The Difference Engine
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: Jul 13, 2011
Words:
137133
Flesch:
79.91
DDC:
813.54
FAST Tags:
Science fiction,
Science fiction; American,
Computers,
Babbage; Charles; 1791-1871,
Oliphant; Laurence; 1829-1888,
Computer engineering,
Steampunk fiction,
Steampunk fiction; American
LCC:
PS3557.I2264
LC Genre:
Literature>American and Canadian>Fiction>20th Century>1945-1999
Book Details
...
Description:
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—a fallen woman, politician’s tart, daughter of a Luddite agitator
Edward “Leviathan” Mallory—explorer and paleontologist
Laurence Oliphant—diplomat, mystic, 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 collaborative masterpiece by two of the most acclaimed science fiction authors writing today. Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, it is a startling extension of Gibson’s and Sterling’s unique visions—and the beginning of movement we know today as “steampunk!”