History Literature / BriansSaga

A [[ShownTheirWork well-researched]] story of the KidsWildernessEpic genre written by Creator/GaryPaulsen. The first book, ''Hatchet'', was written in 1987 and is the [[FirstInstallmentWins probably the best known]] of the series. ''Hatchet'' won a [[UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal Newbery Honor]] and was made into a TV Movie in 1990 called ''[[Film/WhiteWolves A Cry in the Wild']]'.

* [[{{DogFoodDiet}} Wolf Food Diet]]: Brian scavenges the uneaten bits of deer that some wolves left behind.

* AlternateTimeline: ''Brian's Winter'', ''Brian's Return'' and ''Brian's Hunt''.

''Brian's Return'' (1999) deals with Brian's difficulty in adjusting to life back in civilization, as he realizes that his true home is the wilderness. He returns to the north woods, ostensibly to visit the Smalls, the family he met at the end of ''Brian's Winter'', but with the intention of taking the scenic route...

''Brian's Winter'' (1996) is an AlternateContinuity that doesn't lead to Brian getting rescued at the end of ''Hatchet''. Because ''Hatchet'' had Brian rescued within a few months, all of them taking place during the summer, ''Brian's Winter'' covers what Brian would have to do to survive if he was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stranded in the wilderness for the winter]].

''Brian's Return'' (1999) deals with Brian's difficulty in adjusting to life back in civilization. He returns to the north woods, ostensibly to visit the Smalls, the family he met at the end of ''Brian's Winter'', but with the intention of taking the long way there...

* AnAxeToGrind: Brian uses his hatchet as a tool 90% of the time, but in the other 10% he throws it at a porcupine. The first time he did this, he accidentally discovered how to make fire: there's bits of flint embedded in the wall of his shelter, and striking that with his steel hatchet...hmm.

A [[ShownTheirWork well-researched]] story of the KidsWildernessEpic genre written by Creator/GaryPaulsen. The first book, ''Hatchet'', was written in 1987 and is the [[FirstInstallmentWins probably the best known]] of the series. ''Hatchet'' won a [[UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal Newbery Honor]] and was made into a TV Movie in 1990 called ''A Cry in the Wild''.

''The River'' (1991) has the government send a researcher into the wilderness with Brian to study the techniques he used to survive. The researcher ends up comatose after being struck by lightning(which also wrecks their radio), and Brian has to struggle to bring him down a river to get back to civilization.

* AnAxeToGrind: Brian uses his hatchet as a tool 90% of the time, but in the other 10% he throws it at porcupine. The first time he did this, he accidentally discovered how to make fire: there's bits of flint embedded in the wall of his shelter, and striking that with his steel hatchet...hmm.

* JustPlaneWrong: The single-engine bush plane Brian crashes in is described as a Cessna 406. A plane by that name [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims-Cessna_F406_Caravan_II does exist]], but it has two engines and is not a bush plane.

* DistressCall: Brian gets on the radio after the pilot dies and calls for help. Unfortunately, being a 13-year-old flying for the first time, he [[RealityEnsues has no idea how to report his position and heading to the guy who answers, and nothing productive comes of this despite the other person trying to help.]] Later in the book, Brian salvages the airplane's emergency radio from the wreckage and turns it on, but discards it after he can't figure out how to use it. [[spoiler:It's an Emergency Location Transmitter, and another plane quickly homes in on the signal and reports it.]]

A [[ShownTheirWork well-researched]] story of the KidsWildernessEpic genre written by Gary Paulsen. The first book, ''Hatchet'', was written in 1987 and is the [[FirstInstallmentWins probably the best known]] of the series. ''Hatchet'' won a [[UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal Newbery Honor]] and was made into a TV Movie in 1990 called ''A Cry in the Wild''.

* HarmfulToMinors: In the ''Brian's Winter'' chronology, Brian's time in the woods (a much longer time than in the original ''Hatchet'') eventually makes him unable to live with the rest of society.

* HarmfulToMinors: Brian's time in the woods eventually makes him unable to live with the rest of society.

''Hatchet'', the first novel, centers around a 13-year-old boy named Brian. His parents are divorced and live far apart, and the novel opens up with Brian riding on a small plane to go live with his father for the summer. [[ChekhovsGun His mother gives him a hatchet]] as a gift before he leaves to visit his father, but frankly he thinks it's kind of a crappy present. On the way there, the pilot has a heart attack and Brian ends up taking control of the plane until he can crash land in a lake. The rest of the book deals with Brian's struggles to survive in the Canadian wilderness.

''Brian's Winter'' is an AlternateContinuity that doesn't lead to Brian getting rescued at the end of ''Hatchet''. Because ''Hatchet'' had Brian rescued within a few months, all of them taking place during the summer, ''Brian's Winter'' covers what Brian would have to do to survive if he was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stranded in the wilderness for the winter]].

''The River'' has the government send a researcher into the wilderness with Brian to study the techniques he used to survive. The researcher ends up comatose after being struck by lightning(which also wrecks their radio), and Brian has to struggle to bring him down a river to get back to civilization.

''Brian's Return'' deals with Brian's difficulty in adjusting to life back in civilization. He returns to the north woods, ostensibly to visit the Smalls, the family he met at the end of ''Brian's Winter'', but with the intention of taking the long way there...

''Brian's Hunt'' is the final novel, which opens with Brian finding out that a bear has killed a group of people who were important to him. He goes on a hunt to bring the bear to justice.

''Hatchet'', the first novel centers around a 13 year old boy named Brian. His parents are divorced and live far apart, and the novel opens up with Brian riding on a small plane to go live with his father for the summer. [[ChekhovsGun His mother gives him a hatchet]] as a gift before he leaves to visit his father, but frankly he thinks it's kind of a crappy present. On the way there, the pilot has a heart attack and Brian ends up taking control of the plane until he can crash land in a lake. The rest of the book deals with Brian's struggles to survive in the Canadian wilderness.

''Brian's Winter'' is an alternate continuity that doesn't lead to Brian getting rescued at the end of ''Hatchet''. Because ''Hatchet'' had Brian rescued within a few months, all of them taking place during the summer, ''Brian's Winter'' covers what Brian would have to do to survive if he was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stranded in the wilderness for the winter]].

* DistressCall: Brian gets on the radio after the pilot dies and calls for help. Unfortunately, being a 13 year old flying for the first time, he [[RealityEnsues has no idea how to report his position and heading to the guy who answers, and nothing productive comes of this despite the other person trying to help.]] Later in the book, Brian salvages the airplane's emergency radio from the wreckage and turns it on, but discards it after he can't figure out how to use it. [[spoiler:It's an Emergency Location Transmitter, and another plane quickly homes in on the signal and reports it.]]

* ForeignQueasine: Initially Brian is {{Squick}}ed out at the prospect of eating raw turtle eggs, but he grows to enjoy it. Similarly in ''River'', the man Brian takes into the woods has a similar reaction when Brian suggests finding stumps and digging them open to eat the grubs inside, despite the fact he was fine with snakes.

* HollywoodHeartAttack: [[MemeticMutation He's having chest pains!]] To be fair, the pilot having the heart attack also seems to have the lesser-known symptom of feeling like he's about to have an intense bout of diarrhea, and the chest pains only show up when the event suddenly worsens.

* TooDumbToLive: Understandably, Brian makes a lot of costly mistakes in the Canadian wilderness, but the worst is when he decides to kick a bear that's been eating some rabbit remains in his camp. He kicks. A bear.

* TooDumbToLive: Understandably, Brian makes a lot of costly mistakes in the Canadian wilderness, but the worst is when he decides to kick a bear that's been eating some rabbit remains in his camp. [[WhatAnIdiot He kicks. A bear]].
* [[UnreliableNarrator Uninformed Narration]]: Being that the book is from Brian's perspective, he doesn't know the names of all the animals he encounters, so the narration labels them in broad terms. The end of the book lays out what individual species were actually present, and ends on an unexpectedly funny note with, "[[ShapedLikeItself and the moose was a moose.]]"

A [[ShownTheirWork well-researched]] story of the KidsWildernessEpic genre written by Gary Paulsen. The first book, ''Hatchet'', was written in 1987 and is the [[FirstInstallmentWins probably the best known]] of the series. ''Hatchet'' won a [[NewberyMedal Newbery Honor]] and was made into a TV Movie in 1990 called ''A Cry in the Wild''.

* DistressCall: Brian gets on the radio after the pilot dies and calls for help. Unfortunately, being a 13 year old flying for the first time, he [[RealityEnsues has no idea how to report his position and heading to the guy who answers, and nothing productive comes of this despite the other person trying to help.]] Later in the book, Brian salvages the airplane's emergency radio from the wreckage and turns it on, but discards it after he can't figure out how to use it. [[spoiler: It's an Emergency Location Transmitter, and another plane quickly homes in on the signal and reports it.]]

* SuperPersistentPredator: In ''Brian's Hunt'' a bear kills the family that [[spoiler: rescues Brian in ''Brian's Winter'']], and Brian vows to hunt the bear down and kill it. Later on, when studying the bear's tracks, he realizes that the bear is also stalking ''him''.

* DisposablePilot: The plot of ''Hatchet'' is kicked off by the death of a pilot.