer et al. are quite different) and Bruce Sterling have expanded this idea and peopled a reinvented Victorian Age with real names in new situations.

As someone who often thinks he would have liked to have been a Victorian (if only they had had more technology) this book is just perfect. I have now read it three times - and still thought it was excellent on the third time round.

Do not expect anything similar to Gibson's other sci-fi or else you will be disappointed. If, on the other hand you really enjoyed Neal Stephenson's (similar-ish) "Diamond Age" - then "The Difference Engine" is the book for you.

A very believable alternate history
I bought this at a book shop a while ago on the title alone, and I thought it was worth it.
If you know a little about Babbage and are intruiged by the potential his (uncompleted) machines had, I think you can really imagine the world this book depicts. Not just the mechanics of Babbages creations and their offspring, but the mechanics of society which has evolved along with them. Two merged Revolutions, both Industrial and Informational.
I also found the story to be interesting, but excuse me if I rave about the setting it is in most of all. :)