The Difference Engine

<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>

Set in

• ★
  London · United Kingdom
  ★ primary
• ★
  Whitechapel, London · United Kingdom

  East London district featured in the novel's London-set chapters
  ★ primary
• Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory · United States

  Edward Mallory's paleontological expedition territory before returning to London
• Goliad, Texas · United States

  Referenced via the first iteration's title alluding to the 1836 executions at Goliad, tied to Sam Houston's Texian plot
• Manhattan, New York · United States

  Setting of the climactic fight scene amid the alternate history's Communist Manhattan enclave
• Paris, France · France

  Sybil Gerard travels here with stolen diamonds; site of the French Engine processing the punch cards