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Alexander Weinstein's speculative fiction collection, "Children of the New World," rockets readers into a future where technology has outpaced ethics. The sparkling advancements of days to come are matched by new moral conundrums, and nothing comes without a price.

The opening story in the collection, "Saying Goodbye to Yang," drops in on a family that has adopted a young girl from China. To keep her rooted in Chinese culture, they also bring home Yang, a robot "you could always count on ... to keep conversation going with some fact about China that none of us knew." 

But when Yang's circuitry is damaged beyond repair, the parents are left with the challenge: How do you explain to your young daughter that her (robot) brother is dead? 

These kind of tangled questions are peppered throughout "Children of the New World." 

Weinstein joined MPR News host Kerri Miller to discuss the collection, and the inspirations for his dysfunctional future.

Even with today's technology, Weinstein said, "we're missing these human interactions." Just walk into a restaurant and you can see "a whole family sitting around a table, everyone texting and playing with their phones."

He transferred his unease about current shifting behaviors into "Children of the New World." The collection is more speculative fiction, he said, rather than traditional sci-fi.

"Hard science fiction requires that there be scientific backing to whatever fantasies you come up with ... Whereas speculative fiction has a looser connection to science in that way."

"Speculative fiction can dip into a lot of different genres. There's the ability to borrow from magical realism, borrow from fantasy, borrow from sci-fi, but also have its foot planted firmly in literary fiction."

For the full interview with Alexander Weinstein, use the audio player above.

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Alexander Weinstein's collection of stories examines what happens when technology outpaces ethics.

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