Burning Chrome

There are numerous paired characters in the stories of Gibson’s collection, such as Johnny Mnemonic and Molly Millions, Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine, and Deke and Nance. Choose one of these pairs and describe what they have in common as well as how one character’s traits contrast to the others. 

Several characters in Burning Chrome have body modifications, including Molly Millions’ razor-tipped fingers, Lise’s exoskeleton, and Rikki’s artificial eyes. Compare and contrast the significance of the respective modifications or cyborgian elements for two or more of these characters.

In the futuristic worlds of the stories in Burning Chrome, technology is ever present and incredibly sophisticated, and some characters are geniuses in it. On the other hand, the technology is sometimes dangerous or controlling. Choose one or more of Gibson’s stories and discuss what you think it is trying to suggest about the role of technology in the future.

Three of the 10 stories collected in Burning Chrome are collaborations between Gibson and other science fiction authors. Choose one or more of these stories and explain how you think the story was impacted by the co-author. If you like, you can compare/contrast with other stories from the collection written by Gibson alone. 

The stories in Burning Chrome are filled with technical terminology, jargon, and neologisms, from “ASP machines” and “skull wars” to “jacking across” and “Lo Teks.” Select some examples like these and analyze how they are used in context. What does this terminology contribute to the style, content, or themes of Burning Chrome?

Some of the stories from Burning Chrome are classified as early examples of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. These include “Johnny Mnemonic,” “The Winter Market,” and “Burning Chrome.” Based on what you observe about the style and content of these stories, how would you define cyberpunk literature?

“The Gernsback Continuum” is both a narrative and a critical analysis of the way the future was imagined in the Golden Age of Science Fiction, decades before the publication of Gibson’s stories. The stories collected in Burning Chrome are now themselves several decades old. Use ideas from “The Gernsback Continuum” to critically analyze Gibson’s own visions of the future. Do his visions of the future now seem prescient, dated, or somewhere in between?

Choose the setting of one of Gibson’s stories. Describe the setting’s defining features and explain how those features support the story’s plot and develop its key themes.