This is a book of short-stories, and will be reviewed on a story-by-story basis.
Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson
Loaded to the gills with style, Johnny Mnemonic is the second Sprawl story chronologically. Johnny winds up on the wrong side of the Yakuza and makes a crucial partnership that just may enable him to survive. See the tale Molly summarizes in Neuromancer expounded upon from Johnny’s point of view.
Quite a rocking good story.
“The Thirties dreamed white marble and slip-stream chrome, immortal crystal and burnished bronze, but the rockets on the covers of the Gernsback pulps had fallen on London in the dead of night, screaming. After the war, everyone had a car—no wings for it—and the promised superhighway to drive it down, so that the sky itself darkened, and the fumes ate the marble and pitted the miracle crystal…”This story is utterly incredible and a must read for anyone who thinks they might intrigued by historical science fiction. The future never happened.
Incidently, there’s supposedly a British short film, Tomorrow’s Calling,
based on this story.
Another must-read.
The Belonging Kind by John Shirley and William Gibson
This is the story of the linguistics professor who never fit in. After a life of failure and rejection, he becomes obsessed with a strange woman he met in a bar. What she shows him changes his life forever.
This is a good story with an edge of paranoia and a conspiratorial lunacy
about it.
A dark tale. There is a point in space into which people can simply disappear. When they return, they carry something with them—a useless piece of junk, a cure for cancer, something beyond human comprehension—and they are utterly insane. What drives them insane is not known, for those who make the voyage cannot answer and all recording devices are blank. Ships that don’t have anyone aboard simply don’t disappear. So in the hopes of helping mankind, person after person is sent to that terrible place of miracles. The story takes place on a space station near the anomaly, and the character is a drug-using recovery agent.
The story’s atmosphere is dark, but nonetheless, it is a good read.
Red Star, Winter Orbit by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson
The Space Age is about to end, the Russians announce, long after Americans
pulled out. This story takes place on the last space station
as its orbit decays, and the main character is a man who cannot survive
the voyage back to Earth. Surprisingly action-oriented, this
story has an air of irony, humor, and sadness throughout.
This is a very impressive collaboration.
New Rose Hotel by William Gibson
A spy-for-hire recounts his story while awaiting his impending doom in New Rose Hotel. While the spy scenes are noteworthy for their descriptions, on the whole, this story is simply too dark and the atmosphere too oppressive for my tastes.
There’s a European movie based on this story.
The Winter Market by William Gibson
An outstanding and complex narrative. The main character is an editor of dreams in the media of the future. He happens across a repressed dreamer in the most unexpected place and signs her with his label. She’s a hit, but what she does with the money haunts editor in more ways than one.
This story has a smart plot that delights in wise contradictions and
character interactions that bring it to life. An excellent
piece.
Dogfight by Michael Swanwick and William Gibson
A thief seeks redemption in this story. He thinks he can find it through becoming a master of a video game. This story is a moral lesson that the journey actually is more important than the destination. There’s one explicit scene included.
A haunting story that provides a good lesson. Which is never
a bad thing.
Burning Chrome by William Gibson
The first Sprawl story, chronologically. Burning Chrome gives you a good impression of Gibson’s vision of cyberspace. It’s a fun, energetic story that’s not entirely devoid of thoughtful and reflective moments. Some adult themes are contained within. Learn why Molly felt the way she did about Bobby Quine in Neuromancer.
This is a masterfully done work.