Reviews

A solid collection of cyberpunk short stories. All by the wonderful William Gibson, with a few collaborations. My two favorites from this collection are easily Burning Chrome and Johnny Mnemonic. Both are set in Gibson's Sprawl world, and characters from his trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive) feature in both. The change in setting and time can sometimes be slightly jarring between stories because of the variety and it sometimes took me a page or two to figure out where and when each story was. While reading Gibson's other work isn't necessary to enjoy this collection, I would recommend reading some of his sprawl books first (at least Neuromancer). It helps establish the world used in several of these stories, which isn't elaborated here due to the short story format. Knowing the world makes it easier to slip into the story without figuring out what is going on and what the technology being used is.

dreadgodmatthius's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

leeakolb's review against another edition

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5.0

As good as I remember

I read this quite a while ago and I really like it. I truly do suggest it if you like cyberpunk.

nicklindgren's review against another edition

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4.0

Favorite short stories: "Hinterlands", "The Belonging Kind", "Red Star, Winter Orbit", "", New Rose Hotel", "Burning Chrome"

radiator_phillip's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

timberdoodle's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The book wears its age on its sleeve, and the technobabble rarely lets up, but there's some great ideas explored here. Hinterlands was the best.

behemoths_spawn's review against another edition

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3.5

Some were more successful than others - I particularly liked The Belonging Kind, The Hinterlands and The Winter Market, but it was also fun to see more into the Sprawl universe (big-up Molly Millions).

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