Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
After giving up on Neuromancer for the third time, I thought I was done giving Gibson a chance. But then I remembered this book existed and it always sounded interesting. And it is interesting!
But I also just don't like it. About 2/3rds through, I realized I didn't care about anything that was happening so I gave up.
I really don't know what it is about this book. It nails so many things. It has an incredible texture and atmosphere. It's interesting and engages with history in a real and active way. And yet...
I think part of it is that everything feels both connected and unrelated.
I guess I don't know what it is about this novel that just never worked for me, but it really didn't work. Probably this means the end of my attempts at Gibson.
But I also just don't like it. About 2/3rds through, I realized I didn't care about anything that was happening so I gave up.
I really don't know what it is about this book. It nails so many things. It has an incredible texture and atmosphere. It's interesting and engages with history in a real and active way. And yet...
I think part of it is that everything feels both connected and unrelated.
I guess I don't know what it is about this novel that just never worked for me, but it really didn't work. Probably this means the end of my attempts at Gibson.
70/100
This doesn't really feel like a William Gibson novel to me. It's probably due to being mostly set in the past and only being about 50% his, but I didn't connect to it in the way I do with just about everything Gibson has written. It also has an anti-climactic structure. The most interesting section of the book is an episode in the middle, in a London plagued by the stench of the Thames and dissolving into anarchy.
As a completist I'm glad I read this but it currently ranks at the bottom of Gibson's work for me.
This doesn't really feel like a William Gibson novel to me. It's probably due to being mostly set in the past and only being about 50% his, but I didn't connect to it in the way I do with just about everything Gibson has written. It also has an anti-climactic structure. The most interesting section of the book is an episode in the middle, in a London plagued by the stench of the Thames and dissolving into anarchy.
As a completist I'm glad I read this but it currently ranks at the bottom of Gibson's work for me.
Dans ce monde uchronique steampunk, l’ère de l’ordinateur a démarré bien plus tôt que chez nous, grâce à l’invention de la Machine Analytique par Charles Babbage. La révolution industrielle est en plein boom grâce aux machines à vapeur, et la Grande Bretagne rayonne.
C’est à peu près tout ce qu’il y a d’intéressant dans ce livre : son prémisse. Pour le reste, c’est malheureusement extrêmement fade. Personnages caricaturaux à la limite du supportable (particulièrement les femmes), évènements décrits complètement à l’arrache, changements de points de vue douteux, et au final, une histoire pas vraiment intéressante à suivre. Je trouve difficile de croire que, parmi tout ce qu’on aurait pu raconter dans un univers pareil, celles-ci soient les plus pertinentes. Grosse déception pour ma part.
C’est à peu près tout ce qu’il y a d’intéressant dans ce livre : son prémisse. Pour le reste, c’est malheureusement extrêmement fade. Personnages caricaturaux à la limite du supportable (particulièrement les femmes), évènements décrits complètement à l’arrache, changements de points de vue douteux, et au final, une histoire pas vraiment intéressante à suivre. Je trouve difficile de croire que, parmi tout ce qu’on aurait pu raconter dans un univers pareil, celles-ci soient les plus pertinentes. Grosse déception pour ma part.
I made it over 300 pages into Difference Engine and I still didn't know what the book was about. Does it ever find a plot? I guess I'll never find out.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was given my Uncle’s copy of this book when I was a teenager after he passed. Attempted to read it several times over the years. Intriguing high science fiction concept, tough read though. Bit hard to follow at times. The book’s world is the most interesting aspect.
I'm not sure why this book is considered one of the Steampunk greats... It is well-written, and it is set in a Steampunk world, but it's more of a socio-political look at Victorian life than anything. I was really hoping for more integration of the "engines," but alas, all I got were dinosaur bones and swashbuckling.
My first intro to Gibson was the Sprawl trilogy, and I was blown away by his writing. Every now and then this book has glimpses of that brilliance but mostly it just doesn't feel like Gibson is even there.
Also I got halfway through and realised I couldn't say what the story is about. Either there's no plot or I didn't understand it. Plus there's a bunch of casual racism, which yes is setting-appropriate, but life is too short to spend reading things that irritate me.
Also I got halfway through and realised I couldn't say what the story is about. Either there's no plot or I didn't understand it. Plus there's a bunch of casual racism, which yes is setting-appropriate, but life is too short to spend reading things that irritate me.
Overall, this book was ok, but I didn't think it was Gibson's best work (I haven't read any other Sterling). Gibson is good at writing dark worlds and morally ambiguous antihero protagonists, which works well in hardboiled cyberpunk, but not quite as well in steampunk. I thought the ending seemed kind of rushed. The book follows three protagonists, then has a series of what amount to newspaper articles that summarise events around the story, then an epilogue. I would have liked a bit more resolution on how the third protagonist's ending led to the epilogue. One thing that I found very interesting was the discussion of the effects of increasing mechanization on employment, of the use of technology for surveillance, of war and racism, and of pollution. While this book seems ultimately more optimistic than some other *punk, the way these issues were presented seemed very reminiscent of how they appear today, so it hit very close to home. If you really like Gibson or prefer darker and edgier steampunk, this is a good book for you.
I thought I'd love this tale - it looked like having everything: Ada Lovelace, a strange alternate history, a message about Surveillance, and it is of course the pioneer of Steampunk...
But I didn't. Some of it seemed over-complicated and superfluous. Not the descriptions & imagery - they are exquisite; but some of the machinations of the characters, particularly in the mid-section. If you're a fast reader and like a lot of intrigue for intrigue's sake (and brothel scenes) you might like it more than I did.
But I didn't. Some of it seemed over-complicated and superfluous. Not the descriptions & imagery - they are exquisite; but some of the machinations of the characters, particularly in the mid-section. If you're a fast reader and like a lot of intrigue for intrigue's sake (and brothel scenes) you might like it more than I did.