The Difference Engine
by William Gibson, Bruce Sterling · first published 1990
53% recommend43% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Alternate-history steampunk novel in which Babbage's machine brings the information age to Victorian Britain; recommended as the book that popularized steampunk, for readers who like computing history and Gibson's style.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
<Blockquote> 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 someon
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I'm glad to see Gene Wolfe just squeaked onto the list, but IMO the New Sun series ranks up there with Dune. Pohl's "Gateway" and Gibson/Sterling's "The Difference Engine" would have been nice additions, too. Otherwise, it's a nice starting point. There are a few titles I hadn't heard about that I'll be reading, if I can find the time.
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗Lexicon - Max Barry. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. Channel Skin - Jeff Noon. The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. The Difference Engine - William Gibson.
on “Ask HN: Sci-Fi novels?” ↗Have you read the book "The Difference Engine" by Gibson and Sterling? (Kind of what kicked off the whole Steampunk genre). Basically a taste of modern society could have been realized many decades earlier. But the real bummer, is that Edison's…
on “Computer Museum bids farewell to Babbage engine” ↗…brief lessons on Physics (Carlo Rovelli) 6 - I have no mouth, and I must scream (Herlan Ellison - short story) 7 - The art of simplicity (Dominique Loreau) 8 - On anarchism (Noam Chomsky) 9 - The difference engine (William Gibson, Bruce Sterling) 10 - Utopia (Thomas More) 11 - Sophie's world (Jostein Gaarder) 12 - Rete padrona (Federico Rampini - essays about the 'dark side' of the corporate web) 13 - The art…
on “Ask HN: What books have you read in the first half of 2016?” ↗…(Frank Herbert) - The Hobbit (and LotR) (Tolkien) - Neuromancer (William Gibson) - Idoru, All Tomorrow's Parties (I picked up Idoru first, so I haven't yet read Virtual Light) (also Gibson) - The Difference Engine (Gibson, Sterling) - Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson) - Cryptonomicon (" ") - Circuit of Heaven, End of Days (Dennis Danvers) - All of the "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" stories and novels. (Fritz Leiber)…
on “Ask YC: favorite books” ↗Kinda Relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine And a great book. Gibson rocks.
on “Plan 28: Babbage's Analytical Engine project gets underway” ↗Usually things I get inspiration from; Dream Park series William Gibson Stuff: Difference Engine, Burning Chrome, Neuromancer Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Series Hackers - Steve Levy Graphic Idea Notebook & other pasteup era graphic design books Greetings from Route 66 Old Travel Guides Old…
on “Ask HN: Which books have you re-read the most?” ↗…The Peripheral, as well as Pattern Recognition, Zero History, and Spook Country all apply, as well. Same for his Idoru, Virtual Light, and All Tomorrow's Parties. Finally, Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine - the first and, so far, best steampunk novel - also qualifies, given the storyline.
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗You may be interested in the book "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine Or, the mentats of Frank Herbert's "Dune", as a result of the Butlerian Jihad against thinking machines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizations_of_the_Dune_univ...…
on “Ask HN: In an alternate time line what technology do we have?” ↗The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson would be a good read on that topic too.
on “Spintronics: Build Mechanical Circuits” ↗> I know there's a whole genre (steampunk) As I'm sure you know, the classic example is 'The Difference Engine' [0] by Gibson and Sterling, but my favourite is 'The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage' [1] by Sydney Padua, which features the eponymous characters as a crime-fighting duo, assisted by appropriate…
on “Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine Turns 200” ↗A few favourites off the top of my head: The Difference Engine - William Gibson & Bruce Sterling Diaspora - Greg Egan Flashback - Dan Simmons Timescape - Gregory Benford Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (but the "co"-authored sequels are too terrible for words)
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗For anyone who enjoys this topic and an entertaining read, there's The Difference Engine by William Gibson: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/337116.The_Difference_En...
on “Charles Babbage and deciphering codes (1864)” ↗Very cool. I loved reading your write-up. It reminded me of something I'd read in a steampunk novel once. I had to Google it to get the details. It's the kinotrope from Gibson & Sterling's Difference Engine. I found a blog post about it and someone who made one with a servo for each pixel. Now that would be expensive! https://differencing.blogspot.com/2010/04/kinotrope-clackers...
on “Show HN: I spent 6 years building a ridiculous wooden pixel display” ↗…long before the internet and AI. David Gerrold - When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One - and other tales involving Artificial Super Intelligence William Gibson - Neuromancer and related - Cyberpunk series, the Difference Engine - a Steampunk technology tale.
on “Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?” ↗