Waubgeshig Rice
Author of Moon of the Crusted Snow
About the Author
Image credit: Photo Source: https://waub.ca/about/
Series
Works by Waubgeshig Rice
Heartbeat {short story} 1 copy
Associated Works
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (2023) — Contributor — 1,548 copies, 23 reviews
A Steady Brightness of Being: Truths, Wisdom, and Love from Celebrated Indigenous Voices (2025) — Contributor — 29 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1979-04-22
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Ryerson University (Journalism)
- Occupations
- author
journalist (CBC News) - Awards and honors
- Independent Publishers Book Award (2012)
Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling (2014) - Agent
- Denise Bukowski
- Short biography
- Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation.
He's written four books, most notably the bestselling novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, published in 2018.
He graduated from the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2002, and spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist and radio host.
He left CBC in 2020 to focus on his literary career.
His forthcoming novel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, will be published in October 2023.
In addition to his writing endeavours, Waubgeshig is an eclectic public speaker, delivering keynote addresses and workshops, engaging in interviews, and contributing to various panels at literary festivals and conferences.
He speaks on creative writing and oral storytelling, contemporary Anishinaabe culture and matters, Indigenous representation in arts and media, and more.
He lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and three sons. - Nationality
- Wasauksing First Nation
- Places of residence
- Wasauksing, Canada
Sudbury, Canada - Map Location
- Canada
Members
Reviews
Evan and his partner Nicole live on a reserve in northern Canada with their children. Their community is a tight-knit one, although there are problems like unemployment and addiction. Some of the community members have resumed living in a more traditional way, such as going out to hunt or learning about plant medicine.
When the reserve is suddenly cut off from the south, with no reception and no power while being almost snowed in, these traditional skills become more important than ever. But show more new challenges arise, especially when outsiders find their way in. As time goes by, the story becomes considerably darker and the danger grows.
In the beginning I found it a bit hard to connect to Evan and Nicole, but apart from that, I was captivated by this novel and read it straight through in two sittings. It is not only an extremely gripping and exciting read, but also a glimpse into life on a reserve and into Anishinaabe culture and history. The author weaves this together with shades of horror literature and Indigenous mythology in a skillful way.
I have already bought two more novels by Waubgeshig Rice and cannot wait to read them! show less
When the reserve is suddenly cut off from the south, with no reception and no power while being almost snowed in, these traditional skills become more important than ever. But show more new challenges arise, especially when outsiders find their way in. As time goes by, the story becomes considerably darker and the danger grows.
In the beginning I found it a bit hard to connect to Evan and Nicole, but apart from that, I was captivated by this novel and read it straight through in two sittings. It is not only an extremely gripping and exciting read, but also a glimpse into life on a reserve and into Anishinaabe culture and history. The author weaves this together with shades of horror literature and Indigenous mythology in a skillful way.
I have already bought two more novels by Waubgeshig Rice and cannot wait to read them! show less
I'm not going to give anything away about what happens in this novel. It's a fantastic book, doing much of what Leave the World Behind does, only in a different way and more effectively.
Evan lives with his wife and two children in an Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario. One morning in late autumn, they wake to find themselves without electricity and service for their cell phones or internet. This isn't unusual in a neglected and underpopulated part of the country, but it soon appears show more as though the interruption might last longer than a few days.
This is a short novel, without a wasted word or unnecessary scene. Rice creates a sense of rising tension that was highly effective and by centering the story not on the community leaders, but on the guy who drives the snowplow, there's also a sense of being in the middle of things. Highly recommended. show less
Evan lives with his wife and two children in an Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario. One morning in late autumn, they wake to find themselves without electricity and service for their cell phones or internet. This isn't unusual in a neglected and underpopulated part of the country, but it soon appears show more as though the interruption might last longer than a few days.
This is a short novel, without a wasted word or unnecessary scene. Rice creates a sense of rising tension that was highly effective and by centering the story not on the community leaders, but on the guy who drives the snowplow, there's also a sense of being in the middle of things. Highly recommended. show less
This book was quite good, but not great. For me, the characters could have been more nuanced and developed. People were good or bad; right or wrong.
The plot is not unique....an apocalypse. But it was very nicely handled. Setting the story on a remote reserve in winter gave it a twist. As did reading about people with strong communitarian values working together. And realizing that the characters had experienced several world-ending events resulting from colonization. These aspects added to show more the story immensely and made it worth reading.
The plot had two other particularly strong elements. While the ending felt a bit rushed, the issue of what happened to Evan (no spoilers here) was very deftly handled...just the right amount of suspense. And I really liked that this wasn't about why there was an apocalypse. It was about how ordinary people would react and adapt.
Worth a look. show less
The plot is not unique....an apocalypse. But it was very nicely handled. Setting the story on a remote reserve in winter gave it a twist. As did reading about people with strong communitarian values working together. And realizing that the characters had experienced several world-ending events resulting from colonization. These aspects added to show more the story immensely and made it worth reading.
The plot had two other particularly strong elements. While the ending felt a bit rushed, the issue of what happened to Evan (no spoilers here) was very deftly handled...just the right amount of suspense. And I really liked that this wasn't about why there was an apocalypse. It was about how ordinary people would react and adapt.
Worth a look. show less
On a reserve in northwestern Ontario, the power goes out. Typical, the residents think. It’s going to take a while until the power comes back, because the South looks after its own first and doesn’t give much of a thought to the North. So a weekend without power is not a hardship. But the power stays out. No word comes from the South. Then two people arrive via snowmobile and spread the news: no power is coming, and no help either. The reserve residents are on their own.
This is an show more interesting apocalypse book because it doesn’t focus on the actual cause of the end of the world; it focuses on the aftermath and the conflicts that arise as the existing way of things gradually deteriorates. There are some heartwarming scenes involving Evan’s kids as they interact with their parents and grandparents, who try to keep things as normal for them as possible. An element of menace is introduced by Justin Scott, an obnoxious survivalist white guy who tries to position himself as a “saviour” and divides the residents’ allegiances. Overall, this is a well-written book. I did find the ending a bit rushed, but satisfying.
I’d recommend this for anyone looking to explore works by Indigenous writers, and people who like their post-apocalypse light on the gore (there is hardly any). show less
This is an show more interesting apocalypse book because it doesn’t focus on the actual cause of the end of the world; it focuses on the aftermath and the conflicts that arise as the existing way of things gradually deteriorates. There are some heartwarming scenes involving Evan’s kids as they interact with their parents and grandparents, who try to keep things as normal for them as possible. An element of menace is introduced by Justin Scott, an obnoxious survivalist white guy who tries to position himself as a “saviour” and divides the residents’ allegiances. Overall, this is a well-written book. I did find the ending a bit rushed, but satisfying.
I’d recommend this for anyone looking to explore works by Indigenous writers, and people who like their post-apocalypse light on the gore (there is hardly any). show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 6
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 1,762
- Popularity
- #14,607
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 116
- ISBNs
- 31
- Languages
- 2