Everfair is an epic, sprawling, steampunk historical fiction set primarily in an alternate version of the Congo during Belgian King Leopold's brutal exploitation of African people and resources. (This is a chapter of history I'd never learned before and was a side benefit to this book.)

In Shawl's fictional version of the Congo, the new Utopian colony of Everfair is being founded with a collectivist approach to ruling, primarily by women. The colony welcomes those who have escaped from Leopold's atrocities. Alongside immigrants from Asia, they have developed steam technologies that allow them to combat Leopold more effectively.

Alongside these players, arrive Black American evangelists, who form a tenuous alliance with Everfair. All of them co-exist alongside the indigenous people of the Congo and their King. The mix of individual characters, and the different communities they represent, results in a fascinating (if at times complicated) decades-long saga of conflict and alliance that leaves you wondering whose side you're on and why. No one in this book is perfect, and I think that's part of what impressed me about Shawl's writing. Each person is a complex, unique character who sucked me into their world.

If you enjoy fiction that takes on larger themes such as gender, race, sexuality, colonialism and religion (while still being an entertaining story), I highly recommend this one.