Reviews
In 2005 my husband and I rented Johnny Mnemonic; it was one of the stupidest films we had ever seen. Curious to see if it was a problem with the translation to film or the source material, I decided to get a copy of the book: Burning Chrome, the first story being "Johnny Mnemonic." Having now suffered through the entire collection of stories, I can say that both the filmmakers and the author can share the blame equally. I know that there are many fans of William Gibson's books but he doesn't do much for me. The worst of the stories in Burning Chrome bored me. The others were vaguely derivative of Philip K. Dick and Jack Kerouac but with some new cyber-babble thrown in. The three best stories of the book were ones that Gibson co-wrote: "The Belonging Kind" with John Shirley, "Red Star, White Orbit" with Bruce Sterling, and "Dogfight" Michael Swanwick. These collaborations allowed Gibson to world build (his strong suit) while the plot was left to the collaborator.
Really enjoyed some of the stories (Burning Chrome, New Rose Hotel, Johnny Mnemonic), but most weren't terribly engaging or interesting for me. I think maybe I just have a thing for those set in The Sprawl over others. Still recommended if you're a Gibson or early cyberpunk fan.
Uneven. "Johnny Mnemonic" is great though, much more teenaged and subculture-boosting fun than the film.
It’s not often a writer creates an entire subgenre with their first works. BURNING CHROME allows you to witness it happening with author William Gibson’s short fiction. His debut story sets the stage for a revolution in science fiction, and the rest shows the master emerging. Essential.
Still one of my all-time favorite collections of short stories.
Highlights
I wondered how they wrote off tooth-bud transplants from Dobermans as low technology. Immunosuppressives don’t exactly grow on trees.
from “Johnny Mnemonic”
The Magnetic Dog Sisters were on the door that night, and I didn’t relish trying to get out past them if things didn’t work out. They were two meters tall and thin as greyhounds. One was black and the other white, but aside from that they were as nearly identical as cosmetic surgery could make them. They’d been lovers for years and were bad news in a tussle. I was never quite sure which one had originally been male.
from “Johnny Mnemonic”