American Hippo

Inconsequential history facts can be a ton of fun. Apparently in the 1910s, the US government considered importing hippos as a new source of meat during food shortages. If the cocaine hippos of Columbia (and really any other invasive species) have taught us anything, it likely would have been a horrible idea with lots of downstream consequences. Thankfully, that world didn’t come to be, but it did result in a set of novellas and short stories by Sarah Gailey reimagining this possible history, blended with some Western set dressing, which was a premise too intriguing to pass up. I ended up liking River of Teeth (novella #1) quite a bit, but was mostly disappointed by Taste of Marrow (novella #2).

Elevator Pitch:
Houndstooth is a Hop, who raises and wrangles hippos. After his breeding ranch burned to the ground, he turned to a life of crime. Now he’s offered a job by the federal government to clear out feral hippos from the land his former ranch sat on, and which his most hated foe now runs a gambling empire on. Houndstooth’s crew consists of Archie, a fat French conwoman and longtime friend of Houndstooth; Hero, a nonbinary poisoner and demolitionist that Houndstooth quickly falls in love with; Adelia, a bisexual contract killer who is very pregnant; and Carter, Houndstooth’s former ranch hand who now works for his enemy.

What Worked for Me
I read this at the same time as I was listening to The Devils, and both books feature a similarly delightful cast of characters. Each of Houndstooth’s crew got some time in the spotlight, and each of them were a fun romp of tropes and characterization. Archie & Adelia in particular captured my mind. Con women have always been a joy, and Archie was such a breath of fresh air compared to the comic relief role that fat characters are often shunted into. Adelia meanwhile, was brutal and taciturn. Her no-bullshit attitude and Gailey’s frank depictions of pregnancy was a combination I’d never seen before. Overall, just a really fun cast of characters that kept me engaged (especially in the first novella), and they were the anchor that kept me engaged and excited for a plot and setting that didn’t quite live up to my internal hype. 

What Didn’t Work for Me
These stories are a lot of fun, but I was a bit disappointed at the lack of rigor around the central conceit of hippos changing American history. You get some stuff – the government intentionally creating a lot of marshland and river highways for hippos to travel on – but it never truly felt like Gailey really understood hippos or put thought into the ecological or societal ramifications of their widespread presence. She also pushed hippos much further into meat-eating territory. They are omnivores, but the vast majority of their diet is vegetation. They’re simply highly territorial and extremely aggressive. Things like that pulled me from the hippo fantasy a bit. Similarly, this version of American history is magically queernormative, with no real pushback to the many queer identities the characters have (nor was there a sense of historical accuracy in terms of how nonbinary folks thought about themselves). After discovering The Woods All Black, I’ve really enjoyed when historical novels with queer representation dig their teeth into how queer identities haven’t looked the same, and the language/behavior of queer folks shifting is fascinating to me. I wasn’t expecting queer content in these novellas at all, but it’s a shift I wish I had seen.

I think my other sticking point in these stories were character relationships. Each character in isolation was fascinating, but I think Gailey struggled with convincing me that they began to care for each other. Houndstooth and Hero’s romance felt abrupt and all-consuming without any build up or page-investment in showing me how Houndstooth went from playboy tendencies to head over his heels for a vaguely psychotic retired bomb maker. The problems intensified in book 2 when that relationship became a core driving force of the plot, as opposed to a background element, and a few other character relationships (platonic and romantic) were established, but never quite felt like they made sense. This made novella 2 a much less satisfying experience than the first, and I think I’d generally recommend sticking to River of Teeth. Only if you fell in love with that book would I recommend Taste of Marrow.

Conclusion: a fun cast of characters in an alternate history of the US that didn’t live up to my expectations.

• Characters: 4
• Setting: 2
• Craft: 3
• Themes: 2
• Enjoyment: 4 (River of Teeth), 2 (Taste of Marrow)