| "Something Fishy" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Harry Turtledove |
| Publisher | Tor.com |
| Reprinted | No |
| Collected | No |
| Illustrator | Red Nose Studio |
| Series | State of Jefferson Stories |
| Genre(s) | Alternate History, Science fiction |
| Publication date | January 8, 2020 |
| Preceded by |
"Typecasting" (internal chronology) "Three Men and a Sasquatch" (publishing order) |
| Followed by | "Always Something New" |
"Something Fishy" is a short alternate history work by Harry Turtledove published online at Tor.com. It is part of a series of stories featuring Bill Williamson, the Sasquatch governor of the state of Jefferson, and is one of three stories published all at once on January 8, 2020.
It is now the summer of 1980, and Governor Williamson is summoned to mediate a fishing-rights dispute between two semi-autonomous protected minority communities in Jefferson. More is learned about the state in this story, as it is related that sasquatches traditionally regard the Karuk Indians as invaders and land-stealers - in this timeline, these Indians cannot be said to be wholly indigenous. Williamson himself violates his characteristic mellow impartiality by delighting in the Indian chief's discomfort, for this very reason. Turtledove increases the series' science fiction factor by making the other group of plaintiffs the Merfolk, a non-hominid race described as sentient cousins of manatees.
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