I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.
So I'm loving Shawl's Everfair. It's a steampunk alternate history of Belgium's colonization of the Congo, and it's a period I know nothing about. It's also written by an African American women, which is nice: last year Readercon had a woman guest of honor and an African American woman who was a guest of honor.
This year, it's an African American woman and an American man of Chinese descent. (Liu was born in China, in fact, and immigrated at age eleven.)
I bring this up because it's nice to see diversity: Readercon has been fairly committed to diversifying it's guest and panelist pool, and so far I think these guests have been living up to that. (I've also met a diverse mix of authors in general, although I think we always have to keep vigilant and work at keeping that diversity. But it's nice to see it working a bit.)
Anyway, I've been staying away from most of Liu's stuff, because I feel like he's most well known for longer fantasies, which I'm usually not a fan of. Novik's stuff worked for me because of the wit and the fair amount of action.
So... have you read Liu? Liked it? And should I start with his Skywalker/Star Wars young adult collection? But, then again, I never liked Luke all that much, so I've been hesitating.
Anyone who's read him and has an opinion? I'd love to hear it. Or on Shawl's work, but I feel like she might be less well known. (And I'll probably continue to love Everfair, but, yeah, I'd like to hear from you guys!)