Burning Chrome: A compact William Gibson story offers a perfect starting point before Apple TV’s Neuromancer
A shorter path into Gibson
Neuromancer is Gibson’s first novel and a defining cyberpunk work, built around pervasive technology, social inequality and a dystopian world. Its many ideas can make it challenging to follow.
“Burning Chrome,” written earlier and later collected in a 1986 book of the same name, is a shorter way into Gibson’s approach. At roughly 25 pages, it can be read in about an hour, although taking time to absorb it may take longer.
A first visit to the Sprawl
The story is the first of Gibson’s works set in the Sprawl, the setting of Neuromancer and the loosely connected trilogy that also includes Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. It introduces the world and some of its people and organizations.
Some characters in the story appear or are mentioned again in the trilogy. The connection is not a conventional, continuous narrative, and the works can be difficult to follow on their own.
Hackers and a noir mood
“Burning Chrome” follows two hackers who use their skills to carry out heists against mobsters. Their involvement with a young woman gives the story, particularly its ending, a film noir quality.
The story can help readers get a feel for Gibson’s cyberpunk style without taking on the novel’s many moving parts at once. It is still dense, but its shorter length makes it a more manageable starting point before the television adaptation.
Key points
- Apple TV’s Neuromancer series is scheduled to air in early 2027.
- “Burning Chrome” was written before Neuromancer and appeared in a 1986 collection of the same name.
- The story introduces the Sprawl, the setting for Neuromancer and Gibson’s loosely connected trilogy.
- At about 25 pages, “Burning Chrome” is shorter than the novel but still dense.