Dr. Turtledove’s Sasquatch
Dr. Harry Turtledove once said he was the only scholar to earn a Ph. D. in Byzantine history and actually make a living off of it. Dr. Turtledove is a science fiction and fantasy author, best known for writing alternate histories, such as Ruled Britannia, where Shakespeare is involved in a plot to overthrow England’s Spanish government and put Elizabeth back on the throne, or Agent of Byzantium, where Mohammed became Christian instead of starting a new religion, and the Byzantine Empire developed technology much earlier than they did in our timeline, and dozens of other books and stories.
I have just read three Turtledove stories which I thought were quite good. All three are about Bill Williamson, the governor about Jefferson, the 51st state of the USA. Jefferson is made from pieces of northern California and Oregon, cut off and sewn together into a new state. Bill is a Sasquatch, the second Sasquatch governor of Jefferson. He has to deal with the problems of being large and hairy, in a world designed for much smaller humans. Being in the Pacific Northwest, he needs to negotiate salmon rights between Native American tribes and the merfolk. When President Carter concedes to Ronald Reagan before polls have closed on the West Coast, he is upset, because this means some people won’t bother to vote. (When I lived in California, I had similar opinions.) In the third story, one of the Iranian hostages is returning home, the only Sasquatch amongst the hostages, whom their captors treated more like an animal than an infidel.
As is usual with Dr. Turtledove, all three stories were excellent. Thoughtful, insightful views on politics, superb world-building when multiple species are living in the same environment, for example, Sasquatches need specially modified cars, furniture, housing, etc.
I don’t know if Dr. Turtledove has been working on this series for years, or if it’s as new to him as it is to me. I just know I look forward to reading more about Bill Williamson of Jefferson.
