BURNING CHROME

Jay Snyder gets to read one of the best stories in this production of William Gibson's 2003 science fiction collection. "Hinterlands," one of 10 tales included, features an ineffable interstellar "highway" on which objects are traded at the expense of the sanity of the traveler. All the narrators, including Jonathan Davis, Dennis Holland, and six others, ably deliver the stories’ journeys into the imagination and technical yet poetic prose. With superb production values—particularly its haunting transition music—the audiobook merits repeated listening. Indeed, one may need to listen twice to mull over the scientific jargon and the strange and unique concepts presented. Gibson, after all, is the man who coined the word "cyberspace." J.L. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2009]