Oddbean new post about login | logout This week I've been mainly reading, No. 94. I've been rather disappointed by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling's The Difference Engine (1990/2011), which while presenting an immersive depiction of a world in which Babbage's 'computer' had become an equivalent of later computing (both influenced by early #SteamPunk fiction & going on to influence later books), sacrifices plot for atmosphere; the plot such as it is really not much & offers no real pay-off. Sadly, style over substance! @b2e37e2e
@43d7c4ea Really, the only book you need to read on that subject is this one 😂 https://cdn.masto.host/tootwales/media_attachments/files/111/154/662/722/590/261/original/4fce8e64a26476c0.png
@43d7c4ea @b2e37e2e It's an interesting intermediate waypoint in the steampunk evolution, midway between the early Dick fanboys (Blaylock/Powers/Jeter, early 80s) and the late-90s-onwards broader and more fantastical steampunk church. It was also an example of a superstar collaboration of a type SF publishers love to organize, eg. Dick/Zelazny's "Dies Irae", Stross/Doctorow "The Rapture of the Nerds". They don't always work out …
