Having enjoyed the science fiction elements of Cloud Atlas, and not finding anything appealing on the “Books to read” shelf, I turned my attentions to Phil’s collection of William Gibson novels, and picked out Burning Chrome as one I’d not read before.
I’d not realised that it is a collection short stories, written by William Gibson (occasionally in collaboration with others) in the early years of his career. I’d also not realised – until I opened the book to start reading – that the first story is Johnny Mnemonic, the basis for the film of the same name starrring Keanu Reeves in a warm-up to his role in The Matrix.
An enjoyable collection, where you see William Gibson articulating concepts, scenarios and locations that are developed in his later novels. It strikes me that the stories are always told from the perpective of the underdog or the outsider – I can’t think of an occasion where we see Gibson’s vision of the future from the point of view of someone with power, or simply getting along with a “normal” humdrum life.
Hmmm. What next?
Buy it: Amazon link