Negative Positive
Title: Worth it for imagery alone
Review: The vividness with which the authors bring the Victorian computational machinery to life has stuck with me since the book first came out. I can still feel the clackers computing in their warehouses and feel the whoosh of pneumatic data. Tie-ins to such wonderful gizmos as the Jacquard loom provide an appropriate scientific backdrop. It's also short and easy to read, definite assets in my opinion; in this way, it contrasts with books by authors such as Vernor Vinge or even Greg Bear (the latters Blood Music excepted), who also introduce wonderful new societies situated among thought-inspiring technical gizmos. The pitting of London against Paris is more in the style of Agatha Christie than John Le Carre; surely an intentional move which gives the book a nice uncomplicated feel.
Is the review positive or negative? 