The story collection Burning Chrome (1986) provides a good starting-point for the appreciation and understanding of the themes and narrative practices that William Gibson develops in his longer fiction. It is comprised of a number of short stories that Gibson first published alone or in collaboration with other cyberpunk writers in various science fiction magazines. The stories entitled “Johnny Mnemonic”, “Hinterlands”, “Red Star, Winter Orbit”, “New Rose Hotel”, “Dogfight” and “Burning Chrome” were published in Omni between 1981-1985; “The Gernsback Continuum” first appeared in Universe 11 in 1981; “Fragments of a Hologram Rose” was published by UnEarth in 1977; and finally “The Belonging Kind”, the collaborative story that Gibson wrote with John Shirley, initially appeared in Shadows 4.
Many critics acknowledge the consistent craftsmanship and literary quality of the collection, while praising Gibson's artistry for...
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Citation: Rapatzikou, Tatiani. "Burning Chrome". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 May 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10549, accessed 09 June 2026.]
