Moon of the Turning Leaves

a novel by Waubgeshig Rice

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 AURORA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

THE HOTLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW

WHEN THE WORLD GOES DARK, HOW WILL YOU SURVIVE?

“Twelve years after the power went out worldwide (in 2018’s Moon of the Crusted Snow), the Anishinaabe people of Shki-dnakiiwin (“New village”) discover problems with their homestead in Rice’s equally harrowing and hopeful sequel. Hoping to return to their ancestral home on the northern shore of Lake Huron, a party of six sets out to test whether it would be possible for the community to emigrate safely southward. Led by Evan Whitesky, the village founder, they follow in the footsteps of a similar mission, the members of which mysteriously went missing four years prior. Better armed and more cautious than their predecessors, the group navigates abandoned urban landscapes and a barren countryside hosting both friendly and hostile parties. Rice puts a refreshing, Indigenous perspective on postapocalyptic tropes, folding in both nostalgia for a world fading away (“I haven’t had a pizza in thirteen years. That’s the first thing on my list!” muses one member of the scouting party) and hope for a different future from a people who have survived similar harsh conditions in the past. The humanity and heart on offer here make this a showstopper.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“There’s a kindness, a gentleness, and a deep respect at the heart of the culture Rice portrays, and it stands in refreshing contrast to the usual violence and cynicism of most dystopian fiction. Rice’s evocation of the countryside is gorgeous and immersive; the land becomes an essential character in its own right. This is a pastoral travel tale of much grander scope than its predecessor and a powerful, remarkable follow-up.” —Booklist (starred review)

"Rice renders an achingly realistic portrayal of a broken, post-apocalyptic world that still manages to contain hope and beauty. While this story can be read as a stand-alone, readers will likely want to seek out Moon of the Crusted Snow, which is set at the beginning of the blackout.” —Library Journal (starred review)

"An epic journey into the future, powerfully haunting." —SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA, bestselling author of Mexican Gothic

“Waubgeshig Rice's stories are good medicine. Moon of the Turning Leaves is a restorative balm for my spirit.” —ANGELINE BOULLEY, New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed

“[Moon of the Turning Leaves] is by turns beautiful and inspiring and bleak and violent. In other words, the perfect dystopian read. Let's hope Waubgeshig Rice doesn't make us wait too long for the next visit to this captivating world.” —ALMA KATSU, author of The Fervor and The Hunger

"The world-building is top-notch in Moon of the Turning Leaves, painstakingly creating not only Evan Whitesky’s quest to find a safe home for his people, but the careful way a community-focused culture would deal with the many disasters inherent in the end of the world.  Tense, atmospheric, and ultimately hopeful, Rice masterfully delivers an unsettling, page-turning sequel." —EDEN ROBINSON, award-winning author of Monkey Beach and Son of a Trickster

"If you've ever wondered how the Anishinaabe way would fare after the Great Collapse, this is the novel for you. Fans of McCarthy's The Road and Kirkman's The Walking Dead will feel right at home here with the intrigue, the dread and the hope. What a magnificent read. Mahsi cho, Waubgeshig Rice. Bravo!" —RICHARD VAN CAMP, author of The Lesser Blessed and Godless but Loyal to Heaven

Twelve years have passed since a widespread blackout triggered the rapid collapse of society, when the constants of the old world—cell service, landlines, satellite and internet—disappeared. Twelve long years since the steady supply of food and fuel from the south became a thing of the past.

The sudden end of the world as everybody knew it, and the horrors of that first winter since everything became dark, only steeled the resolve of Evan Whitesky and the other members of the Anishinaabe community to survive on their own terms. Because the world wasn't ending, as the community elders reminded them. It had already ended with the original displacement of their people to the far north by colonial authorities. They have seen this “apocalypse” before. They’ve seen it—lived it—over and over. But they had always survived. And they will survive this too.

Now, years after the power went out, the community has reconnected with its Anishinaabe customs based on living on the land. Empowered and stronger than ever, Evan, his teenage daughter Nangohns, and a small team of resourceful community members have resolved to venture south on a four-month-long exploratory mission to their ancestral homelands on Georgian Bay and to discover the cause of the mysterious catastrophe that had plunged the world into darkness.

On their journey they will encounter settlements born from the ashes of what was once Canadian civilization—some ruled by order and others by chaos, vigilantes, and terrible violence. But whatever the challenges Evan, Nangohns, and their colleagues face, hope continues to drive them forward, leading them ultimately to an astounding discovery at destination’s end.

(Photo: Shilo Adamson)

ABOUT WAUBGESHIG RICE

Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist originally from Wasauksing First Nation. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community, and won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2012. His debut novel, Legacy, followed in 2014 and was published in French in 2017. His latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was released in October 2018.

Waub got his first taste of journalism in 1996 as an exchange student in Germany, writing articles about being an Anishinaabe teen in a foreign country for newspapers back in Canada. He graduated from Ryerson University’s journalism program in 2002. He's worked in a variety of news media since, reporting for CBC News for the bulk of his career. In 2014, he received the Anishinabek Nation's Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling. He is best known as the host of Up North, CBC Radio's afternoon show for northern Ontario.

Join an upcoming virtual discussion with Waubgesig Rice, hosted by Author Voices, on November 12. Click here to register.

Waubgeshig Rice and his two latest creations, his baby Odjig and his novel Moon of the Turning Leaves

Waub at the 2023 Giller Prize gala

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304 pages
Finished book now available

RIGHTS SOLD
US: William Morrow (February 27, 2024)
Canada: Random House (October 10, 2023)
Germany: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach (March 14, 2024)
French Canada: Éditions Prise de parole (Fall 2025)

PRAISE FOR MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW

“The rising literary star has created an unsettling story about a snowbound northern Anishinaabe community, where a postapocalyptic reality—no power, dwindling food, chaos—slowly creeps its way through the band. A young man, Evan Whitesky, seeks to restore hope and order to his community by turning to the land—to Anishinaabe tradition. A stellar Indigenous thriller.”—THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“The creeping tension and vividly drawn landscapes make Waubgeshig Rice’s characters’ choices all the more real.”—TORONTO STAR

“Rice seamlessly injects Anishinaabe language into the dialogue and creates a beautiful rendering of the natural world… 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.” —BOOKLIST

Moon of the Turning Leaves and Moon of the Crusted Snow are #9 and #10 on the CBC August 10-17 bestseller list for fiction