Editing The Difference Engine (section)

==Reception==
{{expand section|with = a more thorough presentation of the both review and critical-scholarly receptions of this novel, based especially on syntheses (secondary and tertiary sources) |small = no|date=May 2025}}

===Awards and recognition===
The novel was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award in 1990,<ref name=wwe90 /> the [[Nebula Award for Best Novel]] in 1991,<ref name=wwe91 /> and both the [[John W. Campbell Memorial Award]] and the [[Prix Aurora Award]] in 1992.<ref name=wwe92 />

===In review===
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In a non-contemporaneous review, Matt Mitrovich, writing for ''AmazingStories.com'', describes ''The Difference Engine'' as "a rich and imaginative glimpse at a world dealing with the opportunities and pitfalls that come with advanced technology", describing it as written in "superb prose [that] helps paint a gritty, but believable setting", and applauding the novel's presentation of realistic, flawed characters, and the authors' "amazing depth of knowledge about the culture and technological capabilities of the era".<ref name=MitrovichAmazStor_2013/>

=== In scholarship ===
The novel has attracted the attention of scholars. [[Jay Clayton, critic|Jay Clayton]] explores the book's attitude toward hacking, and its treatment of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace.<ref name=clayton /> Herbert Sussman argues that in the ''The Difference Engine'', Gibson and Sterling rewrite<!--people rewrite, books don't rewrite--> [[Benjamin Disraeli]]'s novel [[Sybil (novel)|''Sybil'']].<ref name=sussman /> [[Brian McHale]] relates this work to [[postmodern]] interest in finding a "new way of 'doing' history in fiction."<ref name=mchale />

===In popular culture===
The 1993 [[video game]] ''[[The Chaos Engine]]'' (released as ''Soldiers of Fortune'' in the USA) was based on ''The Difference Engine''.<ref>{{cite news | last = Locke | first= Phil | date = December 2013 | title = Creating Chaos | work = [[Retro Gamer]] | issue = 122 | pages = 72 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]]}}</ref>