River of Teeth

by Sarah Gailey

In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.

Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.

This was a terrible plan.

Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.

• ISBN10: 0765395231
• ISBN13: 9780765395238
• Publish Date: 23 May 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars

A cool little story based around an odd tidbit of American history. Full review to come.

[Mercy]

This book was so good, it's so great when you don't have any idea what exactly a book is about but it surprises you with every page despite the premise being quite simple: hippos gone feral who eat people and a team formed by a bunch of people with each having their own reasons to accept the job of helping the government of getting rid of the hippos.

What I liked the most about River of Teeth, were the characters. Sometimes novellas lack in developing them but I warmed up to them quicly because Sarah Gailey did a great job at describing them and giving a view of their personalities and their back stories and within the first two chapters I was so engaged in the story. It was funny at times, heartbreaking at others and very action-packed.

Another point for the story is that it has a cast of character so diverse and it's so effortlessly done. There's non-binary, bisexual and gender fluid characters but it's not made a big deal of. They just are and it isn't mentioned like something different or that should get special attention and I loved it. And I've read reviews of people complaining about the author putting them in the story without a specific purpose and... gosh, isn't that the point? Why these kind of characters should need an explanation? They are in there because people like them exist and as straight characters are never looked at twice, the same should happen with them.

[Beth C.]

Not sure I would read the sequel - not enough character development for me. Of course, it's not a full novel, so that limits somewhat, but...while the idea of the hippos was interesting, the idea of a sequel wasn't.

[Heather]

She had me at alternative history novella about feral hippos in the Mississippi River. I pre-ordered.

I didn't read it the first day it came out because I wanted to wait until I could read it in one sitting.

I wasn't disappointed.

There are feral hippos in a section of the Mississippi. They are penned in by a dam to the north and a large gate to the south. The lake in between in controlled by a criminal who runs the gambling boats. Having large predators in the lake around his establishments is an important natural asset. The government wants the hippos out of the way so they hire a former hippo rancher with a grudge.

Winslow Houndstooth, a pansexual man from England who rides an opinionated black hippo named Ruby, puts together a crew for the job.

Hero Shakleby- a nonbinary black person who is a demolition and poisoning expert. They ride a hippo named Abigail.
Regina Archambault (Archie) - a fat French conwoman who rides an albino hippo named Rosa. Rosa likes to get her teeth brushed and eats pastries even though the vet said she needs to cut back.
Cal Hotchkiss - He is a white man who burned down Winslow's ranch. Winslow is planning to kill him but it helps to have a white man around to buy explosives. His hippo is named Betsy
Adelia Reyes - A very pregnant assassin with two hippos named Stasia and Zahra.

I loved the world that is created here. This reads like a wild west story with hippos instead of horses. Of course, the job doesn't go as well as planned. The story is violent as fits the lawlessness of the time and place.

My only complaint about this story is that I wanted more. (That and I'm said about Ruby eating a dog named Petunia. Bad Ruby! Note that I am not particularly sad about all the people who get eaten by hippos in this book because I like dogs better than I like most people.) This is a novella that has a fairly abrupt ending. I want to know what happens. When do we get more?