Brian's Winter (Hatchet Adventure)

Brilliant writer, brilliant boiok. Coiuldn't put it down. It's being passed round the rest of my family and they are all enjoying it immensely.

I read the first of this series (Hatchet) when I was 10 and loved it, now at 31 I have finally read all of the others in the series and loved them too.

My Husband really enjoyed ..

Those who read the first book Hatchet know that Brian was rescued after finding a tracking device in the downed plane, this book tells of what would have happened if Brian had not been rescuedBrian 13yrs had been stranded 54 days when he had found a survival pack in the plane, within two weeks he had eaten all the food in the survival pack, 34 more days took him through the summer, he went hunting noticing it was getting colder, the gun he had found in the plane broke and he had to revert to bow and arrow, Brian has a run in with a bear at his camp, he was bruised all over but nothing was broken, with the weather getting colder he realised he had to get ready for winter, he improved his shelter, made more arrowheads from stone, then the weather changed again and it rained for over a week, geese were migrating, he moved his fire into his shelter and a crude chimney for the smoke, he had many rabbit skins and made a warm vest, each night he would urinate around his camp to mark his territoryBrian saw a large wolf and folloewd his tracks finding his kill, it was a deer and he took it home, he had 30 pounds of meat and slept well, a while back Brian had had a run in with a skunk getting sprayed in the face, the shunk was back moving in behind his shelter, each morning he would give it meat, that night a bear attacked Brians shelter, again Brian was hit but he was rescued by the skunk who sprayed the bear in the face, Brian made a spear in case it returned, he made sleeves for his arms and went hunting, next morning snow had fallen, Brian would now have to live in his shelter, hunt, and sleep in tempetures of as low as -50, one morning his urine froze before it hit the ground, can he survive until he is rescuedMy verdict, not bad, worth a read

Excelente

I’d like to take a moment to say this book becomes canon in The Hatchet series, so at the end of the first book you need to disregard it because this one becomes canon whether Gary Paulsen said otherwise. This one is very suspenseful and interesting. Brain stays after the ending of the first book and continues on through the winter. It’s an amazing book, I highly recommend this series.

IL a été suffisamment bien écrit tout en restant simple pour être le premier livre écrit en anglais que j'ai lu de bout en bout sans m’arrêter ,certes en 2-3 jours. ( je précise ma moyenne a l'école en ang sans obtenir le bac 10/20.....) Mais j'ai voyagé et souvent lu sur le web en anglais....lancez vous sans peurs...

These books are sooo goooood! 🤩 It's really hard to find good survival stories where I actually feel, really feel the longing to be part of nature despite dangers and hardships being present in the tale in a realistic manner. One of my favorite authors, none of the books in this series is bad!

Review - The Brain Sagas by Gary PaulsenI have now finished all five of the Brian Sage books - “Hatchet,” “The River,” “Brian’s Winter,” “Brian's Return” and “The Hunt.” and the epilogue “Guts” by Gary Paulsen. “The Hatchet” is one of three Newberry Awards that Gary Paulsen has earned.Basically the series is one story. The story of an teenage boy who at age 13 is left alone in the North Woods of Canada due to a pilot’s fatal heart attack and plane wreck. The first book, “The Hatchet” tells of the guts, intelligence, patience and luck of a 13 year old boy with little wilderness experience in learning how to live and survive in a remote wilderness. We get a marvelous set of instructions in wilderness lore and living, and a glimpse into an intelligent mind that problem solves, learns and masters a strange world. At the end of this book Brian retrieves a signal radio from the submerged plane and is rescued.In “Brian’s Winter” is an alternate ending. Brian is not rescued, but manages to learn more and survive into December. We see more of Brian’s talents and abilities and new found skills. Here, Brian stumbles into a family of Cree Native Americans manning a trap line, who take him in. Brian flies out on the next supply place. The Cree family consider him like one of the “old people” for Brian is dressed in skins he has captured and his arrows have stone points he has made himself. Yes, some of the story is very fortuitous for Brian, but that does not distract from the lessons of the wilderness and the lessons of life Brian has to learn to survive.“The River” is a book with Brian returning to the North Woods with a psychologist, Derek, of the military attempting to learn how to teach survival to the military. The man is not schooled in the wilderness at all, and Brian become “the adult” in charge of the adventure. Brian sends the 200 pounds of supplies back with the plane that flew them in, and commences to recreate the world he knew in the first two books. Half the book is a terrifying trip over 100 miles, 3+ days, down a river, its rapids, lakes and swamps, with Derek unconscious on a wilderness made raft. We get a first hand look at the guts necessary to achieve this. Again, the manage to make a trapper’s cabin and are rescued.In “Brian’s Return” we see Brian not fitting back into civilization, 15 - 16 year old’s school and society. Brian has adjusted to the Wilderness, and that is the reality he much prefers. Brian takes along a few supplies an d does very well.In “The Hunt” Brian is back in the North Woods learning more woods lore and ways. By now he is nearly a expert. Brian finds an old man, Billy, in his camp one evening. Billy and Brian share a mutual evening of silent communication and while few words are exchanged, Brian gains “medicine.”’ In respect, Billy, leaving camp very early before Brian is awake, leaves a amulet of white tail deer fur and crow’s feathers for Brian. Brian recognizes the significance of this and immediately hangs it around his neck. Shortly thereafter, Brian and a wounded dog find each other. It turns out the dog belonged to the Cree Family Brian had met in “Brian’s Winter.” Unfortunately, a bear had devastated the cabin and family of the Cree family , killing two members of that family. Brian rescues the wife, buries the dead, and deals with the stoic, bureaucratic officials. Once they leave, Brian hunts and in a wonderful scene - which I will not spoil - kills the bear.“Guts” is stories from Gary Paulsen’s life, rough childhood, adventures in Minnesota, Canada, the American South West, Colorado. These episodes Gary wove into Brian’s Story - a story beautifully and touchingly told. Gary’s knowledge and actual experiences gave him the insight to write the Brian Saga. Not only is the woods lore appropriately, accurately and well handled, but the changes that the North Woods induces in Brian are well followed. The books are at once a deep lesson in both survival and in life. We learn much about wilderness living. But we also are treated to the contrasts of life in the city and in the Wilderness.Due a few violent scenes, this series should not be read by youth under 13 or so. Death is a part of life, and life is an endless living with what is there. It takes “guts”, perseverance, and patience, to achieve what Brian achieved, and that is the real message of these books. Life takes Real Guts,lots of perseverance, and lots of patience.The books read very well. The stories are well told. The reading level is at least 8th grade. And for those with an interest in Nature and the Wilderness, be it North Woods, SW desert or ocean, the lessons apply. I found the reading to be extremely enjoyable, and the lessons deep and well taught without being preachy. A great series of books.