Empire of Wild is inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou – a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities. A messed-up, grown-up Little Red Riding Hood, Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, ever since he went missing. One terrible, hungover morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher named Eugene Wolff. As she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice. She turns, and there is Victor. The same face, the same eyes, the same hands. But his hair is short and he’s wearing a suit and he doesn’t recognize her at all. No, he insists, she’s the one suffering a delusion: he’s the Reverend Wolff and his only mission is to bring his people to Jesus. Except that, as Joan soon discovers, that’s not all the enigmatic Wolff is doing.

Just when you think you have nothing to lose, they come for your dreams. Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden – but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.

DIVE DEEPER

Profiles

• “The Marrow Thieves author Cherie Dimaline remains true to her role as a Métis “storykeeper” amid international acclaim” — Quill & Quire

Interviews

• “How Cherie Dimaline found hope in a dystopian future” — CBC.ca

Videos

• “Cherie Dimaline says the power in naming and defining success is cultural” — The Walrus