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kayay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
elegantmechanic's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Technically a DNF before the last, titular story but after how the penultimate story pushed certain trauma buttons for me (physical/sexual assault, mental abuse) I couldn't read the last one. Up to that point I give it 2 overall. A couple of the stories I liked were not what I would consider cyberpunk but cosmic horror. The more cyberpunk the stories were, though, the more overwrought and pretentious the writing which was not for me. It's like a 1.5 star read dragged up to a 2 by the couple of stories I liked. I feel bad because these books were a gift from a dear friend but I'm done with Gibson.
mara_sophie's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25
planex's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
pharmadelica's review against another edition
4.0
There are some stories in here that are forgettable (mostly the collaborative ones), some that are ok but historically interesting, and some that are great and historically interesting.
The title story is absolutely the best one. Very sad in a weird way, and worth getting all the way to the end for. The obsession with the lady character in it is a bit eye-roll-y, but I'll forgive it because it kind of fits the noir tone Gibson was building his Sci-Fi out of.
Worth a shot for sure. Haven't read Neuromancer yet, but I feel prepped for a longer read of Gibsons ideas and language now.
The title story is absolutely the best one. Very sad in a weird way, and worth getting all the way to the end for. The obsession with the lady character in it is a bit eye-roll-y, but I'll forgive it because it kind of fits the noir tone Gibson was building his Sci-Fi out of.
Worth a shot for sure. Haven't read Neuromancer yet, but I feel prepped for a longer read of Gibsons ideas and language now.
kaigairg's review against another edition
4.0
My thoughts:
http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_gibson_burningchrome.html
http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_gibson_burningchrome.html
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
The cyberpunk aesthetic shook up the SF world at the time and I have really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories and exploring the origins. It still feels so fresh and exciting and relevant. And somehow quite familiar at the same time which shows how much this style has influenced other authors I like too.
Somehow, shamefully, I have never known that the sentiment/phrase "the street finds its own uses for things" comes from William Gibson's short story Burning Chrome (along with the first use of "cyberspace"). This collection takes its name from that Sprawl story but the stories themselves span several of Gibson's interests and styles and themes from his early days and are not all Sprawl stories. (This collection was first published in 1986.)
Lowlife and high-tech mix in a world that actually feels global. The future might not be even distributed through the world but at least it's not all in America! The stories were written before the Berlin Wall came down so there are some interesting echoes of the time reverberating through the action too.
Johnny Mnemonic - oh hello Molly Millions! Now I want to go read Neuromancer again. The image of the dance is incredible and disturbing.
The Gernsback Continuum - the future that didn't happened but left traces in architecture, echoes of something that never happened.
Fragments of a Hologram Rose - high tech and loss and melancholy.
The Belonging Kind, co-written with John Shirley - they took an idea, a kernel of truth (some people just belong in bars perfectly), and ran with it into dark fantasy and surrealism, I really like this one. And the fact that co-writing is something some people can do.
Hinterlands - it's the corps not the govs that have the money to meld psychology and alien encounters. The world is desperately seeking fragments of alien tech and sacrificing the humans to get it.
Red Star, Winter Orbit, co-written with Bruce Sterling - strikes in space! And then squatters in space! Amazing ideas.
New Rose Hotel - noir and corporate espionage in a world that is cut-throat. Again there's the jolt of familiarity of names from the Sprawl
The Winter Market - what is it to be human or seek after immortality, never easy questions and especially not when there might not be much that is human that is left in you? Or with the melding of humans and tech are you actually capturing something in your dreams that speaks more widely, like Lise does? Vending machine sandwiches though, not everything in this future is worth waiting for...
Dogfight, co-written with Michael Swanwick - bleak and twisted! It is a savage story of obsession.
Burning Chrome - wildly inventive and detailed, this is fiction carving up a new kind of space.
Somehow, shamefully, I have never known that the sentiment/phrase "the street finds its own uses for things" comes from William Gibson's short story Burning Chrome (along with the first use of "cyberspace"). This collection takes its name from that Sprawl story but the stories themselves span several of Gibson's interests and styles and themes from his early days and are not all Sprawl stories. (This collection was first published in 1986.)
Lowlife and high-tech mix in a world that actually feels global. The future might not be even distributed through the world but at least it's not all in America! The stories were written before the Berlin Wall came down so there are some interesting echoes of the time reverberating through the action too.
Johnny Mnemonic - oh hello Molly Millions! Now I want to go read Neuromancer again. The image of the dance is incredible and disturbing.
The Gernsback Continuum - the future that didn't happened but left traces in architecture, echoes of something that never happened.
Fragments of a Hologram Rose - high tech and loss and melancholy.
The Belonging Kind, co-written with John Shirley - they took an idea, a kernel of truth (some people just belong in bars perfectly), and ran with it into dark fantasy and surrealism, I really like this one. And the fact that co-writing is something some people can do.
Hinterlands - it's the corps not the govs that have the money to meld psychology and alien encounters. The world is desperately seeking fragments of alien tech and sacrificing the humans to get it.
Red Star, Winter Orbit, co-written with Bruce Sterling - strikes in space! And then squatters in space! Amazing ideas.
New Rose Hotel - noir and corporate espionage in a world that is cut-throat. Again there's the jolt of familiarity of names from the Sprawl
The Winter Market - what is it to be human or seek after immortality, never easy questions and especially not when there might not be much that is human that is left in you? Or with the melding of humans and tech are you actually capturing something in your dreams that speaks more widely, like Lise does? Vending machine sandwiches though, not everything in this future is worth waiting for...
Dogfight, co-written with Michael Swanwick - bleak and twisted! It is a savage story of obsession.
Burning Chrome - wildly inventive and detailed, this is fiction carving up a new kind of space.
acdncpac's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
grogu_djarin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Overall Thoughts:
It's hard to rate this collection since some short stories I enjoyed more than others. Johnny Mnemonic, The Belonging Kind, Hinterlands, The Winter Market, and Burning Chrome were the better ones while the other half were more forgettable. Overall it's a somewhat challenging read, there is a lot of technobabble thrown at you and it takes a while to get used to terminology and Gibson doesn't hold your hand at all. He treats terms as if they're things you should already know, with the meaning inferred by subsequent paragraphs or pages. While this helps create an immersive world, it also pulls you out of it slightly. That said, the stories themselves are fairly brief and so you can get through the less enjoyable ones quicker and each one brings something different.
It's hard to rate this collection since some short stories I enjoyed more than others. Johnny Mnemonic, The Belonging Kind, Hinterlands, The Winter Market, and Burning Chrome were the better ones while the other half were more forgettable. Overall it's a somewhat challenging read, there is a lot of technobabble thrown at you and it takes a while to get used to terminology and Gibson doesn't hold your hand at all. He treats terms as if they're things you should already know, with the meaning inferred by subsequent paragraphs or pages. While this helps create an immersive world, it also pulls you out of it slightly. That said, the stories themselves are fairly brief and so you can get through the less enjoyable ones quicker and each one brings something different.
Likes:
- It was nice to read some of the foundational work in the cyberpunk genre, especially with how different stories played with the ideas in different ways.
- There is a range of stories, some more straight science-fiction, some more speculative, some dark, some tense, others eerie and mysterious, etc.
Dislikes:
- Gibson throws a lot of made up technobabble at you and in a longer novel this would be easier to follow, but by the time you start getting used to terminology the short stories are almost over.
- There's a lot of drug references that made some of the stories unrelatable to me.
Other Notes:
- Some stories have frequent references to real world brands or stores. While some still exist, others don't. Similarly, several stories directly reference the future of the USSR as a superpower despite its real world collapse. This makes some of the stories feel strangely dated despite the futuristic setting but the anachronisms have a certain charm and make the stories feel even more like an alternate Earth.
Would Recommend To:
- Anyone interested in science fiction, especially the cyberpunk genre and short stories.
Do Not Recommend To:
- Anyone who doesn't like science fiction or finds it difficult to read books with a lot of technobabble.