Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!
This week's upcoming book spotlight is:
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Tor Books
Tor Books
Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
An alternate history / historical fantasy / steampunk novel set in the Belgian Congo, from noted short story writer Nisi Shawl.
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.
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.
There are so many incredible upcoming releases that I'm eagerly anticipating that it becomes hard to choose just one each week to spotlight! But Everfair's upcoming release luckily made it a bit easier to choose. I haven't read many alternate history or steampunk novels (especially not together), so I'm really excited about those aspects of this story. I also don't know much about this particular event in history, and although this is an alternative history, I am very interested to understand more about it! I am really looking forward to digging into this complex and representative work.
If you're at all interested in Everfair, be sure to check out this article about both the book and its incredible author, Nisi Shawl, in this article at Tor Books.
From Goodreads:
An alternate history / historical fantasy / steampunk novel set in the Belgian Congo, from noted short story writer Nisi Shawl.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.
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.
There are so many incredible upcoming releases that I'm eagerly anticipating that it becomes hard to choose just one each week to spotlight! But Everfair's upcoming release luckily made it a bit easier to choose. I haven't read many alternate history or steampunk novels (especially not together), so I'm really excited about those aspects of this story. I also don't know much about this particular event in history, and although this is an alternative history, I am very interested to understand more about it! I am really looking forward to digging into this complex and representative work.
If you're at all interested in Everfair, be sure to check out this article about both the book and its incredible author, Nisi Shawl, in this article at Tor Books.
What do you think about this upcoming release? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?
