--- product_id: 8413738 title: "The Difference Engine: A Novel" brand: "william gibsonbruce sterling" price: "฿1974" currency: THB in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/8413738-the-difference-engine-a-novel store_origin: TH region: Thailand --- # The Difference Engine: A Novel **Brand:** william gibsonbruce sterling **Price:** ฿1974 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Difference Engine: A Novel by william gibsonbruce sterling - **How much does it cost?** ฿1974 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.th](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/8413738-the-difference-engine-a-novel) ## Best For - william gibsonbruce sterling enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted william gibsonbruce sterling brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![The Difference Engine: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gi8SejWDL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is an unspeakable classic *by E***S on Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2023* One of the forerunners of this whole genre and it hold a special place in my heart. ### ⭐⭐⭐ Beats The Ever-Loving Crud Out Of Me... *by K***U on Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2012* Quintessential steampunk, The Difference Engine hits the beats of a cyberpunk story, which is not surprising, given its authors. We have references to dead pixels, load balancing, a brief stay in a dystopian nightmare, but all set in mid-19th Century London. And yet I'm walking away from this book not entirely sure what to think of it. Which is both good and bad, methinks.I get the feeling that the book really has no idea what to think of itself, either. In the last few paragraphs we get a peak at the novel's purpose--although a vague peak, one that even its Wikipedia entry misinterprets. I don't want to go into it here for fear of spoilers, but I found the ending abrupt and unsatisfying, even if it is appropriate to the story. It just doesn't do quite enough to justify the 500 meandering pages that preceded it. When I got excited for it to resolve, it digressed. When I got to the ending and turned the page to arrive at the afterword, I was surprised to see that I'd already finished it, because I didn't really understand what it had accomplished.Through the entire book, I found myself wondering where the story was heading, since the narrative lacked traditional structure or even a single focal character. It's a story about a MacGuffin, the characters are incidental. It's also a story about a time and place. While the narrative frustrated me, I had a lot of fun with the alternate history of steam-ified 19th Century London. I loved the jargon, the nods to real life events. I loved Benjamin Disraeli as a tabloid-writer-turned socialite (in my mind, he is basically Truman Capote). I loved the mentions of the Sepoy Rebellion or the French using mummies to fuel their engine in Egypt. But these are artifacts, Easter eggs. And they point to the central problem with this book: it doesn't stand that well on its own. It's almost TOO post-modern. If you know you're history, you'll laugh out loud while you turn the pages. If you identify with cyberpunk, you'll love seeing it transposed onto brass. But if you just want to read a good book, this will frustrate the hell out of you.So, in the end, it's a rambling, self-important chin-scratcher with some incredibly winning scenes that will, at the very least, drop you off in the present day thinking to yourself "What the hell just happened?" It's important that books like this exist. It's not for everyone, but I'm glad I read it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mystery, history, and mechanical supercomputers with hand-crafted style *by N***K on Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021* I am quite glad I read The Difference Engine now, rather than when it was first published. For one, I lacked the historical knowledge to grasp what was unusual about the alternate history presented here; for another, the original book lacked the retrospective Afterword by the authors. Time, lots of reading, and experience corrected the first problem; the Afterword included in this edition helped with the other. Had I read it in my mid-teens, I would have found it dazzling but rather incomprehensible.That said, I highly recommend this novel to fans of Cyberpunk and Steampunk. Rich and redolent with 19th Century period detail, it is an espionage caper set in a world transformed by a single “What If?” tweak: What if Charles Babbage’s “difference engine”, a large mechanical computer that would have been capable of algebraic computation had it been completed and worked – what if it had come to fruition? The computer revolution, sans electronics, rewrites the history we know from that point onward.I will not spoil it with plot details in this review. Armed with that knowledge (and the fact that one can now easily look up the names of various historical characters on the Internet to learn more and better appreciate the alternate history), I recommend that science-fiction fans looking for what may be arguably the first Steampunk novel delve into this, stick with it all the way to the end, and read the Afterword. Perhaps read it twice and catch what you likely missed on the first read.(NOTE: It’s tempting to think of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells as “Steampunk”, but there’s a fine distinction. They wrote of the present time or near-future affected by scientific progress beyond where it was, whereas Steampunk imagines an alternate past affected by modern tech that uses the milieu of past techniques and materials.) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/8413738-the-difference-engine-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/8413738-the-difference-engine-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Thailand* *Store origin: TH* *Last updated: 2026-04-29*