mixed habitat & densely vegetated hiding places

In this steampunk alt-history novel, a group of Fabian Socialists and African-American missionaries become founders of a new nation in central Africa in the late 19th century. With a boost from talented inventors and new technologies (some plausible but a bit early, like airships, and some fanciful, like clockwork cyborg limbs) they're able to challenge oppressive Belgian rule in the region. This alters the course of history in a sprawling, decades-long narrative of international intrigue, featuring a huge cast of characters in a complex web of love and hate.

So, you know when a TV show gets canceled but they still have a few episodes left, or maybe they get a movie, and the writers do a speed-run of all the remaining unresolved plot threads, basically hitting the highlights, and you have to mentally fill in all the other stuff that would have happened if they'd been able to take their time? That's what reading this book is like. Shawl had enough ideas here to fill a series of six or seven books if they'd taken it at a leisurely pace, but instead it's all packed into 400 pages.

I'm not sure I'm exactly complaining, though? I don't think I'm quite the right audience for the material as presented (way too much romance and breakup drama, not enough speculative tech, disappointingly little followup on one character's intriguing steam engine kink) so if there were six or seven books, I doubt I would have read them all. A relatively quick overview of how it all plays out was enough to satisfy me. But on the other hand, if I'd been deeply invested and wanted to sink my teeth into every detail of the plot and the interpersonal stuff, I probably would have been disappointed, so I guess I'm not sure who the ideal reader for this is.

I have read a few of Shawl's short stories, and I'm starting to get the impression that they are not a writer who likes to go into intricate detail about things. I do think they have it all in their head, but it reads to me like they're more invested in writing the exciting, intense highlights than the in-between explainy parts. Which, honestly, I can relate to—I can find that stuff a slog to write, too! But even if it is in your head, it's not in the reader's head until you put it there.

There actually is a sequel, which at a peek sounds like it steers away from steampunk and leans more fantasy, which isn't necessarily what I would have expected (thought there are some magical elements here too). Either way, my interest level is probably closer to "read a detailed synopsis" than "actually read the book."