Everfair

 Everfair by Nisi Shawl (2016) 381 pages

After finishing King Leopold's Ghost, I saw a list of steampunk books. When I was reminded that Everfair is set in the Congo in the same period of time, but with an alternative steampunk history, I had to move it up in my reading list priorities. Nisi Shawl acknowledges the inspiration she found from Adam Hochschild's history book. 

Unfortunately, the author provides a single page of historical background, which is not nearly enough. I have an advantage of being familiar with the people and events associated with this history, since I have read the above book, but I was still lost as this book jumps between time, place, and such a large cast of characters. I can only imagine the confusion of a reader that does not know something of the true history. The most clear parallel between historical person and alternative character is George Washington Williams, the black American minister who embraces African languages, and Thomas Jefferson Wilson, the black American minister character who "goes native." The author does not spend enough time setting the scene, describing the societies that the characters come from. Most chapters are quite short and deal primarily with one or two main characters. It takes awhile for these characters' storylines to interconnect. I question why the author chose to create certain main characters (the Poet) who seem to not be that significant to the story, or to the advancing events of the alternative history. Other characters (Lily and Jackie with his Fabian Society) are developed significantly only to be eliminated from the story. I wished other characters were developed more. Unfortunately, many of the African natives still have less agency than the Americans and Europeans and one Chinese engineer. I loved the steampunk aspects. The zeppelin "aircanoes," mechanical limbs for those with war wounds or those who lost hands during Leopold's rule, and arrow guns were great. Other futuristic tech was not described in a way that gave your mind a clear picture. I appreciated the alternative history with three major wars: the war against Leopold, WWI, and a civil war between the African ruler of the region reclaiming his power and all the colonists. Multiple characters are described as doing espionage work, but the story was lacking actual descriptions of intriguing spy craft. I repeatedly wanted certain chapters to continue and give me more, but they would be interrupted by four to five plodding chapters checking in on other characters. Maybe two interesting storylines would be running at a time with other characters making frustrating decisions in between. I'm glad I stuck with it, but it was not a favorite.