The Minted

by Will McClelland

"The Boreal Terrorist;" The Scourge of Canada;" "The Great Black Beast." All of these names have been applied to the Moose, the charismatic leader of a violent animal rebellion that is wreaking havoc upon urban Canada in 2030.

Only the Moose and his followers understand that the true seat of power in the country is the Royal Canadian Mint. From its horrific production floors, the soul of every animal in the north is being systematically destroyed through a mysterious process known as 'minting.'

By turns a memoir, a confession, and reportage from the front lines, 'The Minted' is a dizzying tour through Canada's colonial psyche -- replete with ancient demons, muzzled Members of Parliament, and interspecies sex.

180 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[James Fisher]

Reviewing this book will not be easy....it has to be read to be understood and to understand anything I write about it. Suffice it to say that it was a highly enjoyable read: futuristic, animalistic, political, historical, biological, ecological, and above all "Original" (you have to read the book to understand that reference). An animal rebellion, led by a Moose (the Moose) and an autonomous android female and an army of Machine elk almost take over and reclaim Canada, but they have to reckon with "The Minted" in Ottawa.
Full review here: http://bit.ly/theminted

[Matthew Murphy]

Of all the Canadian novels I’ve read in the last couple years (or maybe ever), the one that stands tallest and rings out loudest to me is The Minted, the debut novel by Will McClelland. This book indulges in wild, inventive Canadian myth-making, and is, in my view, utterly compelling and completely original.

The story, more or less: A moose leads an animal rebellion in Canada in a near future of increased environmental degradation. Throughout the novel, the reader is treated to: environmental terrorist attacks; demonic interventions in Canadian history; self-supposed cyborgs; a cross-Canada train ride; Don Cherry piloting a tank; the nefarious doings behind the closed doors of the Royal Canadian Mint; and, just maybe, a bit of interspecies sex. What is amazing is how all these wild, disparate elements (among others) cohere—the books forms a perfect world unto itself. McClelland creates a ludicrous situation and collection of characters that are so well-realized, and shed so much light on the real world, that you can’t help but accept it all. It all becomes strangely real. The result is a story that is hilarious, thought-provoking and strangely moving all at once.

McClelland creates a ludicrous situation and collection of characters that are so well-realized, and shed so much light on the real world, that you can’t help but accept it all. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants something a little (or very) different, and who wants to think, laugh and feel all at the same time, while contemplating this vast land in which we live.

So, as a reader, do yourself a favour: Get yourself a copy now!

[Wendy]

Rebellious critters rule future Canada

The Minted won’t become an international bestseller. It won’t top the New York Times list, won’t lead Amazon’s fiction sales, won’t win the Man Booker Prize.

If you’re not profoundly, tremendously Canadian, you won’t get it. Although even if you are Canadian to the core, you still might not get this bizarre, fast-paced dystopian hallucination.

Will McClelland’s debut novel tells the story behind the scenes of the Canadian Animal Rebellion of 2031.

Our narrator is Nicholas A. Cibiades, a former professor, high-tech worker and lay minister who, grieving the losses of his wife and son, takes to the wilderness to commit suicide — but instead encounters a talking moose on the eve of a series of wildlife terrorist attacks on Canada’s urban dwellers.

The tale is told by turns through memoir and reproduction of "primary documents," journals and letters of our narrator and two key figures in the rebellion: Original, a charismatic talking moose, and Original’s android girlfriend/collaborator. Their stories unfold with footnotes detailing relevant points of moose anatomy, historical notes and colour plates illustrating animals found on Canadian currency.

Why the animals on Canadian currency? Here’s where things get weird.

The book’s villains are symbols, brought to life: Argent and Gules, man and monster, demons as old as time and the red and white of the Canadian flag. They’ve captured and enslaved the animals that appear on Canadian money, known as "the Minted."

The loon, the polar bear, the beaver — they are locked beneath the Mint in Ottawa, "responsible for the rolling, softening, blanking, rimming and washing of their respective coins." (The caribou is also responsible for the dime and now-defunct penny.)

The menagerie isn’t limited to small change: the belted kingfisher that graced the 1986 five-dollar bill makes an appearance, as does the mackerel from the 1967 dime. Even Queen Elizabeth II toils in the Mint.

The moose exhorts Canada’s remaining free wild animals to "save the North from the Canadians." And they do: "These attacks came without warning and were perpetrated by a suddenly ubiquitous enemy: raccoons, chipmunks, porcupines, pigeons, coyotes, wolves, deer, birds of prey — the list goes on — all acting with unimaginable coordination and violence."

McLelland’s imaginative descriptions of the destruction of Canadian cities by their wildlife — Toronto set upon by hundreds of thousands of raccoons, Regina smothered by cottontail rabbits, Winnipeg overrun by Narcisse’s garter snakes — are perhaps the most lucid parts of the book.

Add in android-moose intimacy and an autonomous army of mechanized elk, and… surreal begins to describe it.

The slim volume is a quick read and a page-turner: the reader can’t help but press on to discover what curiosities await on this chimerical cross-country ride with stops in Vancouver, the Athabasca sand dunes, Flin Flon’s airport, the streets of Gander, N.L., and, of course, a final showdown in Ottawa.

It’s a Canadian encyclopedia of history and oddities, with references to Hinterland Who’s Who, the fur trade, the Dionne quintuplets. "Certainly everyone remembers Don Cherry and his Second World War tank confronting that lone raccoon protester in Nathan Phillips Square."

The book’s one major flaw: no mention of Winnipeg’s Royal Canadian Mint, where Canadian coins are actually manufactured. Perhaps that’s an oversight only a profound, tremendous Winnipegger would see.

Review republished from http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts...

[Natalie Jubb]

Surrealist, imaginative, erudite, and very Canadian.

[Amy]

what was this