River of Teeth is a 2017 alternate history novella by Sarah Gailey,[1] first published by Tor Books[2] with cover art by Richard Anderson.
Decades later, the lawless swamps of Louisiana are infested with murderous feral hippos, and Winslow Houndstooth and his band of misfits are hired to clear them out.
[6] Writing for NPR, Amal El-Mohtar praised Gailey's worldbuilding, but felt that the "characters [were] somewhat ill-served at novella length".
[7] At Strange Horizons, Samira Nadkarni emphasized that the story was "fun" and "action-adventure escapism", lauding the portrayal of a romance between bisexual Houndstooth and nonbinary Hero Shackleby; however, Nadkarni also criticized the focus on single aspects of the intersectional characters' identities, and observed that Gailey omitted entire indigenous populations who historically would have lived in that part of Louisiana.
[8] The story is inspired by Louisiana Congressman Robert F. Broussard's 1910 plan to import hippopotamuses to America, with the intent that they would eat invasive water hyacinth and serve as meat animals.