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Toronto 2033: 10 Short Stories About the City's Future
For Spacing's 15th anniversary, the magazine asked Toronto sci-fi writers to imagine what life could be like 15 years in the future.
It's the fall of 2033 in Toronto and the city is faced with numerous challenges: heat waves and rising lake water, gated neighbourhoods and suspicious neighbours, and memories of a global pandemic that tinge everyday interactions.
10 local authors speculate how the city and its residents will fare in a world of extreme weather conditions, emerging technologies, and deepening economic stresses.
It's the fall of 2033 in Toronto and the city is faced with numerous challenges: heat waves and rising lake water, gated neighbourhoods and suspicious neighbours, and memories of a global pandemic that tinge everyday interactions.
10 local authors speculate how the city and its residents will fare in a world of extreme weather conditions, emerging technologies, and deepening economic stresses.
- GenresFiction
104 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Jim Munroe
20 books31 followersAnarchist (Though as far as I can tell the non-violent type), Vegan, Dad. Jim Munroe is also a talented young author particularly notable for his novel "Flyboy Action Figure comes with Gasmask" and his indie DIY-leanings. See his website for more information, especially regarding those 'indie DIY-leanings' which he is particularly passionate about.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 24, 2019
Uneven, but I suppose that's the flaw of all commissioned anthologies.
December 27, 2020
A very imaginative collection, even if many stories seem a bit farfetched for only a decade and a bit away.
The commitment to progressiveness is great (though the Jewish-focused Olympic virus seems a bit Zionist) from hard sci-fi to activism to some welcome surrealism from Paul Hong.
It does very little to predict the future but it's a lovely little initiative with great story art and impressive diversity.
The commitment to progressiveness is great (though the Jewish-focused Olympic virus seems a bit Zionist) from hard sci-fi to activism to some welcome surrealism from Paul Hong.
It does very little to predict the future but it's a lovely little initiative with great story art and impressive diversity.
December 5, 2019
What's it like to live in Toronto in the year 2033? Well, these mostly (maybe exclusively) Toronto writers have assembled a bunch of short stories in a shared vision for the city.
It's a short book, an interesting little experiment and fun enough to read. I might have skipped it, if it didn't contain a few authors I really enjoy (Madeline Ashby, Karl Schroeder, and Peter Watts... the others were all new to me, to the best of my knowledge). The 'shared world'liness is fairly subtle, references to a few key points and a mayor, and the effects of climate change hitting the city are about the most the stories have in common. You could read any of the stories individually without knowing about the context of either. And Toronto is definitely recognizeably in the mix... plenty of times as I was reading I was thinking, "Hey, I know that street!" or location or whatnot.
As for the stories themselves? Mostly they felt like very short slice-of-life segments, nothing really I could sink my teeth into or even felt had a proper conclusion (a couple of times I wondered if the story just got cut off and they forgot to include the ending). And unfortunately, maybe because of that, although a couple of the ideas were memorable, most of the stories themselves weren't... not unpleasant, just not likely to stick in my head.
Everyone will have their own tastes, but for me, the standout was Peter Watts' "Gut Feelings"... despite the fact that I've read it already on his website (or a significant portion of it anyway, I can't remember if the whole thing was posted there or just an excerpt).
Still, a reasonably fun diversion, though I don't know how much interest it'd be outside of the city it's about.
It's a short book, an interesting little experiment and fun enough to read. I might have skipped it, if it didn't contain a few authors I really enjoy (Madeline Ashby, Karl Schroeder, and Peter Watts... the others were all new to me, to the best of my knowledge). The 'shared world'liness is fairly subtle, references to a few key points and a mayor, and the effects of climate change hitting the city are about the most the stories have in common. You could read any of the stories individually without knowing about the context of either. And Toronto is definitely recognizeably in the mix... plenty of times as I was reading I was thinking, "Hey, I know that street!" or location or whatnot.
As for the stories themselves? Mostly they felt like very short slice-of-life segments, nothing really I could sink my teeth into or even felt had a proper conclusion (a couple of times I wondered if the story just got cut off and they forgot to include the ending). And unfortunately, maybe because of that, although a couple of the ideas were memorable, most of the stories themselves weren't... not unpleasant, just not likely to stick in my head.
Everyone will have their own tastes, but for me, the standout was Peter Watts' "Gut Feelings"... despite the fact that I've read it already on his website (or a significant portion of it anyway, I can't remember if the whole thing was posted there or just an excerpt).
Still, a reasonably fun diversion, though I don't know how much interest it'd be outside of the city it's about.
December 29, 2025
Just found this book, 7 years after it was written and 8 years before the date when the future fiction stories in it happen. A good read for Torontians and others who know the town. Nicely illustrated by Mathew Borrett, with a full page color composition for each story.
The stories by distinguished Toronto sci-fi writers Karl Schroeder and Peter Watts were rewarding. I enjoyed Madeline Ashby's raccoon story (not really about raccoons) and Kristyn Dunnion's portrayal of rich vs. poor.
It's kind of shocking when you read these stories how current they seem. Of course, there was the same US president then as now, and the team guessed amazingly well on intervening events (although their pandemic is different from Covid).
The stories by distinguished Toronto sci-fi writers Karl Schroeder and Peter Watts were rewarding. I enjoyed Madeline Ashby's raccoon story (not really about raccoons) and Kristyn Dunnion's portrayal of rich vs. poor.
It's kind of shocking when you read these stories how current they seem. Of course, there was the same US president then as now, and the team guessed amazingly well on intervening events (although their pandemic is different from Covid).
January 7, 2020
I liked this little book. The fact that the stories reference locations or are set in neighbourhoods I'm familiar with added to my enjoyment.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews