I grew up in a remote town without a bookstore, but somehow there were books everywhere in my house when I was young. My mom and my sister Norma were science fiction nuts, and every issue of OMNI magazine a proper event. I remember finding the issue that had this story in it, in a box in the basement.

Neither my mom nor sister cared for William Gibson, so he was the first science fiction author I felt was mine. Even though I didn’t always understand the stories on first read, I loved how gritty and high-tech everything was. I’ve recently re-read his books, and the stories in Burning Chrome set the template for all of his novels — including elements of his current Jackpot series.

‘New Rose Hotel’ sets the table for Neuromancer and its sequels. The language is urgent and fragmented, with an edge that felt like a new kind of science fiction, even to 15-year-old me.

First published 1984 in OMNI, collected in Burning Chrome, Arbor House, 1986