We Will Drink a Fish Together

"We Will Drink A Fish Together" is a 1997 science fiction story by Bill Johnson. It was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction, in May 1997.

Synopsis

When Tony quits his job as part of the security detail for alien Ambassador Foremost so that he can attend a funeral in the small South Dakota town of Summit, Foremost follows him, in hopes that Tony can keep him safe.

Reception

"We Will Drink A Fish Together" won the 1998 Hugo Award for Best Novelette,[1] and was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette of 1997.[2]

At Infinity Plus, Keith Brooke stated that "apart from its wash of [19]90s detail, [the story] could easily have appeared at any time in the last 50 years", but commended Johnson for "strik[ing] a fine balance between an easy, laid-back, never-quite-folksy narrative voice and a taut suspenseful thriller".[3]

Origin

Johnson was inspired to write the story after leaving Chicago to attend a funeral in South Dakota, and "be[ing] struck by the difference in attitudes between very rural areas and cities"; ultimately, despite the presence of extraterrestrials in the story, "the true aliens are the different people, their cultures, and how they interact".[4]

Sequel

In 2018, Johnson published a sequel, "Bury Me in the Rainbow", depicting further events in Summit.[4]

References

  1. ^ 1998 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved February 2, 2026
  2. ^ We Will Drink a Fish Together, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved February 2, 2026
  3. ^ The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 11, reviewed by Keith Brooke, at Infinity Plus; published February 6, 1999; retrieved February 2, 2026
  4. ^ a b Q&A with Bill Johnson, at From Earth to the Stars (official Asimov's blog); published March 21, 2018; retrieved February 2, 2026
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