Moon of the Turning Leaves

A Novel

By: Waubgeshig Rice

Narrated by: Billy Merasty

“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

In this gripping stand-alone literary thriller set in the world of the award-winning post-apocalyptic novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, a scouting party led by Evan Whitesky ventures into unknown and dangerous territory to find a new home for their close-knit Northern Ontario Indigenous community more than a decade after a world-ending blackout.

For the past twelve years, a community of Anishinaabe people have made the Northern Ontario bush their home in the wake of the power failure that brought about societal collapse. Since then they have survived and thrived the way their ancestors once did, but their natural food resources are dwindling, and the time has come to find a new home.

Evan Whitesky volunteers to lead a mission south to explore the possibility of moving back to their original homeland, the “land where the birch trees grow by the big water” in the Great Lakes region. Accompanied by five others, including his daughter Nangohns, an expert archer, Evan begins a journey that will take him to where the Anishinaabe were once settled, near the devastated city of Gibson, a land now being reclaimed by nature.

But it isn’t just the wilderness that poses a threat: they encounter other survivors. Those who, like the Anishinaabe, live in harmony with the land, and those who use violence.

Slow-Burn

This is one of my most anticipated novels but I feel like it didn’t deliver my lofty expectations I had from the first book. The slow-burn I didn’t care for in the first book really lasted far too long in the sequel and had me putting down the book a few times for a couple weeks. I wish we learned more about the other characters on the journey south like Tyler, Amber, and J.C. Although I am disappointed i was happy to learn about Anishinaabe cultures and traditions and hope Rice continues to write.

Uplifting Anishinaabeg Story of the Ongoing.

It’s beautiful to read about how the cultural strengths of the Anishinaabeg provide a framework for creating a good life after massive devastation.

The respect given to the tribe people and the respect given to the mother Earth.

Moon of the turning leaves was an excellent book 2 of the series. I hope and pray that the author continues to write stories of his people and other tribes trials and tribulations.

A Walking Sim in Post Apocolyse World

More adventure than thriller—the second entry of the Moon duology picks up over a decade after book 1. If you like games like Death Stranding you’ll like this contemplative travel novel—interrogating questions of family, duty, and finding one’s place in community.

wonderful sequel

I've been looking forward to a sequel since I was halfway through moon of the crusted snow. I didn't know what to expect going into the story, but it was more than I could have hoped for. The further character development was amazing, and the story was so engaging that I sometimes was nervous to hear what would happen next when the scene was tense, and I did cry a bit at the ending.