“The creeping tension and vividly drawn landscapes make Waubgeshig Rice’s characters’ choices all the more real.”
— Toronto Star
“All the ingredients that went into this novel are that much more fresh, and make the narrative so rich, because of the way Rice has succeeded in putting them all together.”
— CBC Books
“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 Crusted Snow sets itself apart — an apocalypse novel in reverse.”
— Globe and Mail
“This is my go-to pick for the year . . . it’s such a great book . . . it's really got this great balance that makes it a go-to gift this season . . . really good, amazing storytelling.”
— Jael Richardson on CBC q
“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
“The novel itself is a kind of dream, an aesthetic arrangement of what the world might be. In its circuitous blend of past and future, the shackles of both modernity and colonialism are broken by some unseen force, leaving a chance to think about how healing might begin.”
— Literary Review of Canada
“Moon of the Crusted Snow will fill you with a sense of foreboding as the story builds to a terrifying climax. Curl up in a blanket and hunker down with this wintry tale of suspense and survival.”
— Richmond News
“Moon of the Crusted Snow is a breathtaking, quiet thriller that shouldn’t be missed.”
— Seattle Book Review
“This slow-burning thriller is also a powerful story of survival and will leave readers breathless.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Akin to Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves or Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, this book speculates a catastrophic, changing world while telling a riveting story that is as potent as anything in modern fiction. Rice gives us fully lived in, authentic characters that demand our attention and empathy. Because of that, there is hope in this long and bleak winter, and a surging power at the heart of this book that cannot be smothered.”
— Kevin Hardcastle, author of In the Cage and Debris
We’ve been waiting for this story. It irresistibly turns our gaze toward something we already knew, but couldn’t quite make ourselves see. The result is intense, thrilling and vivid as the darkest dreams—much like the old Anishinaabeg stories told by the Elders. As one revelation follows another, we come face to face with the mystery and responsibility of being human.”
— Warren Cariou, Director, University of Manitoba Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture