I've been avoiding writing this review, because I was sold on the premise of "a former god and a succubus pull a heist" and I feel embarrassed saying I didn't even finish the novel. It is likely a good fit for other readers, but not for me. Halfway through, I realized that I knew far more about the protagonists sex lives than about their motivations. The mystery of Nneoma's past is intriguing, but not enough to keep me reading. I would have liked to have known more about the Orisha Spirit Company and about the interplay between gods, spirits, and monsters. Sadly, the book I would have liked was not this one. If I do finish the book, I will update this review.

This book started with quite a promising note only to devolve into a flat one dimensional characters who serve the purpose of plot. My biggest disappointment came from the succubus, Nneoma, who is clearly one of the powerful early Gods of the pantheon, but her purpose seems to be seduce, have sex and make some deals so that Shigidi, the nightmare God can learn and, maybe, do something extra.

The writing is quite good, but this needed to be a longer. Though there is some backstory of their relationship origins and its progression, it needs expansion when it comes to their interaction in human world and their other jobs in spirit world.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley and DAW for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

TL;DR

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi is a wonderful debut novel. The beginning was a bit slow for me, but the heist story was great fun. Recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

Fantasy has a long tradition of mixing pantheons with modern day settings. Most of these offerings in the U.S. are western or christian pantheons for example Good Omens, Thor, or the Iron Druid series. I loved reading these books, but always wanted a different viewpoint. After all, as a reader, I became familiar in general terms with these pantheons. And while authors can put their individual twists upon the gods, generally they all have a lot in common. So, when Wole Talabi’s Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon showed up on my radar, I knew I wanted to read this book. It features gods from the Nigerian pantheon, which I knew nothing about prior to this book. (To be fair, I only know a little more after reading this book.) Talabi didn’t let me down. This is his debut novel, and it shows an author with promise and with many more good stories in his future.

Shigidi finds himself in the back of a British cab dying when the book opens. Nneoma is with him as they’re fleeing on the spirit side of London. Their currently unnamed cab driver is doing his best to avoid the guardians chasing them. Thus opens Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, and like any good heist story, chapter two goes back in time to before everything went pear-shaped. Shigidi is a former nightmare god from Nigeria and former member of the Nigerian spirit company. Nneoma is a succubus who is a freelance spirit, and she also convinced Shigidi to join her as a freelancer. Yep, even the spirit world has corporations and a gig economy. Sadly for Shigidi and Nneoma, they have been exiled from Nigeria by the head of the Orisha Spirit Company, Olorun. When Olorun tracks them down, he makes an offer they can’t resist. Steal an artifact from the British Museum and their exile is finished. Not only that, they’ll be shareholders in the Orisha Spirit Company, which means they’ll partake in the spiritual profits from their human worshipers. The theft could leave them trapped in the museum forever or find them on the spirit side of London dealing with the ancient spirits of England. Shigidi and Nneoma seize their chance to end their exile and strike back at the colonizers. But can they succeed?

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon is a third person novel with Shigidi and Nneoma as the primary narrators. The book switches between past and present to fill out the information needed to advance the heist. Most of the first half of the novel is backstory about the relationship between Shigidi and Nneoma, but it’s an interesting story in and of itself. Recommended with caution.

Shigidi is a Bad Boyfriend

Shigidi and Nneoma’s relationship is complicated. Very complicated beyond the fact that they feed on the souls of humans. Nneoma is a succubus; her magic is sex based. Shigidi loves her, and he’s very possessive. Her nature bothers him greatly. And he’s vocal about it. Nneoma loves him, but it’s not in her nature to say it. Yet, Shigidi continues to push that point throughout the opening parts of the novel. It was difficult for me to get through and slowed down the novel. He very much reminded me of people who want their partners to change after they get into a relationship. No, Shigidi knew what Nneoma was prior to their partnership. She’s the reason he’s got the body he resides in, and she’s the reason he’s free from being a peon in the Orisha Spirit Company. Yet, once she “becomes his,” he expects her to be different. He’s jealous, petty, and a bit insufferable. I imagine this will be a sticking point for a lot of readers.

However, if you can push through this section, it’s worth it to finish the book. I’ll leave it up to you to determine if Shigidi improves. But I did enjoy the heist portion of the novel. Talabi put interesting ideas in the book outside of this. The unnamed cab driver was a pleasant surprise that I really enjoyed.

Conclusion

Wole Talabi’s debut novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, shows a lot of promise. Shigidi and Nneoma’s relationship leaves a lot to be desired, but their adventures are wonderful. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for Talabi’s next novel. Recommended.

This was such an interesting project, and I really appreciated the thematic discussions here. Wole Talabi was able to weave together traditional mythologies with discussions of faith, capitalism, and colonialism. The story jumps through centuries and continents and culminates in a heist, complete with a car chase across the “real” world and the shadow world.

I loved the themes here, but the back and forth pacing of the timeline jumps was jarring for me. We jumped between modern day and the backstories of Shigidi and Nneoma, and while I loved the backstories I really struggled believing in and rooting for their relationship, which left the ending to come across as unsatisfying to me.

Overall, I think this was an impressive debut and I’d be interested in seeing what he writes next despite this not being a complete hit for me. I mostly listened to the audiobook and I think Ben Arogundade’s narration really elevated my reading experience.

I was drawn to this book's title first because it reminded me of the Bronze statues that still remain in the hands of the thieving British in their royal museum.

But this story follows more than the history of looting and brutal colonial mindset of the brits. Here we follow Shigidi who chose to make a deal to remake himself in a visage that he believes is desirable, so that he could remove himself from beneath the thumbs of those who show him neither compassion nor respect.

Talabi shows real control as he is able to meld the world of orishas with fallen angels turned succubi, occult magicians, and a spirit world that has its own governing body and political relationships. He also explores power manipulation and dynamics as we see lower gods being used to maintain the status of higher deities.

With a new partner and new confidence in himself, Shigidi embarks upon a magical heist in order to be truly free and live the way he wants with no ties binding him to those who would only use him for their own ends.

I enjoyed how seamless the transition from past to present was, how he was able mold his main story around historical and biblical events and characters. All these elements made this read really good.

I’ve never been to Lagos, but Wole Talabi’s debut novel (!) is what I imagine Lagos must be like: frenetic, sexy, full of mysterious powers. It’s hard to believe Shigidi is this acclaimed author’s debut fantasy novel; Talabi is a prolific short story writer, and the editor of various anthologies.

But back to the novel. Shigidi is a nightmare god, humble and only slightly meh about his place in life. He works for a spirit company, and is on assignment when he bumps into a beautiful succubus (or, succubae). Nneoma, dangerous and independent, offers him the deal of a lifetime, which he takes—but they soon run into major trouble. Their way out is to steal—or, more correctly, to rescue—the brass head of Obalufon from the British Museum, and to bring it back to the powerful and semi-retired creator god, Olorun. As one might expect, things don’t go perfectly to plan, and we go on a romp with the couple through Lagos, Singapore, and London’s spirit-side to bring the artefact back home.

I loved Shigidi’s character—uncertain, unaware of his potential, and honest—and the fantastical world he inhabits is full of thrills. I also enjoyed Talabi’s wry references to corporate culture through the lens of Nigerian mythology—so many clever parallels. The story ends on an interesting note, and I think we can expect a sequel, or perhaps short stories featuring Shigidi (I hope! I was not particularly interested in Nneoma, who is mean and self-centred).

I’m not usually a fan of fantasy lit, but I do enjoy African mythology. This book should please anyone who loves a fun story. 

Thank you to NetGalley and to DAW for this ARC.

A generous 3 stars.

This was fine. It read super fast and I (mostly) enjoyed the writing style and the interesting lore I got to learn about. The nigerian slang peppered in did a great job of making it even more immersive.

Religion is a corporate system in this novel and while an interesting concept, I feel like more could’ve been done with it. The way it worked made Shigidi’s background pretty bland for what he is, and I struggled to think of him as the main, titular character of this book for most of the time. I found his character arc, motivations, emotions… unconvincing and some nonexistent until maybe the last 10%. In contrast, Nneoma’s past is thoroughly explored and narrated for big chunks of the book, and she was so much more of a personality that just completely overshadowed Shigidi in my eyes. As much as it drove the story, it rubbed me the wrong way because his name is the one in the title.

Nneoma is also a succubus, and there’s a plethora of sex scenes ranging from dub con to straight up rape, so be aware.

My expectations of this before reading were way off, but all in all I had an alright time.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars.
Two partners, Shigidi and Nneoma, one a minor, former nightmares god and the other a powerful succubus unaffiliated with any other entities, are forced by an old, formidable god, Olurun, to steal an artifact for him, back from the British, who stole it years earlier, for him. Olurun’s plan is risky in the extreme, but the pair have the abilities, skills, connections, and frankly, disposability, to possibly succeed.

Wole Talabi’s gods are dangerous, controlling and petty beings. They head up spirit companies, staffed by less powerful and minor gods, who harvest human souls for the continuance of the Company and their food, and dispense punishments, among other things. The spirit company is a corporation, with a Board, employee code of conduct, and other trappings.

Each faith has its own spirit company, with treaties and rules codifying behaviours and permissible actions of other gods when they visit other gods’ territories.

Shigidi hated his former life of using nightmares to terrify and kill to collect souls. Shigidi was a very minor god in Olurun’s company, and only received a small number of souls for sustenance. After an unexpected and violent confrontation with Nneoma years earlier, he defected to her side, in exchange for better opportunities. When almost killed by some members of his former company, he and Nneoma are granted safety by Olurun, in exchange for a task to be performed by them some time in the future.

Oluron finally decides to call in his favour, forcing the pair to retrieve an important object located at the British Museum.

Talabi shows us Nneoma’s life in different centuries, and how she collected favours from certain beings, whom she and Shigidi must call on for help to perform their heist.

Talabi’s story is fun, imaginative, violent, full of sex, and danger. I liked seeing Nneoma’s life, and what drives her and keeps her separate. We also see how implacable she can be. Shigidi follows her, and is fascinated by her; I found that he was not as interesting as her.

The story felt a little slow in parts, but I was still intrigued by the world of gods, demons and spirits Talabi created.

Thank you to Netgalley and to DAW for this ARC in exchange for my review.

After writing countless short stories and showcasing his skill in anthologies such as Africa Risen, Wole Talabi treats us to his newest novel and fantasy debut, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. The story centers on a heist, but it is so much more than a high-stakes story and goes deeper to explore the power, vulnerability, and sacrifice of faith and love.

The sleeping man struggles and dies as Shigidi the nightmare god sits upon his chest. Even when hungover and full of self-loathing, Shigidi can still incite enough fear for a job well done at the Orisha Spirit Company. Yet the few summons that call him to the human realm bring him no joy under the oppressive company ownership, not when there are freelance spirits that have escaped the company’s restrictive hierarchy and regulations. Nneoma is one such entity, a succubus that belongs to no one but herself and is free to indulge in human spirits as she pleases. When the pair collides, they form a shaky partnership in hopes of creating a prosperous and indulgent future away from strict bosses and the loneliness of freelance work. However, a powerful god finds Shigidi and Nneoma’s unrestricted existence between worlds opportunistic and plans to use the pair to support his plans within the Orisha Spirit Company. Will Shigidi and Nneoma ever find freedom amidst the scheming forces more powerful than them?

Shigidi and Nneoma first appeared in short stories that were written for various websites. I, Shigidi was published on Abyss & Apex in 2016 and features many key moments of the supernatural pairing’s partnership. Talabi includes these events in the book but expands upon them and honors the characters with a fully fleshed-out tale in a dynamic and complicated world of spirits in the modern world. Talabi also cites a 2017 short story titled Nneoma that was published in Space and Time Magazine. However, the link appears broken on Talabi’s website, so I have been unable to locate the original story. At the end of the book, Talabi acknowledges the several iterations that Shigidi and Nneoma have gone through, and I must say it is a beautiful thing to see them star in this fantasy debut.

Sometimes I struggle to get into stories that alternate between the past and present. This typically happens at the beginning of a book because I’m eager to get immersed in the current situation. With its heist-like narrative, this story structure was necessary for Talabi to slowly reveal his hand and build up to the main event. The book even opens at the climax of the heist and abandons our protagonists' current demise to go back in time before everything went to shit. This all sounds like it would slow my initial descent into Talabi’s world, but it did no such thing. Talabi crafts compelling accounts from a variety of characters and does it expertly so that I was devouring each chapter to collect a new piece to the puzzle. Each vignette of the past sends ripples into the future which we then get to see unfold for either good or bad. The story weaves together so nicely and has the action, stakes, and interesting characters to engage you thoroughly as it hops around to different people and places in the timeline.

Faith serves as both the central theme of this book and a currency among the gods. It is crucial to the gods’ existence, and we see an ongoing struggle throughout the book as the gods contend with the dwindling beliefs among humans. The Orisha Spirit Company has monetized faith and controls the amount that deities receive. However, there is a poor distribution of faith and we see Shigidi, a minor nightmare god, live a pitiful and sad existence on the meager sustenance he receives. It’s also interesting to see how the characters personally contend with faith. Shigidi has no faith in himself or his abilities. He hates his appearance and his existence, yet he does hold some reverence for Olorun, the god that made him. Meanwhile, Nneoma only believes in herself and what she is capable of. She is selfish and puts herself first in all things. The pair clash over their opposing ideals and we see how their faith is tested as they navigate a world free of the spirit company’s restrictions.

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi has the rambunctious energy of taking down The Man and the soft undertones of finding a love worth fighting for. It is great fun and I know you will join me in hoping Talabi continues Shigidi and Nneoma’s story in the future.

Rating: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon - 8.0/10
-Brandee

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.

A lot of things I liked and a lot of things I didn't. Ultimately it'll average to a three. Review to come.

Shigidi is a retired nightmare god (think, the god you pray to when you want your enemies to have a horrible night's sleep), who used to work for the Orisha Spirit Company. Every religion in the world is its own company, and each god an employee of the larger corporation. They operate off of pray-pay. The more you pray to a god or a religion, the more important the god and the more successful the company.

The Orisha Spirit Company has not been very successful lately and, within this company, Shigidi is treated as a sort of dead-end, unimportant deity. He's very low on the corporate hierarchy and kind of hates his job. But, his departure from the company serves as a cautionary tale, so he is exiled from the spirit side of the world and forced to live amongst humans.

This story kicks off when he and his girlfriend, Nneoma, are on a vacation in Malaysia and his old boss' boss' boss shows up to proposition him into heisting the British Museum. There's a totem (the brass head of obalufon), that he needs and he needs someone outside of the company to break into the museum and rob them. In exchange for completing this heist, Shigidi will no longer be exiled from the spirit side of the world.

If that summary sounds a little robotic, it's because this is a hard book to describe. A lot of things worked for me. I think the way religions are represented by companies was super interesting. It made parts of the plot feel like comedic office politics. I liked the characters a lot, and I was super interested in the idea of them heisting the British Museum.

I guess my big problems with this book had to do with the pacing, which was slow (the heist takes place over the course of three days in the present, but you spend the first 65% of the book largely in flashbacks). I also struggled with the amount of flashing back the author did. In theory every flashback had a vital role in establishing Shigidi's and Nneoma's stories, and how they were going to execute the heist. In actuality, you jump in time so often, from the spirit side of the world to the human side, from POV to POV, from century to century. It felt chaotic and hard to stay interested in the heist plot.

A lot of potential, and I didn't have a bad time reading it. But by the end I sort of was waiting for the story to wrap — which is an unfortunate feeling to get from a book you're anticipating highly.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 14%. I couldn't even make it as far as some of the other DNFs I see in the reviews.

I made several attempts to read this book. I really, really wanted to love this book, but every time I picked it up, it was with more and more disdain. Shigidi is a former nightmare god, and he is following around a succubus, Nneoma, like a lost puppy, and it's kind of cringe, kind of eye-roll inducing. The atmosphere was just...seedy, I guess I would say.

In addition to Shigidi's character grating on my nerves from the get-go, I feel like there was a lot of jumping around without segues. It was jarring. My apologies to NetGalley and the author, this was just not for me.

I did not leave a star review on Goodreads since I did not finish, but here since I have to leave a star rating, I will give it 3 to be fair since I did not finish.

Every once in a while, an author I’ve enjoyed immensely writes a book that doesn’t really sound like my thing, and I wonder whether the storytelling will carry me through or whether a plot well outside my wheelhouse will keep me from fully immersing. This was the case when Wole Talabi, whose short fiction “The Regression Test” and “A Dream of Electric Mothers” were favorites of mine, announced an urban fantasy heist novel starring a succubus and a nightmare god: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. 

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon takes place in a world where gods derive their power from faith and acts of worship. In an attempt to maximize their returns, they’ve formed spirit companies, with Shigidi sending nightmares and sometimes killings to bring some meager power back to the Orisha spirit company. But an encounter with a succubus provides the glimpse of another life, if he can pay off his debt to the emeritus CEO. And recovering a magical artifact stolen by the British for display in a museum could be just the thing to erase his debt and start a new life. 

The story flits back and forth in the timeline, showing backstory and present day action for Shigidi, his succubus partner Nneoma, and the most powerful figures within the Orisha company. The present-day storyline focuses on the heist, Shigidi’s relationship with Nneoma, and the internal Orisha politics, whereas the flashbacks deliver bits of backstory, usually right before a relevant secondary character is introduced to the present-day plot. 

I often struggle with major god characters because they’re too powerful, but Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon does an excellent job establishing limitations—they can’t do much without renewing power, are mostly limited to areas of specialty, and have plenty of rival deities that are just as powerful, if not more so. That said, I did find it difficult to truly invest in characters that derived so much power from consuming human spirits. They weren’t even cast as villain protagonists—which can make for an interesting dynamic—so much as divine forces acting in accordance with their own natures. That won’t be an obstacle for everyone, but for me, it was. 

That said, there’s still plenty left to latch onto, with both plot-related and interpersonal dramas. Perhaps the most grounded part of the novel was Shigidi trying to sort out his relationship with someone who sustains her power by trading on her supernatural sexual desirability but who has been badly burned by love. For all that they may be gods and demons, their struggles to define the relationship are deeply rooted in the real. 

The heist and Orisha politics, on the other hand, were written well enough to sustain the reader’s attention but didn’t really stand out from other examples in the genre. New obstacles and dangers were introduced frequently enough to keep the tension high, but an extremely compressed planning phase kept the scheming to a minimum. For me, the most notable part of the heist plot was in the worldbuilding, highlighting the colonial theft that made it at all necessary. 

On the whole, while I could see the writing quality that has made Talabi’s short fiction so appealing (and I even caught a reference to the excellent novelette “Saturday’s Song” in Shigidi’s backstory), I wasn’t able to immerse at the same level in Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. It was hard to be too sympathetic to characters who consume human spirit, and the plot lacked the scheming elements that I often find the most interesting part of heist stories. But to those who enjoy a little more action, or who don’t mind divine characters who don’t truck with human morality, there’s plenty to like, with rich worldbuilding and an intriguing interpersonal story. 

Recommended if you like: action-heavy heists, god protagonists, West African worldbuilding.

Overall rating: 13 of Tar Vol’s 20. Three stars on Goodreads.

DNF @35% - the comps on this title gave me very high expectations - Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and Karen Lord. However, this did not live up to either their plot strengths or depth of characterization. I simply wanted more.

Shigidi, retired nightmare god, and Nneoma, succubus, are offered freedom in exchange for stealing the head of Obalufon. But this task is harder than it first seemed, and they’ll need the help of a magician if they have any hope of succeeding…

I enjoyed the combination of religion and modern corporate life, but I wanted more world-building in the first couple chapters to better orient myself.

The shifting timeline was ok—a blend of current events and backstory that kept the pace moving and developed the characters—but I had to remind myself a few times of the current heist timeline in order to orient myself at the start of new sections.

From the description, I was looking forward to a fantasy heist story, but too much of the first half of the book was set in the past and not actually about the details of the heist. I didn’t connect with the characters at all and this story was saturated with uncomfortable dubcon sex scenes. I quit at 55% due to this content and didn’t get anywhere close to the actual heist. The challenges they would face were discussed in one scene and the rest was backstory.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW Books for the ARC.

DNF @43%

I kept trying with this one hoping it would get better because the premise is interesting and elements are fun, but the things that were bothering me kept happening at such a high volume I decided to just cut my losses. Your mileage may vary.

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon is sort of a heist story but with African gods and related beings. (yes, even they live in a capitalist hellscape albeit a spirit one) The two main-characters are Obalufon - a god of nightmares, and Nneoma- a succubus. And yes, of course they're in a relationship and he loves her but she won't admit she loves him. And there's a ton of sex with questionable consent, more often ending in souls being devoured. The thing is, Nneoma has the potential to actually be interesting, but she only ever exists as this sort of sexual object who sacrifices herself so that the male characters can progress. And still all of that- her help, her body, her affection, aren't enough for Shigidi. No, he wants everything from her while not really contributing anything to her life in return. There's also a lot of focus on bodies and low-key fatphobia. I don't know, as much as there are some fun and interesting ideas here, the treatment of the main female character and the lack of real character development in liu of more sex scenes left a bad taste. Some others are really enjoying this and I read almost half of it, despite having these issues early on. Unfortunately it's just not working for me. I read an advance copy for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

DNF at 60%

I really wanted to love this, but just couldn't get into it. The concept had me hooked: a high-stakes heist mission carried out by gods in a unique magic system based on Nigerian mythology. But the protagonists (Shigidi and Nneoma) weren't developed enough for me to care much about them, and I struggled to believe that their relationship was as powerful/loving as we were told it was. I usually love non-linear storytelling, but it threw me off this time - every time a new scene and new characters showed up, I just felt exhausted, and wished the biggest few story threads had been fleshed out better instead.
I still found the magic system and various settings intriguing, and some parts of the writing stood out. With some editing this could easily become propulsive and passionate enough for me to enjoy it. Until then, it doesn't hold my attention.

Great pacing with well-rounded and unique characters. I enjoyed the spiritual and supernatural elements playing out in international cities. A fun and slick read.

Unfortunately, I never quite clicked with this book. I do think it will find an audience with other readers, but it ended up not being for me.

DNF'D at 12%
Not a bad book but I expected a fantasy with African mythology but this is more of an adventure fantasy. If you are a fan of the Ocean's eleven franchise and friends, this will work better for you. The first chapter is literally the opening scene of all those heist centered movies in a good way.

Shigidi, former corporate slave/god and his succubus partner, Nneoma, are enlisted to steal a sacred artefact. Alongside the story of the heist are the stories of Shigidi and Nneoma, as individuals and together. I liked the system of magic in this book and the corporate aspect of the gods was interesting. Shigidi, former corporate slave/god and his succubus partner, Nneoma, are enlisted to steal a sacred artefact. Alongside the story of the heist are the stories of Shigidi and Nneoma, as individuals and together. I liked the system of magic in this book and the corporate aspect of the gods was interesting.