Moon of the Turning Leaves

a novel by Waubgeshig Rice

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A FINALIST FOR THE 2024 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR SCIENCE FICTION

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?

"The attention to the material culture of the future Anishinaabe people is particular and impressive. . . yields an immersive power." — Wall Street Journal

"In Rice’s harrowing sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow, set 12 years after a global power outage, the Anishinaabe people who settled in New Village are forced to relocate, trekking through a dystopian landscape in hope of finding a new home. Rice chronicles their journey in gorgeous prose, placing plenty of postapocalyptic horrors in their path but never losing sight of hope." — Publishers Weekly, Best Books of the Year

“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 puts a refreshing, Indigenous perspective on postapocalyptic tropes. . . The humanity and heart on offer here make this a showstopper." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[Moon of the Turning Leaves] is gripping, to say the least, and it’s a haunting read that’ll linger in the recesses of your mind for quite some time.” — Book Riot

"Brilliant.” — Strange Horizons

"What will endure for me from this novel aren’t its villains; instead, it’s the work of its heroes, working to preserve their own traditions and each other in the face of a world that’s much harsher than they ever expected." — Reactor magazine

"An epic journey into the future, powerfully haunting." — SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA, New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

“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

“Rice quite brilliantly weaves this sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow such that the ongoing journey of those wonderfully drawn characters carries on seamlessly. Moon of the Turning Leaves stands on its own while simultaneously carrying the heart of the original story. Suspenseful and gripping, the great anticipation for this next installment is borne out by this artful storytelling.” — MICHELLE GOOD, award-winning author of Five Little Indians and Truth Telling

“[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

"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 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 Loyal to Heaven

"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, author of Return of the Trickster

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.

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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)
France: Plon (September 2026)

(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.

Moon of the Turning Leaves is #9 on the Quill and Quire Top-Selling Canadian titles list for 2024

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

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

“Rice has created not only a compulsive narrative but, perhaps more significantly, a compelling world, rooted in both the traditions of the Anishinaabe and the ashes of late-stage capitalism. It’s a powerful, tour de force accomplishment that will leave readers hoping for a third book.” —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

Waub at the 2023 Giller Prize gala