This isn’t my first encounter with steampunk and alternate history, but so far The Difference Engine is one of the most interesting. I’m still trying to get a grip on what’s really going on, but I’m starting to understand more and more of the technology that the people are using and the plot itself.
What I really like about alternate history fiction is the way that authors in the genre can create some event that’s large enough to knock history off its rails and start going down another divergent path. I really enjoy seeing how things might have been if x had happened instead of why–I’ve liked it since I first picked up an alternative history with S.M. Stirling’s The Peshawar Lancers. I waver between two ideas about history. The first idea is that history is fluid. Chance makes things happen. The other idea is that everything happens for a reason (and I usually think this when things are going well for me), and that fate or destiny somehow makes things happen. So when I get to see alternate histories play out in fiction, I really get to see authors speculate about how our history would have played out.
Another thing that I like about The Difference Engine is the way that the authors wrote this book in iterations rather than chapters. I really feel that the history and the plot are getting clearer with each chapter. Gibson and Sterling don’t spend much time (if any) explaining things, so you have to pick up a lot just from context. If you’re a reader who dislikes books that rely to heavily on expository characters or paragraphs of prose, this book is perfect for you.