The Difference Engine
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
About this listen
The Difference Engine is an alternate history novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It is a prime example of the steampunk sub-genre; It posits a Victorian Britain in which great technological and social change has occurred after entrepreneurial inventor Charles Babbage succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer called Engines.
The fierce summer heat and pollution have driven the ruling class out of London and the resulting anarchy allows technology-hating Luddites to challenge the intellectual elite.
A set of perforated punch cards come into the hands of the daughter of an executed Luddite leader who sets out to keep them safe and discover what secrets they contain.
©1991 William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- Unabridged
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In an electrified Victorian London, Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a crime scene investigator, hunting killers with newfangled technological gadgets. She will need every advantage available to catch a terrifying new psychopath splattering London with blood. Hidden in the grimy shadows, the fiendish murderer preys on beautiful women, drugging them before slicing off their limbs. Finding the "Slicer" can make Eliza's career...or unmask her darkest secret.
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Surprising Gem from newer author
- By Michalena on 12-06-16
By: Viola Carr
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Six of Crows
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.
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7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing
- By KM on 03-18-16
By: Leigh Bardugo
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A Most Extraordinary Pursuit
- By: Juliana Gray
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
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February, 1906. As the personal secretary of the recently departed duke of Olympia - and a woman of scrupulous character - Miss Emmeline Rose Truelove never expected her duties to involve steaming through the Mediterranean on a private yacht, under the prodigal eye of one Lord Silverton, the most charmingly corrupt bachelor in London. But here they are, improperly bound on a quest to find the duke's enigmatic heir, current whereabouts unknown. Maximilian Haywood was last seen at an archaeological dig on the island of Crete.
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This Book Would Have Been A Hot Mess...
- By Alexis on 10-06-16
By: Juliana Gray
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The Colour of Magic
- Discworld, Book 1
- By: Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place that might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.
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TERRIBLE Narration!
- By Kayla I on 07-08-22
By: Terry Pratchett
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Hide Me Among the Graves
- By: Tim Powers
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Winter 1862, London. Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute, arrives on the doorstep of veterinarian John Crawford, a man she met once seven years earlier. Their brief meeting produced a child who, until now, had been presumed dead. McKee has learned that the girl lives - but that her life and soul are in mortal peril from a vampiric ghost. But this is no ordinary spirit; the bloodthirsty wraith is none other than John Polidori, the onetime physician to the mad, bad, and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron.
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One More Mortal Sin
- By Dave on 01-31-14
By: Tim Powers
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Instruments of Darkness
- A Novel
- By: Imogen Robertson
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
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In the year 1780, Harriet Westerman, the willful mistress of a country manor in Sussex, finds a dead man on her grounds with a ring bearing the crest of Thornleigh Hall in his pocket. Not one to be bound by convention or to shy away from adventure, she recruits a reclusive local anatomist named Gabriel Crowther to help her find the murderer, and historical suspense's newest investigative duo is born.
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Not The Best, But Not Too Bad...
- By MJ on 01-13-13
By: Imogen Robertson
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The Incorruptibles
- By: John Hornor Jacobs
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In the contested and unexplored territories at the edge of the Empire, a boat is making its laborious way up stream. Riding along the banks are the mercenaries hired to protect it - from raiders, bandits and, most of all, the stretchers, elf-like natives who kill any intruders into their territory. The mercenaries know this is dangerous, deadly work. But it is what they do. In the boat the drunk governor of the territories and his sons and daughters make merry. They believe that their status makes them untouchable.
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Great world, competent prose, messy story
- By Melanie on 03-31-16
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The narrator made me turn this off in 10 seconds
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Story? Classic. Narrator? Ugh.
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Only gets better with age
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The year is 2016. Not our 2016. Theirs. Earth is dying, the result of a worldwide nuclear holocaust caused by America’s dictatorial President-for-Life Lewis Henderson, a man who will use any means necessary to maintain power and survive. Enter: The Splitter. A machine capable of splitting off an exact replica of Henderson’s world. A world where the cataclysmic events causing its destruction have yet to occur. That world is ours.
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Under three hours
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The narrator made me turn this off in 10 seconds
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Please record the rest of the series!
- By fierros on 02-19-18
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Neuromante nº 01/03
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La obra pionera del Cyberpunk, que catapultaría a William Gibson al éxito, llega a la colección Bibliotecas de Autor. Case era el mejor vaquero del ciberespacio: se ganaba la vida robando información y traspasando defensas electrónicas. Pero cometió el error de traicionar a la gente equivocada y como castigo dañaron su sistema nervioso con una toxina que extinguió su talento micrón a micrón.
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How could a performance be so wrong?
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The metropolis of New Crobuzon sprawls at the center of the world. Humans and mutants and arcane races brood in the gloom beneath its chimneys, where the river is sluggish with unnatural effluent and foundries pound into the night. For a thousand years, the Parliament and its brutal militias have ruled over a vast economy of workers and artists, spies and soldiers, magicians, crooks, and junkies. Now a stranger has arrived, with a pocketful of gold and an impossible demand. And something unthinkable is released.
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Brilliant, wonderful book -- horrible recording
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Since time immemorial the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace. Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy's shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels.
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In which Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and courageous Puritan, pursues knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe -- in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
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Neal Stephenson is a blazing new force on the sci-fi scene. With the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, he has "vaulted onto the literary stage." It weaves virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility - in short, it is the gigathriller of the information age.
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A solid sci-fi novel
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In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
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Altered Carbon
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What listeners say about The Difference Engine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael G Kurilla
- 06-27-19
Steampunk alternative history
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling is an alternative history with a steampunk setting in England in the mid 1800's. Charles Babbage's 'difference engine', regarded as the world's first computer, albeit mechanical is extrapolated to have developed into a thriving business analogous to electronic computers 100 hundred years later. The story is told successively from three different perspectives surrounding a mysterious box of computer code of unknown function, but quite valuable. At the same time, weather conditions create a situation in London where much of the upper class, who rely on the technology of the machines have left town and a Luddite resistance emerges.
The steampunk components introduce a mechanical equivalent of electronic computer capabilities including modeling dinosaur structures from bones, video projections, and law enforcement forensic analysis. Historical figures are utilized extensively, while positing that England retained superior economic dominance due to Babbage's technology. A whole section near the end provides a global perspective with a divided America and Britain opening up Japan.
Given the British setting, the narration is quite good with all appropriately rendered British accents in an easily understand manner.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rainer
- 11-09-16
a challenge to get through
the book starts in confusion and fragmentation eventually telling one continuous story and then returns to fragmentation. the end feels tacked-on. I like the subject matter and found many portions of the book amusing butt was left disappointed.
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- Josh Downes
- 02-20-19
Not Gibson's Best
I've been a huge fan of William Gibson's science fiction works for many years, particularly the Sprawl trilogy. While Difference Engine is an intriguing and entertaining alternate history thriller, I'm afraid I can't recommend it for fans of Gibson's other work. I found myself intrigued by descriptions of technology and "clackers", this world's equivalent of programmers, but the technological divergences in the world of Difference Engine quickly took a backseat to human drama that had little to nothing to do with the alternately advanced technological landscape (at least by my reckoning). Well written and fantastically delivered by Simon Vance, but unfortunately I was disappointed by my own misplaced expectations.
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2 people found this helpful
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- K. Dorsey
- 12-24-12
Loved It!
Where does The Difference Engine rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is the first I've listened to from Audible.
What did you like best about this story?
The characterization by the reader set the town for the book.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
On occasion, laughter, but mostly rapt attention.
Any additional comments?
Looking forward to the next selection.
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- C. Allen
- 03-17-15
Brilliant and Captivating
If you could sum up The Difference Engine in three words, what would they be?
First Class Alternative History
What did you like best about this story?
The rich detail and reimagining of Victorian England if Babbage's difference engine had been fully funded by Parliament. Very clever historically - something quite difficult to make believable but Gibson and Sterling achieved it. Plot was quite engaging - unable to put it down. Lot's of action and plot twists that keep one engaged.
Which scene was your favorite?
The beginning of the harassment by Captain Swan - the burning acid card and then the falsified vivisection photos of the savant's rival.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Would like to read at one setting but at the book's length that's not practical
Any additional comments?
Braved many negative reviews before I decide to select this audible book. Find it interesting that it seems to arose such negativity in many readers. Expect it is a bit complicated and challenging from the standpoint of understanding the history well enough to grasp how artfully the authors rearrange it. Not for the slow witted I suppose.
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Overall
- Adam
- 01-13-22
I didn't "get" it
I'll have to revisit this book again, it doesn't seem very "gibsony" to me. I was expecting something like The Diamond Age but this was all together different.
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- C
- 10-02-24
I've definitely had better
if you like a plodding and disjointed story with little to know resolution or impact on the world of story, or your own internal mental landscape; a story best summed up with, "Well, that happened..." this one is for you!
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- David S. Mathew
- 02-03-18
Steampunk Neuromancer
Combining the cyberpunk, steampunk, and alternate history sub-generas of science fiction, The Difference Engine is truly a one of a kind novel. The basic premise: What if computers were created in Victorian England? The results is a vastly different and far grimmer world where the Imperial British Empire extends its rule across the entire world and well into the future... at least until the last few pages.
Regarding the plot, it’s worth warning you that this novel has a reputation for being often picked up, but seldom finished. That is because it’s a pretty complex read already, made more difficult by a noir detective plot that’s kind of all over the place. That said, I finished it and if you can make it to the ending there is a twist that explains why the story was told that way. Also, for what it’s worth, you get a lot more out of this a second time around.
As for the narration, this is definitely easier to listen to than it is to read. Simon Vance is one of my favorite narrators, so I’m biased towards any performance of his. That said, this is an extremely verbose novel with some fairly dense sections to it; and Vance still nails it. Overall, if I’ve at all piqued your interest give The Difference Engine a whirl. You’re in for quite the ride.
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8 people found this helpful
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- J. Hand
- 03-05-15
I expected something different
Maybe I'm not versed enough in steam punk culture and missed the point here. I expected somthing more along the lines of science fiction except steam driven devices and strange machinery. There was a smidgeon of that often as a quick backdrop and at times almost an afterthought. Instead I got a tale of social upheaval, historical receation of sorts, anti-communist essay, a very involved and complex mystery all intertwined with actual historical people served in a name dropping fashion. I never really did get the points of many character backgrounds and how they fit into the larger story. They last parts seemed an attempt to tie it all together that was brilliant in some spots, clumsy in others.
The audio was appropriately accented but at times was paced so quickly that I had to slow it down to understand it. This also required replays in many places to hear what was being said. Because there's a lot of period London/British vernacular I had to keep accessing a dictionary to know what a number of words meant. I don't mind that and it wasn't as frequent a need as William Shrier's books.
It was still not a bad tale but I still feel somewhat cheated because I thought it was going to be something other than what it proved to be. Maybe a film presentation would have had background scenery and effects that would have conveyed the steam age better as in the great animated feature "Steam Boy", but it didn't come through at all in the story. In fact, pull the couple steam vehicles, replace the 'engines' with mathematicians, add a few other minor tweaks and this is simply another novel set in the 1800s.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
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- Cailean Babcock
- 07-21-15
Great reader, okay story
I feel that the characters, although living separate lives, were not sufficiently intertwined. It felt like each of them in turn was given short shrift by the strange separation and lack of balance in their narratives. Also, the story lacks depth, despite its wordiness. And I hate it when a story ends and a bunch of jumbled letters and afterthoughts.
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