I love stories of resilience, survival, and community support. I also love claustrophobic stories where disaster occurs largely off-screen and characters need to deal with this major but not fully defined disaster.

Moon of the Crusted Snow is a gorgeously written novel following a modern anishnaabe community living in northern Canada. When an ill-defined disaster strikes, not only do the power and communication grids down but supplies of fuel and food from the south stop coming. The community is left to fend for themselves at the start of what will be a long winter. And then, a stranger comes to town...

Other than that, this is somewhat of a "nothing happens" book, where the main plot is predictable. This however works amazingly, since we get to focus on the intricacies of the culture and the community. As such, this familiar premise serves as an excellent backdrop for exploring tensions between modernity and tradition as well as themes of isolationism and the alpha-male type of survivalism seen in post apocalyptic settings.

Highly recommended but especially if you are interested in anishnaabe culture and enjoy "soft post-apocalypse" fiction that emphasizes humanity and explores the cost (and reward) of survival. I'll be looking forward to the sequel.