Title: The Difference Engine
First published: 1991
Description: <Blockquote> 1855: The Industrial Revolution is in full and inexorable swing, powered by steam-driven cybernetic Engines. Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine and the computer age arrives a century ahead of its time. And three extraordinary characters race toward a rendezvous with history - and the future: Sybil Gerard - dishonored woman and daughter of a Luddite agitator; Edward "Leviathan" Mallory - explorer and paleontologist; Laurence Oliphant - diplomat and spy. Their adventure begins with the discovery of a box of punched Engine cards of unknown origin and purpose. Cards someone wants badly enough to kill for... 

Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine is the first collaborative novel by two of the most brilliant and controversial science fiction authors of our time. Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, it is a startling extension of Gibson's and Sterling's unique visions - in a new and totally unexpected direction!<Blockquote>
-<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/337116.The_Difference_Engine">Goodreads</a>
Subjects: American Science fiction, Computers, Fiction, Steampunk, Steampunk fiction, Fiction, science fiction, steampunk, Computer engineering, New York Times reviewed, Science fiction
Places: London
People: Ada Byron, Laurence Oliphant, Charles Babbage (1791-1871), Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888)
Time periods: 19th century