Book of the Week: Moon of the Crusted Snow
For this week’s Book of the Week we have a book that first came out in 2018, with its sequel just released last year. Call it an anti-dystopia?
Written by Anishinaabe/Canadian author Waubgeshig Rice and published by Canadian indie publisher ECW Press, Moon of the Crusted Snow tells the story of a small northern Anishinaabe community and its people when the world goes dark…
But in the way an anti-hero is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, this “anti-dystopia,” while clearly dystopic in theme and genre, proceeds in a way… and with a tone?… that is not traditionally dystopic.
As described on the author’s website, “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.”
The sequel Moon of the Turning Leaves was published by Random House Canada last year and continues these themes and stories, picking up twelve years after the events of Moon of the Crusted Snow.
Get them both, and if you can, set aside time to read them both because I know I didn’t put them down.
And to top it all off, Waub is a delight. I had a chance to interview him as part of an author’s event at Audreys Books last Halloween and he was great to talk with. The optimism in these two novels is very much a reflection of his own outlook on life.
Happy Reading!
– Winston
Pick up a copy at your local indie bookseller!
