A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
Reviews-
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September 24, 2018
Fall is just about to turn into winter when cell service goes out in a Anishinaabe community in Rice’s chilling post-apocalyptic novel (following Legacy). The novel centers on Evan Whitesky, a young father to two children living on a reservation in northern Canada who is attempting to relearn and maintain the traditional ways in a world where society has collapsed and electricity, cell phones, land lines, and satellites have all disappeared. In the absence of all the things that make the long, harsh winters of northern Canada easier, the community has to band together to ensure its survival, doling out canned provisions and trying to ensure running water and heat for everyone for as long as possible. When a man arrives seeking refuge from the chaos in the south, Evan and his community allow him to stay in spite of their misgivings. As the winter progresses and hunger sets in, hostility rises and small-town power struggles become a life-or-death affair. This slow-burning thriller is also a powerful story of survival and will leave readers breathless. -
Cree actor Billy Merasty lends an authentic voice to Anishinaabe writer Rice's apocalyptic novel, set on a reserve in northern Ontario. The story is told through the eyes of Evan Whitesky. While many of his neighbors have become accustomed to the fixtures of contemporary life--Internet access, cell phone service, food trucked in every few weeks--Whitesky and his family have tried to maintain traditional ways. Suddenly and mysteriously cut off from the power grid, the community must come together to survive. Merasty's cadence, which sounds like that of Indigenous storytellers, allows the novel to unfold at a deliberate pace that is well suited to Rice's rich descriptions of Anishinaabe culture and history. There are a few mispronunciations of English names; nonetheless, this is a memorable listening experience. S.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
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August 1, 2018
Power outages are a normal occurrence on the reservation of an Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario, but an unusually extended lack of outside communications or food deliveries causes fear and panic among the residents. Evan Whitesky, a young husband and father, helps fortify the town for the looming winter by looking to the old ways of their tribe: hunting, communal support, and offerings to the spirits. Rice's sophomore effort (after Legacy, 2014) is an atmospheric drama that includes some standard apocalyptic tropes?like the loss of contact and the threat of outsiders?but it's the cohesion of community among this indigenous culture and the positive influences of family and tradition that shine in the story. Rice seamlessly injects Anishinaabe ?language into the dialogue and creates a beautiful rendering of the natural world. Although more deliberate than most end-of-the-world thrillers, the story builds in tension and violence as the days get colder and the supplies dwindle. This title will appeal to fans of literary science fiction akin to Cormac McCarthy as well as to readers looking for a fresh voice in indigenous fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.) - Eden Robinson, award winning author of Monkey Beach and Son of a Trickster "Moon of the Crusted Snow asks how do we live in a good way during the collapse of the infrastructure that supports modern life? For Evan Whitesky, the answer lies in rekindling Ojibwe, the old ways, language and culture. For other characters, when the food runs out, all options are on the table, no matter how gruesome. As the tensions between those surviving the end of modern civilization build to a harrowing conclusion, Rice deftly weaves tender family moments with his brutal survival scenes in the unforgiving northern Ontario winter. Chilling in the best way possible."
