Short Synopsis
Everfair is a wonderful Neo-Victorian alternate history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium's disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier.

Full Synopsis
Everfair is a wonderful Neo-Victorian alternate history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium's disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier. Fabian Socialists from Great Britian join forces with African-American missionaries to purchase land from the Belgian Congo's "owner," King Leopold II. This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of the Congo as well as escaped slaves returning from America and other places where African natives were being mistreated.

Nisi Shawl's speculative masterpiece manages to turn one of the worst human rights disasters on record into a marvelous and exciting exploration of the possibilities inherent in a turn of history. Everfair is told from a multiplicity of voices: Africans, Europeans, East Asians, and African Americans in complex relationships with one another, in a compelling range of voices that have historically been silenced. Everfair is not only a beautiful book but an educational and inspiring one that will give the reader new insight into an often ignored period of history.

"[An] engrossing mix of fantasy, steampunk, and neo-Victorian alternate history . . . Narrator Allyson Johnson does an excellent job." ---Library Journal Audio Review

"This highly original story blends steampunk and political intrigue in a compelling new view of a dark piece of human history." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"A moving and nuanced depiction of how even those with the best intentions have their own blind spots." --- RT Book Review

"This is a novel full of promise and hope, an important work that tells the story of voices lost to time and history. Everfair is a clarion call to the marginalized to speak up and be heard. It’s a chance for everyone else to be silent and listen." ---B&N SCI-FI & Fantasy Blog

"An important addition to the alternate history canon" ---Library Journal

"Shawl's wonderful characters — some of whom seem versions of actual historical figures — are appealing and at times heartbreaking, giving a dark episode of African history a much-needed human dimension." ---Chicago Tribune

"The work is elegant, rendered with masterful craft in simple, compelling language—a tour de force of Shawl’s tremendous ability to create deeply nuanced characters. This is a beautifully told, important entry in the movement for greater diversity in sf." ---Booklist

"Johnson deftly handles the virtual U.N. of character accents--from African and Asian to German and American . . . A heady mix of history, Edwardian politics, and fantasy." ---AudioFile

Publishers Weekly Review