Children of the New World blew me away with the quality of the stories included in the anthology. Like Phillip K Dick, Alexander Weinstein captivates the reader’s imagination and keeps them pondering long after the last page is turned. The best science fiction stories are those that are both plausible and thought provoking, stirring the imagination and the emotions. Alexander Weinstein does just that.

It is hard to pick a favorite from the variety of visions - a couple tormented by the loss of their virtual children, an author of virtual memories who loses himself amongst his creations, a man becomes addicted to digital enlightenment. Some stories are humorous, others disturbing, all are excellent.

5 / 5

I received a copy of Children of the New World from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-- Crittermom

Many of the short stories in this book were haunting and a somewhat disturbing picture of the possible future was painted. I enjoyed most of them and it made me reconsider the way I think about memories.

Whatever new technology brings, humans will always act like humans. I liked that at the core of Children of the New World were normal people doing everyday things, just with more advanced technology. It some cases, the climate has changed, triggering the social issues explored, such as the strains of unemployment or the selfishness of not considering others in a survival situation.

A lot of the stories follow the evolution of the internet and virtual reality to a future where people barely exist in the real world. A family who never go outside, doing everything they need to do in virtual reality, faced with a son who wants to experience the outside. A company producing memories to experience instead doing the real thing.

In one story, people have become so unused to communicating offline, they forget how to interact with people in person, they panic at the thought of a conversation without having access to their profile. The same story goes on to show the dangers of oversharing, that sometimes it’s better to filter your thoughts.

Of course, sex always plays a part. From the couple who build a virtual life and a virtual family, only to be plagued with the kind of spam that's so much easier to deal with when it only existed in 2D form, to a world populated by clones who no longer have the urges associated with reproduction.

In these futures, the feared terrorists are Buddhist, with enlightenment being a dangerous thing attained through unnatural methods. This targeting of a group so unlikely to be international terrorists helps highlight the absurdity of blanketing a whole religion as dangerous.

Each story explores a fairly believable advancement or change, but many leave a subtle punch at the end. Read too fast and you may miss the most important messages, the ones that make you think a life in the real world may be worth living after all. A desire for a simpler life and internet fatigue crops up in several stories.

This was an awesome book! I so enjoyed the various tales., but my favorite was the last one Ice Age. These were really great short stories.

As opposed to reviewing this book as a whole, I figured it made more sense to comment on the stories separately. Overall, I did enjoy the stories but some of them were a little too kooky for my taste, were too 'obvious' and thus, fell a little flat.

Saying Goodbye to Yang - This was nice and heartfelt but I didn’t really get the point of the story. It obviously plays on the theme of robotics but perhaps it’s a little cliche? Why does the robot have to be Japanese for example? I was also left with a fair few questions. What was so wrong with clones? Why did they adopt in the first place? I also thought the whole idea of the robot which malfunctions and smashes his face into a breakfast bowl was not exactly the most unique idea. Aside from these issues, the story was well-written and I liked the characterisation, particularly the duplicity of the protagonist not wanting to be seen to be too attached to the robot but still upset at his loss.

The Cartographers - Hands down the best story of the collection. I loved the premise of the memories, particularly the idea of finding the edge of the memories. It was unique and enjoyable to read and the twist at the end was superb. Funnily enough, I didn't see it coming!

Heartland - Not a massive fan of this one mainly because I think the idea of using children and babies for money was introduced purely for shock factor and didn't really understand why it had been used. It didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. I did enjoy the story world and thought the idea of the sinking in the mud was clever as it reflects the sinking of the protagonist and his ever growing struggle. I also like that in the end, he didn't compromise on his morals.

Excerpts from the New World Authorized Dictionary - I thought this was a bit weird and although it was sort of interesting it seemed out of place. I feel like it should have been at the back as supplementary material and not in between the stories. The words and concepts were intriguing though.

Children of the New World. - This was my second favourite. I thought it was unique and engaging and I felt the protagonist's pain toward the end. It was one of the stories which successfully blurred the line between real and technological.

Moksha - Didn't leave that much of a mark on me, and again, very stereotypical. Enlightened people eat raw? The idea of 'enlightened vegans' is a little too cliche. Also, why is Moksha banned? I don't think it was set up well enough to answer these questions so it just came across as a little unbelievable.

Fall line - Again, intriguing and I liked the theme - risking it all for that 5 seconds of fame. I think it's especially relevant at the moment as people seem to be doing increasingly stupid things in an effort to 'go viral'. This, I feel, is one of the more believable stories.

A brief history of the Failed Revolution - I didn't read this the whole way through as I didn't find the whole 'psychological journal' style engaging at all. There were flashes of brilliance but it just fell flat to me. Perhaps it would have been better shorter?

Migration - This story had a lot of conflict and interesting ideas but the moment it introduced randomly placed genitalia, it lost its credibility to me. The story would have worked without and I found it distracting and crude.

The Pyramid and the Ass - What was with the obsession with asses? If it's anything to do with the Kardashians and the obsession with asses in the media and on social media then I guess I get it, but it's just way too much of a shallow link to today's world in my opinion. I did however like the end and the use of symbols to bring back his memory. I thought the whole Buddhist terrorist thing was a little too obvious also. It's like the author thought of the most 'peaceful' religion' and just went with that. I didn't find it believable.

Rocket Night - Didn't get this. Unbelievable. It seemed mean, as it was never explained why they randomly rocketed children into space.

Openness - This was my third favourite story. The idea of letting someone in to see all your secrets is terrifying and the story accurately reflects this. It was another one of the more believable stories.

All in all, the stories were all written well, but some were more belivable than others. Every story did however evoke an interesting and unique story-world and did play on themes which are clearly relevant to our ever-changing technological society.

Scary science fiction short stories that take a look into the future and honestly…..it is quite frightening imagining what could come to pass:

• A look into the future when a childlike robot can “replace and/or be” your child, and/or child’s play mate?
• A child is less desirable then his peers and the school votes to send him “away”
• Cars that can be opened with a swipe of the wrist
• Memories that can scanned by mates
• Memories you can download
• The ice age coming and how does one survive
• Walking by someone and “scanning their profile” into your cerebral profile.

I loved this book and give it a STRONG 4/5 stars! If this doesn’t make you leery of what is to come with the rise of technology nothing will. I actually read this book and started to feel unease. I could totally see all this happening and it scares me, I can’t believe how some of these stories are still sticking with me!
Highly recommend!

A clever little collection of short stories, set in the not so distant future, that is equally disturbing and entertaining. Technology and its increasing importance in our day to day life is one of the key themes that runs throughout the book , with stories featuring android "children", implanted memories and virtual sex lives among the most memorable. There were a couple that I didn't really care for, as is often the case with short story collections, but the good did outweigh the bad in this collection. Among my personal favourites were The Cartographers, the story that gave the book it's title , and the very last tale Ice Age. I'd recommend this for fans of the Black Mirror tv series, or those who like speculative fiction.

Going into this, I had heard several comparisons to Black Mirror. While both very worthwhile high-context sci-fi, Alexander Weinstein is clearly a talent instead of someone simply capitalizing on the seemingly insatiable appetite of current audiences for near future dystopian vibes/ stories which riff on some variation of "sure technology is neat, but are we sure we are not losing some of our humanity in the process?!" The best shorts, such as closer Ice Age, where haves vs have nots are shown in the wake of another Ice Age, and Openness, which explores it's namesake, transcend concern over our love affair with progress and hammer home at the ugliness and ecstasy of the human experience.

A really great selection of short stories. Weinstein presents a series of dystopian futures where technology has become the centre of human existence and more important than any kind of real experience.

Those who do seek real life connections have no idea where to begin. We see some older characters struggle with the changes and try to remember a time when they did things face to face.

Weinstein has definitely gone for ideas over character and plot in these stories. Those wanting layered protagonists will be disappointed, but perhaps this is partly the point? Perhaps these characters have been reduced to basically an online presence.

My favourite, and the most haunting stories, were "Saying Goodbye to Yang" (a kind of Second Life where people spend all their personal time, even raising children and making homes) and Openness (every character has a profile and they can decide how many 'layers' of themselves to share with other people).

This collection delivers all the things I love in short stories: smart, incisive, near-future speculations that are really commentaries about our present times. What are our fears, our reservations about the way we live our lives today? These stories project them with maximum impact.

It's handy that we have 'Black Mirror' as a kind of short hand for this genre. Those magic words brought this great book to my attention and I hope to find more like it.

A bleak but interesting look at the many futures the human race might face.

Full review at attached link.

“a comeback story without a comeback”

“We were like babies. Like Adam and Eve, some said. We reached out toward one another to see how skin felt; we let our neighbors’ hands run across our arms. In this world, we seemed to understand, we were free to experience a physical connection that we’d always longed for in the real world but had never been able to achieve. Who can blame us for being reckless?”
(“Children of the New World”)

“Publicly, we sold memories under Quimbly, Barrett & Woods, but when it was just the three of us, working late into the night, we thought of ourselves as mapmakers. […] Here was the ocean, here the ships, here the hotel, here the path that led to town, here the street vendors, here the memories of children we never had and parents much better than the ones we did. And far out there was the edge of the world.”
(“The Cartographers”)

It’s not often that I’m so truly and hopelessly blown away by a collection of short stories. Anthologies with multiple contributors are almost always a little choppy, and even those written by a single author tend to be a mixed bag. But Alexander Weinstein? He works some serious magic in CHILDREN OF THE NEW WORLD.

The thirteen stories found within these pages are beautiful, imaginative, and deeply unsettling. Together, they create a portrait of a future beholden to technology: where consumers willingly and happily abandon memories based on fact in favor kinder, gentler fictions; where humans rarely leave the virtual world, let alone their houses; where people fornicate like mad but reproduce through cloning – and sometimes even programming. Where lovers can peel back all their layers – metaphorically and literally – and grant their partners access to every fleeting thought, emotion, and memory. Where even the apocalypse is powerless to break the hold that mere things – Lego toys and Kitchenaid mixers – exert over us.

I fell in love with most of the stories, and liked the rest well enough; not a single one rated less than 4/5 stars. Usually it’s hard for me to play favorites, but I definitely have mine here. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Jim and Kyra adopt a little girl from China rather than clone themselves, as is all the rage in the U.S. To help bridge the cultural gap, they also purchase Yang, a sort of babysitter android programmed to speak Mandarin and teach Mika about her homeland. When Mika’s “Big Brother” malfunctions, the narrator and his wife are made to recognize the central role Yang played in their lives – and his fundamental humanity. “Children of the Real World” also deals with parental grief, though of a much different (and even less socially acceptable) sort. I don’t have kids, but I’ve loved and lost many dogs over the years – and the guardian in me can definitely relate.

In this vein, “The Cartographers” is also melancholy AF, though you don’t quite realize how much so until the very end. As with “Children of the New World,” the tenuous line between what’s real and what’s not forms the emotional core of the story. How I long to say more, but spoilers!

On the unsettling end of the spectrum are “Migration” and “Rocket Night,” in which parents consider selling photos of them online; and actually *do* put their kids in rocket ships and shoot them into the stars. I didn’t quite get the second story, though I suspect it’s symbolic of our tendency to sacrifice the “lesser” among us for the greater good – but just what that good consists of, I’m not sure. Or perhaps it has more to do with distancing ourselves from tragedy?

What’s especially interesting about this collection is that, while each story is its own discrete entity, they come together in strange and unexpected ways. This could be the same ‘verse, or the same ‘verse at different points in time. Or it could be many different parallel universes, separated only by the delicate flutter of a butterfly’s wings. Or maybe (just maybe!) a judge’s ruling that consciousness is, indeed, privately owned (“Failed Revolution”).

Not even all of these are stories per se; “Failed Revolution” is a yarn masquerading as an academic paper, while the surprisingly funny (and feminist!) “Excerpts from The New World Authorized Dictionary” consists of several terms (brainflea, mushing, togging) and their definitions.

Whatever form the story assumes, Weinstein’s writing is graceful and lovely, earnest and thoughtful, and disturbing on so many levels. These stories are guaranteed to make you think – well into the wee hours of the morning. If you love speculative fiction or consider yourself a tech geek, you owe it to yourself to meet the CHILDREN OF THE NEW WORLD.

Saying Goodbye to Yang – 5/5
The Cartographers – 5/5
Heartland – 5/5
Excerpts from The New World Authorized Dictionary – 5/5
Moksha – 4/5
The
Children of the New World – 5/5
Fall Line – 4/5
A Brief History of the Failed Revolution – 4/5
Migration – 5/5
The Pyramid and the Ass – 4/5
Rocket Night – 4/5
Openness – 5/5
Ice Age – 5/5

** Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review through Goodreads. **