Smorgasbord Fantasia

Sarah Gailey 's stories are usually set in the wild weird American West and her stories punch way above their weight in terms of being moving and thought-provoking narratives that are an entertaining mix of violent action and well developed characters. Her latest, Upright Women Wanted is a little gem of a story that is possibly the shiniest gem in her Tiara. Still set in the weird Wild West of a Futura-South West Americana, where there is always a war going on, men are constantly being conscripted and the patriarchal society is steeped in strict fascist homophobic rules and propaganda. Women, on the other hand, are still being treated as furniture, pressed into marriage against their wishes. Our story follows stowaway Esther who is running away from her oppressive household. She's running away from her father who wants her to marry her best-friend Beatriz's ex-beau. Beatriz was sentenced to hanging ( in the name of having possessed illegal propaganda material. but ...

I know I'm coming late to the American Hippo party but better late than never!  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey a neo-western that pulls no punches, by way of an imagined American alt-history romp where Hippos have been introduced into domestication [ Think Hippo-farms or ranches] It's a very clever twist on what could have been, based on an actual attempt to pass a bill in the US Senate to import hippos for meat. The story follows the capers [ Oh despite so many tedious reminders, I just cannot think myself to call that an "operation" all aboveboard! Come on. ] of a group of determined men and women, out to ensure that a lake full of feral wild hippos can be herded out into the wilds, clearing up the Lake for safer commercial uses. The only issue may be, that the man who claims to have gotten this "legitimate" job order from the Feds, maybe holding out on a dirty secret, a deeply nursed personal vendetta. And little matter that the dangerous man who ru...