The Canadian Miracle

by Cory Doctorow

Short fiction from science fiction author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow!

A contentious election and radicalized locals interfere with Canadian recovery workers' efforts at the site of a catastrophic flood in near-future Mississippi. This story is set in the same future as Cory Doctorow's novel The Lost Cause.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Near Future, Dystopia, Ebooks

23 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2023

About the author

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger — the co-editor of Boing Boing and the author of the YA graphic novel In Real Life, the nonfiction business book Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free, and young adult novels like Homeland, Pirate Cinema, and Little Brother and novels for adults like Rapture Of The Nerds and Makers. He is a Fellow for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
Free copy here: https://reactormag.com/the-canadian-m...

short review for busy readers:
A political short story.

In the near future, Canada is the only nation in the world which has managed to solve the problem of its youth having no future. This has been termed the "Canadian Miracle". Canadian young people are healthy, well-off and optimistic ....which is why they volunteer in droves for Blue Helmet missions in backwards and problematic countries -- like the USA.

The story spotlights one such operation when floods threaten the southern coast of the US and reactionary MAGA types conflate the Canadian relief work with "damned furiners comin' in an' tellin' us how to run things" and attempt to turn public opinion against them.

A nicely written, liberal short story about how Canada's answers just might be the ones that the dumb little brother down south is in need of. If it would only listen... 😃

[Anna Avian · Rating 1 out of 5]

A preachy, degrading mix of politics and climate.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this although I found the politics a bit much. But then I always find American politics a bit much. It used to be funny. It isn’t anymore.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story, spin-off of "The Lost Cause" that gives us a "glimpse" of the origins of the Canadian "Blue Helmet."

Breve racconto, spin-off di "The lost cause", che ci fa "intravedere" le origini dei "Blue Helmet" canadesi.

[Orla · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was an interesting idea for speculative fiction but it was way too saturated 🧐
i wish it was longer and more show than tell!

[Per · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://reactormag.com/the-canadian-m...

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Canadian goes to the US (Mississippi) to help with recovery efforts. But she has to be very careful who she helps and how she helps, for the US state is in the grip of an election between progressives and extreme conservatives who will take any advantage of 'outsiders' coming to help as a pretext for baying that 'socialists' are coming to 'invade' and 'take away' their freedoms.

A moment of inattention is all that is needed for the bad news to spread, but perhaps the repercussions may not have the intended effect.

[Ken Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A climate fiction short from Cory Doctorow, in the same world as his new novel 'The Lost Cause'.
Read it here - https://www.tor.com/2023/11/01/the-ca...
Great to have a story which projects hope, and has faith in people to see through the wall of lies projected by deniers

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no problem with the broad outline of the story. Foreign aid workers come to Mississippi for disaster relief. 8 state legislators had died in the disaster and the party in charge (In this case, Republicans) is trying to hold the snap election at a time when the populace is distracted in order to suppress voter turnout. (Which generally helps the party in charge of an area, regardless of red or blue) Nearby Texas wants to flip Mississippi so sends out its own aid to increase voter turnout. The two groups of aid workers get conflated and there are cries of “foreign interference in a US election.”

I think much of the rest of the politics and the characterizations is an exaggeration, which is par for the course for fiction. And that's pretty much all it is. A short politically slanted scenario, which is probably enjoyed in line with how much you agree. The climax of the story is which party wins in Mississippi, even though the narrator wanted to stay out of it, and only got involved by proxy. It was the last sentence that left a really bad taste. " But if cushy government jobs for climate-deniers was the price of saving the planet, it was a small price to pay. " This is in reference to a jobs-guarantee program.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story set in Oxford Mississippi a few decades hence, in a world struggling to deal with the devastation caused by climate change. Unsurprisingly, Canadians are the heroes, and Americans have largely devolved into gun-toting red-hat-wearing xenophobic rubes who perpetuate bad choices making their lives even more hopeless.

He's not wrong, but the treatment is quite heavy-handed which diminished the impact. Reducing one's opponents to caricatures is an easy way to make a point, but usually not the most effective way to change their minds. Which means he's just preaching to the choir, which doesn't need this cautionary tale to be convinced that climate change is bad or that voting for Qanon supporters is not a good idea.

Still, looking forward to reading the forthcoming novel set in this same world, in which the themes presumably are fleshed out a bit more.

[briz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short novelette - short story, even - from the same near future, cli-fi, solarpunk universe as The Lost Cause. This story dives into a brief expedition by some Blue Helmets (presumably climate emergency first responders deployed by the UN? Or maybe it's just Canada? ELBOWS UP, EH) as they try to help Oxford, Mississippi, recover from some (unnamed) climate disaster. As with the longer book, this is densely packed with political ideas, technological ideas (I liked the drones using computer vision/AI to find lost pets - since the training data had so many dog and cat images), and food (Cory is SO into writing food, lately!). It was fine, very short.

[Al Lock · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one can say that Cory Doctorow doesn't make his politics obvious in his writings, or write about them in a way that reflects his concerns, but he does it in a way that makes for interesting and entertaining reading. This isn't the best of Doctorow's work that I've read (and I have read a lot), but it is definitely in the same vein as his usual work - a mix of social justice warrior, practical libertarian and really good science fiction writer. This is short and an easy read, and it's free on Tor.com. Go ahead, read it. Recommended.

[Shaun Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Canadian Miracle is a short story by Cory Doctorow set in the world of his novel The Lost Cause. Like many of Cory's books, there is an uplifting message of hope in the face of disaster and a diverse cast of interesting characters. As a short palette cleanser between books, it was a fun, quick read.

However, this book feels like a writing exercise done to warm up for the novel. This is not because it isn't a complete story; it is, and I enjoyed it, but it feels a little slapdash in places, with minor issues an editor should have picked up. Nothing huge, but enough to pull me out of the story.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this with the suspicion any Mississippian has reading something written about us, by someone else. It's a short story set in an imagined future so not a lot of space to develop an accurate sense of place, but regardless--I never got a sense of why it was set in Mississippi in the first place other than an excuse to have a few cross burnings. Which is uninteresting caricature. This is a big shrug from me.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a little bit on the preachy side, and it felt a bit to me like it was coming from that Canadian little brother syndrome place. On the other hand, it could just be my Americanness balking at the subject matter. In the end, it's an interesting piece of speculative fiction, but I just couldn't totally enjoy it.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting short story. Its an interesting scenario, played out similarly when FEMA responded and had to be escorted around. The only issue I have is the story comes from the same high horse and hubris as the current president has about Canada.

Not sure where that helps anyone. Maybe if the story was longer and the world built out more it would blend better instead of coming off preachy.

[Steve Coughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short story. Some might say Canadian propaganda (who knew there was such a thing?), but it's both a warning and a hopeful prediction that was crazy fiction when it was written, and about a half-step from being on the news tomorrow. I've found my echo chamber in Doctorow. Not helpful, but a small comfort.

[Ric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t get into it. It seemed a mix of politics and climate… very preachy: “But if cushy government jobs for climate-deniers was the price of saving the planet, it was a small price to pay.” Not for me -2 stars.

[Reg Tydell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fear too true

A 4 because it was very depressing, a 5 because it felt very real. Well done CD. I'm in Australia (a LOT less water and a LOT more heat than Canada) so optimism is not an option.

[Tom Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting glimpse at a future possibility (probability.)

I always keep an eye out for Doctorows’ work. He never disappoints. Eight more words are required here. Compliance is not in Cory’s philosophy.

[Aaron Mullis · Rating 1 out of 5]

A short story written to dehumanize people the author doesn’t like and continues the long history of denigrating Southerners. This reads more like a well written high school writing project than something published by a respectable publishing company.

[Zéro Janvier · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Canadian Miracle est une nouvelle qui sert à la fois de compagnon et de préquelle au roman The Lost Cause que j'ai lu juste avant. C'est sympathique, dans le même esprit que le roman, mais ce n'est pas transcendant.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

a political ad disguised as an SF story. ugh.

[David Blaylock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read to me by Cory Doctorow.

[Renn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Roberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi review en bookwyrm https://lectura.social/user/rsf92/rev...

[Joshua Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solidly whetting the appetite for Cory’s long-awaited post-Green New Deal novel, The Lost Cause. Heading to the Mississippi Miracle in 5..4..3..2..1

[Şeyda]

If I didnt know that Americans doesnt easily accept help from other countries in time of natural disasters and such, I thought this book was a bit overkill but alas; here we are.

[G]

Hopeful. Accessed from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2023/11/01/the-ca...

[Roland · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay promo short, it probably would've made more of an impact, if I'd have been more aware of the book it is accompanying.