"A real page turner. I couldn't wait to see what was around the next
bend in the trail as I raced through this delightful read. An instant
classic about Canada's North as experienced by two plucky southerners."
-- David Pettigrew, filmmaker, adventurer and sourdough
"A fantastic read and very difficult to put down at times. A fascinating
insight into one couple's dream to live in the simple and harsh life of
winter in a trappers cabin." -- Kevin Gray, UK
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"True Love and Pure Fright!", December 4, 2008
"Nine Dog Winter" by Bruce Batchelor
On the way to the grocery store I caught up with a man with a
shaggy mutt on a leash. He nodded & I said, "Good morning" to him
and "Hi Dog" to his multi, ½-Shepard/½- Something else. The man said,
"His name is Rags."
I said, "I just finished a book about him", pointing to Rags. "It
was called "Nine Dog Winter", about a couple who went up to the Yukon,
acquired 9 dogs that nobody else wanted bad enough to keep and just had
a great time at 45 below zero, teaching them to be a team. They made
all their own stuff, sleds, beds, harnesses, mittens, tools, heaters,
boilers & freight toboggans "
I told him about Batchelor's talent for bringing the Yukon River
country between Whitehorse and Dawson City to life, my life: "The moon
illuminated the river valley with blue light, making the scene glow
with a romantic, gentle softness, the patches of snow and angled ice
reflected the brilliance in an iridescent array of colour, the hues of
the evergreens and the metallic sheen on the basalt cliffs, all of it a
magical tableau."
Adventure? That too, a murder, a dangerous river ice breakup,
"Tyhee" and "Casey" get torn up by a Grizzly (they live). Plenty of
excitement to keep you turning pages instead of putting the book down.
In Chapter One there's plenty of reference to the man's Heater,
who by Chapter 45 turns out to be accepted by the happy reader as the
man's Love. The book is bursting with love. People with each other.
People with dogs. Dogs with people. Everybody with the outdoors. And,
you and me with "Nine Dog Winter".
Batchelor is a yarn-spinner and a poet, a Gentle Man who can dish
it out and take it. I enjoyed, very much, being with him and his
lovely, tough lady. And, of course, the other nine.
-- review by J. Gunn, Morro Bay, CA
"
Wonderful ride through the frozen tundra (from your warm cozy chair)
Enjoy the vicarious (thankfully) thrill of a motley crew of sled dogs
and a romping real life adventure surviving (and thriving) in the
frozen Yukon."
-- author Martha Goguen
"Nine Dog Winter" is the story of a young man and a young woman who, at
the start of the eighties, decide to strike out into the Yukon in the
old school way with a sled of dogs. Their adventures are a thrilling
tale, sure to please readers and with much information on modern dog
sledding. A blend of technical info, human interest story, and canine
love, "Nine Dog Winter" is a solid recommendation for any True
Adventure collection. -- Midwest Book Review
I LOVED reading it. Bruce has a rare gift among writers: he writes like
he speaks. His "voice" comes through his literary voice as if he was
sitting telling you these amusing incidents while you share a hot cocoa
by the fireside of a winter evening. You can almost "hear" his voice
rising in excitment at the dangers and pausing dramatically before
revealing the outcome. -- Doc Williamson, AZ
