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  • Moon of the Crusted Snow

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Waubgeshig Rice
  • Narrated by: Billy Merasty
  • Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (385 ratings)

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Moon of the Crusted Snow

Written by: Waubgeshig Rice
Narrated by: Billy Merasty
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Publisher's Summary

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. 

©2018 Waubgeshig Rice (P)2018 ECW Press

What the critics say

“Perfect for those who read Iain Reid’s Foe this summer and are looking for something in the same vein.” (The Globe and Mail)

“The creeping tension and vividly drawn landscapes make Waubgeshig Rice’s characters’ choices all the more real.” (Toronto Star

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." (Eden Robinson, award-winning author of Monkey Beach and Son of a Trickster)

Go Behind the Scenes of Moon of the Crusted Snow

''What I hope people take away from Moon of the Crusted Snow is that there is hope,'' author Waubgeshig Rice shared with Audible in a conversation held at the 2019 Festival of Literary Diversity in Brampton, Ontario. ''Despite all the darkness that we endure even in modern society, there are things to be hopeful for.''
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What listeners say about Moon of the Crusted Snow

Average Customer Ratings
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Enjoyable for ALL Canadians

As a Cree from Northern Saskatchewan I knew almost every character he described making it hit close to home. It's nice to have Waub Rice and now many other Indigenous authors out there to choose from; their perspective is much needed in the literary world. Nitiniki (from my heart).

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6 people found this helpful

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Hoping for a sequel

I really enjoyed this novel. It is an interesting peek into a community very different from my own, and yet similar in many ways as well. I appreciated the epilogue, but I still want more and hope for a sequel in future.

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4 people found this helpful

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Outstanding!

Loved this story. Enjoyed learning a First Nations perspective on surviving their second apocalypse.The first happened when white men arrived. Narrator was excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

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Highly recommended

I enjoyed this novel. it is rooted in indigenous storytelling with deeper meaning and understanding

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Genuinely enjoyed this, inspiring

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Having worked in and around First Nations for decades I can admit to holding a hopeful curiosity for how these communities would react under a scenario like this.
This book brought me so close to this community that I am now seriously considering booking a week or two on a First Nations Territory up in Northerm Ontario to learn and use my trade skills to help my friend build something on his land there.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Realistic apocalyptic scenario from a First Nation point of view

I am not much of a reader of fiction. I decided to try this novel because of the apocalyptic premise and the native view. The concept intrigued me. The realism of the prose helped me immerse myself in the lives of the characters. The slow methodical rhythm of the narrator was spot on. I’ve just downloaded the sequel.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Was expecting a lot more, especially for a credit.

Was a good first book for this author, and their future projects I’m sure will improve, felt the story was fairly tame and predictable, my opinion is it wasn’t worth the price of a credit. Author does an excellent job in describing moods and surroundings.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Dark Revelation

This is a story told well about the drive a perseverance of a community at the point of societies end. It also tells of warnings and cautions against underpreparedness of winter.
I enjoyed it very much.

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Very good

I love it when I find a book that makes my commute something to look forward to

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A riveting story!

This is a great story that weaves together Anishinabae culture, settler colonialism, and the strength of the Indigenous spirit! Miigwech Waubgeshig!

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  • Malia
  • 2019-04-23

Really great book!!!

I heard about this book while listening to CBC. Radio, and wanted to read it as soon as I noticed it was on Audible. I don’t read a lot of post-apocalypse books but I knew I wanted to read this one because it was about Northern Ontario where I used to live. The narrator is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that many others will want to read it and learn more about the Anishinaabe people, and what it is like to live in North Western Ontario Canada.

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10 people found this helpful

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2021-02-09

Not for me

If it weren't for the swearing, I would have thought this was a children's book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Jessi McCain Owzarski
  • 2019-12-15

excellent

This was a hopeful story with superb naration. I really enjoyed the journey and the detail.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Cameron Catanzano
  • 2022-04-09

Started off strong, but I wasn’t satisfied with the last half. 3.5.

The world building and set up gripped me from the first pages. I loved the context and their perspective. As a whole, the book has a lot to say to the “apocalypse” genre. The events of the book is certainly devastating, but their relationship with the world that was lost is far more complicated than someone living in Toronto. For an incredibly short read, this premise is worth picking the book up.

However, the strong beginning and gripping premise aren’t enough for a 4 of 5 stars. At the end of the day, I just found the last half of this book to be a bit rushed and the antagonist a bit out of place.

First half of this book was a slow burn and I was in it, but after a certain point, the story begins making time jumps later and later into winter. If the book was longer, I think they could have developed the middle and end much letter. Particularly, I felt there was a need to flush out the antagonist. Otherwise, he just felt a little rushed and a bit flat.

Performance, on the other hand, was an easy 5/5. I was completely engaged. Zero complaints.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • LegoBlocksAreFun
  • 2021-12-06

it was... okay?

helped pass the time...

the story was very predictable, even the "emergency food" in the end and as always "the white man" comes "in peace" and shows himself to be capable and even supportive and defensive of the native people that adopt him, only to do what "all white people do all the time, especially in winter", and it just got boring.

the characters are not that interesting on their own nor are their relationships with each other all that interesting either. this story read less like that of an excitement filled survival at the end of the world during winter time story and felt more like I was reading the Wednesday news stories... and not even page 1 or 2! more like the middle or backpacks, like the stories were trying to be kept hidden.

the voice although I'm assuming is authentic to the story being read aloud, was basically a flat monotone voice regardless of what excitement ir anger or joy was being shared by the characters within the story.

I was disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 2023-12-01

Slow Burn

Overall I thought this book was great. It was a slow burn, but it never felt boring. I Enjoyed hearing a post-apocalyptic story from an indigenous perspective.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Sam Robbins
  • 2023-10-31

I loved this book

The mystery, the tension, the characters! I thoroughly enjoyed the perspective this story was told from. I was looking for something similar to 'the only good indians' and this was a perfect follow up. I highly recommend this book for people who are into horror, suspense, or psychological thrillers. The performance was excellent as well!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Cassie Hanson
  • 2023-07-10

Amazing!

Fantastic novel that blends the post-apocalyptic paranoia so often present in modern fiction with the trauma, struggles, and world understanding of a small First Nations community. It’s incredibly executed with wonderful character writing; I couldn’t put it down. Having it read by an indigenous person was also a unique delight. I heard there may be a sequel coming out and I’m really excited to read it!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Maureen Avant
  • 2023-07-05

It was okay

The story was very slow. The performance was perfect but the story was just boring in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • threewithglee
  • 2023-01-27

Moon of the Crusted Snow is Great

I enjoyed this suspenseful story as it unfolded. Is it a simple power outage or a life altering power black out? I loved the story and having the insight of northern Ontario Reservation life. I really enjoyed the elders take on this life changing situation. The narrator was great too with all the languages. Really a Great Story.

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