Finished The Difference Engine [6/15/2009]

This is the first book I've read in the "alternative history" or "steampunk" genre. I enjoyed it of course, because it's Gibson, and I love his style of mystery where nothing gets answered. Not having read anything by Sterling before, I can't say how much of the style was his. The description of the Central Statistics Bureau had a scifi quality to it, despite being in London in 1885. I discovered how little I know about late 19th century English history. I ended up looking up a lot of articles on wikipedia about people mentioned in the book. I loved the description of London falling into anarchy, it just builds and builds into an almost dream.