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Title: The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling, William Gibson ISBN: 0-553-29461-X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 January, 1992 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.8 (79 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Difference Engine Review
Comment: At first, readers of the Difference Engine may be taken in by the fact that two cyberpunk juggernauts co-authored it. But the fact is that the book is a unique gem. The combination of William Gibson's knack for prosaic similes and metaphors (i.e. Nueromancer) and Bruce Sterling's ability to craft odd, yet quality characters (Heavy Weather), tackles entirely uncharted cyberpunk territory.
The magic of the Difference Engine lies between its words. It sparkles in its finely detailed Victorian setting, where primitive computers contain a database of the public and punch cards are used to wheeze out countless sheets of printout information. Its magic, for example, is reflected through the kinotrope machines that provide visual aid to public speaker Sam Houston in a presentation to the Whitechapel public of London.
Co-authors Gibson and Sterling pepper the book with subtle parallels to modern society; so subtle they can easily be overlooked or misread. Gibson and Sterling, besides creating an extremely precise and detailed historical setting, come close to losing the reader in Victorian jargon. But the two counteract the momentously detailed setting with modern social commentary, such as observations on big corporation and privacy in high-tech societies, and a knack for edging forth the reader with well-placed plot twists.
Furthering its peculiarity, a technical diversity about the book is its organization. It is distributed over five "iterations" and concluded with a "modus." The sections do not have chapters, rather cuts in the story that allow for something similar to a play's scene change where you can put the book down and go to the store. I found no trouble with this style and noticed Gibson uses the same "cuts" in Nueromancer.
The Difference Engine is such a broad book, in terms of the Aristotelian approach to drama, that I point-out several books in its likeness. Caleb Carr's the Alienist is similar in ways of both its historical setting and its detailed detective story. John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider, with its anti-government Vietnam era stance, compares in terms of social parallel and awareness.
Gibson and Sterling avoid any laboring style changes and stagnant stage stealing and end up with a cohesive and inimitable alternate history.
Rating: 5
Summary: A complex alternate history
Comment: The Difference Engine reflects the creative synergy of two great cyberpunk pioneers, Gibson and Sterling. It is a difficult and complex novel, based on the premise that Charles Babbage's eponymous mechanical computer is actually developed for practical use using steam power in the Victorian Age, ushering in the Information Revolution a century early. The authors manage to convincingly evoke a Victorian otherworld that is both hauntingly familiar and yet dramatically different from our own past. England is ruled by technocrats and scientists (known as savants) who battle Luddite terrorists; the United States are far from united, rent between the Republic of Texas, the Confederate South, and the Marxist Manhattan Commune. Gibson and Sterling utilize this fascinating background to great advantage, using a colorful cast of characters (including famous historic figures like Sam Houston and Lord Byron in roles a little different from those in our own history books) to explore such weighty themes as evolution and natural selection; technology, surveillance and social control; AI; and the science of chaos and complexity.
I'm sure I did not fully grasp all the implications or understand all the intricate plotlines in this rare treasure; it will definitely repay rereading. But I'm sure that thoughtful fans of Gibson and Sterling--especially those with some knowledge of 19th century England--will enjoy this book as much as I did. It may well be regarded as an SF masterpiece with time. On the other hand, readers who require straightforward, linear plotting and who find ambiguity irritating will certainly do best to skip this novel.
Rating: 2
Summary: Interesting but distorts history
Comment: The idea of the invention of Steampowered computers in the nineteenth century is interesting but the author makes several unetanable claims of what would happen in the new timeline. The book says that the Mexican American War never happened and Texas is still independent. Yet the American Civil War happened even sooner than in our timeline and the South won. One of the causes of the Civil War was the dispute over whether the newly won territories captured in the war with Mexico would be free or slave states. If the war with Mexico never happens it stands to reason that the Civil War would be delayed or prevented all together. In the book Karl Marx is claimed to have seized control of New York City during the Draft riots during the Civil War and one of his followers is presented as a supporter of slavery. In the real history though Karl Marx supported the Union war effort and opposed slavery.
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Title: Pattern Recognition by William Gibson ISBN: 0399149864 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 03 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Idoru by William Gibson ISBN: 0425158640 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Count Zero by William Gibson ISBN: 0441117732 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: April, 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson ISBN: 0553281747 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 06 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Neuromancer by William Gibson ISBN: 0441569595 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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