Children of the New World: Stories

Children of the New World is a story collection set in a near-future world featuring social media implants, memory manufacturers, immersive virtual reality games, and advanced robots. Some characters inhabit a utopian society offering instant connection and technological gratification, though this masks significant human distance. Others live in a post-collapse landscape they must rebuild from primitive conditions. In "The Cartographers," a character works for a company that creates and sells virtual memories while struggling to maintain a real relationship damaged by addiction to his own creations. "After Yang" follows a family whose adopted Chinese child's robotic brother malfunctions; only after his absence do they recognize how fully he had become a real son. The collection explores unease with modern technology and how growing dependence on new technologies has transformed society. "After Yang" was adapted into an A24 film starring Colin Farrell. The book was named a New York Times Notable Book.