I have two gripes with this book. First, because it was a novella there didn’t seem to be much character development. Ashâke’s action and attitude made it hard to root for her. She is majorly lacking in self awareness or empathy for most of the story.

This brings me to my second gripe, I wanted more! The premise is so good that all my dislike of Ashâke doesn’t matter because I need to see where this story goes. I am eagerly awaiting At the Fount of Creation.

This is a fast-paced adventure following Ashâke, an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, who has had to struggle for the opportunity to be made a priestess and officially begin serving the orisha. She is an older acolyte, yet the orisha refuse to speak to her. She decides to take drastic measures and attempt to trap an orisha into speaking with her. In the process, she unintentionally draws the attention of an enemy of the priesthood and finds herself in the midst of an ancient war between gods.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding present in this story, and was really impressed with the author's ability to make us care about characters within just a few sentences. Since it's a novella, we didn't necessarily have time to get to know every character, but I felt I had a good understanding of each one on the page. At the same time, that made the book feel a bit rushed to me. I would have loved to see it unfold more, and leave me as the reader time to solve some of the mysteries alongside Ashâke rather than having the characters explain to me exactly what was happening in the world.

Thank you to Net Galley and Tor for the ARC. This was such an intriguing novella. Its so fast paced, each chapter leaves you longing for more answers. I loved the world building and I desperately want to know how the story continues.

This was an insanely good novella!!!!


Tor never misses with their novellas though. I loved the world/story/characters. Everything about this was immensely refreshing. I’d read it again honestly

This little novella packs a punch! I love the mythology and the genre-bending story. Please give this book a chance!

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book.

I really enjoyed my time reading this! I just wish it was longer. I understand that it is a novella, I just think that this story would work best as a full length novel. This is very action heavy, political intrigue, Gods, war, etc. All of that world building and plot buildup is hard to accomplish in so few pages. The ending set up for a sequel, and I definitely hope that we get one because there's so many things I want to explore more of.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tobi Ogundiran for an ARC of this title!

I seem to be on a streak of accidentally picking up shorter books, and with that being said I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this one based on the length! When I think of fantasy stories, I picture 500+paged that will span a 6+ book series, and generally speaking, I find that shorter fantasy (and romantasy I definitely more guilty of this than straight fantasy) cut out a lot of good information/worldbuilding in pursuit of advancing the plot.

I was impressed with how well the overall themes and the story of this book were vividly conveyed in the comparably short length of this book, which I think is something that is really hard to do! We hit the ground running from the first chapters into a world of gods, temples, and intrigue, and I felt like I got enough information in this fast-paced novella to get a good sense of what was going on, with enough leftover to have plenty of questions for the sequel(s).

I think fans of most series that involve good meddling in the affairs of man (and vice-versa) would really like this book! It was incredibly fast-paced while also drawing you in emotionally to Ashâke's loneliness, rage, and hope. I was also fascinated with fantasy in the setting of African mythology and traditions, and can't wait to find out where Ashâke (and here enemies) will be appearing next!

This book is remarkable. A compact novella, it left me wanting more in every sense - with regard to the writing style, the story itself and the wider mythology and world-building.

Ashâke is a wonderful narrator. A young adult brought up in a temple that’s practically its own world, she’s desperate to be chosen by an Orisha deity, as is her duty as priestess. But while her friends are chosen around her, she hears… nothing.

Taking her destiny into her own hands, and with the help of a marvellously crotchety old shaman, she sets out to carve her own path and find the gods. And so she will - just not in the way she expected.

I think the best word I can choose for this book is ‘delighted’: in its pace, characters, tone and twisting nature. I was wrong-footed several times, leading to genuine shock and a sense of loss as the action ramped up.

This is by no means a typical ‘chosen one’ story. If anything, I was reminded most closely of Lyra in Philip Pullman’s books, as she takes the expected and makes it her own.

Also I have some familiarity with the Orisha, and these gorgeous songs drew me in like a warm African sunset (including shadowy dangers for the unwary).

I’m so glad to be reading tales based on heritage and lore that’s far from my own. I’ll be looking out for the next part of this tale, and the author’s other work - they are a true storyteller whose words deserve to be shared far and wide.

The premise of a girl invoking a god’s anger after trying to bind an orisha is SUPER intriguing, and the writing is solid too. However, I’m conflicted about this book. Normally, I love novellas, and I almost never believe they’ll be better as full length novels. However, in my mind, this book greatly suffered because it was a novella. This intricate story ideas needed more world building, needed character development, and definitely needed better pacing.

I felt like I stumbled into a book on its 5th or 10th chapter rather than the first page. It immediately plunged into her trying to bind an orisha with minimal explanation, and if there were a few chapters leading up this moment, it would’ve been a lot better. Also, if it wasn’t for my prior knowledge of African Mythology, I would have been so confused because the author barely has any world building attached. There should have been explanations behind what Orisha, Ashe, etc. were after being first introduced, as well as how the magic works once a god gifts a human, but there wasn’t.

This could easily be a 300-page book and be considered a 4 or 5 star read for me. If I had the time to get to know characters like Ashâke, and if there were more chapters to even out the jumbled pacing, then I would’ve been glued to my seat. Ultimately, I liked this book. I really enjoyed the villains and the cliffhanger ending, but I didn’t care for the FMC because I wasn’t allotted the time.

This was a short but fun read. I wish it would have been longer but I enjoyed the story for what it was.

I was captivated by this short story from start to finish! We follow two perspectives, both our protagonist, who is trying to find her place in the world, and our antagonist, who will, of course, disrupt that.

Ashâke was supposed to ascend to priesthood years ago, but has been overlooked by the gods yet again. In her disappointment and frustration she is unaware that she is in the middle of a cosmic war between the gods, and the secrets the high priests keep will determine her fate.

The use of dual perspectives really heightened the tension. In the first scene with our antagonist we see the immense power he has as he takes over the body of a pickpocket. Knowing that he can disguise himself as anyone makes it easy for him to pop up in unexpected places - which he continually does throughout the story.

There is a lot of world building packed into this little book! We see very few places in this world, but the world still feels immense. We learn about the gods and their histories, as well as getting glimpses into the lives of different people groups. The world feels vast and alive and lived in. It feels very real.

Ashâke goes on an emotional journey as she starts to question everything she has been taught. The world in this story pulls from African mythology and the journey Ashâke goes on is very much a religious one, using religious language. She has to figure out what is true, and she is, at times, asked to believe things without evidence. Readers will probably view the story differently depending on their own experience with religion.

While much of this story is driven by inner turmoil, it moves at a fast pace as Ashâke leaves everything she has known and encounters dangers outside the safety of the temple. While she doesn’t know who she can trust, she is able to open up to the kindness of the griots.

I loved seeing the griots and how welcoming they are to outsiders. Their magic in storytelling was also fascinating and beautiful to read. I would have been happy to spend more time with them and explore their way of life.

The ending was beautiful and devastating! Readers get the satisfaction of answers to the main questions presented in the story, but are also left with the knowledge that a bigger threat is to come.

I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion to this story with cosmic stakes in the next installment!

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Wow! This is a powerhouse of a novella. I was instantly captivated by Ashake's story. The world building has just the right amount of detail. I am thoroughly impressed with the richness of this novella. A+.

An engaging novella. I think the central mystery/plot threads were interesting and I look forward to the next book/novella.

Overall I quite enjoyed this novella. At times it felt a bit too fast paced, and I had a hard time keeping everything straight. This was exacerbated by the fact that so much of the worldbuilding and info-dumping was done in the form of songs/poetry, which personally doesn't work for me. I have a hard time not just skimming over it, especially when so much information is conveyed in a short amount of time.

Having said that, the main protagonist is likeable, and her journey as she wades through issues of power, corruption, lies, and betrayals is exciting and makes this already short novella fly by even faster. I would have liked more, and I cannot wait to see if there is more in the future!

Une excellente novella inspirée de la mythologie yoruba, parfaite pour les fans de Tomi Adeyemi qui exploite le trope de l'Elu avec un twist. Un worldbuilding passionnant qui réussit à poser l'univers en si peu de pages tout en donnant envie d'en lire bien plus.

A great novella inspired by yoruban myths, perfect for the fans of Tomi Adeyemi with and an interesting twist on the Chosen One trope. Great worldbuilding in so few pages that will leave you wanting more.

This was good. I liked the religious setup it had with the acolytes and the priests. I like seeing Ashake and her struggle to reach/hear the orisha. I was so intrigued to learn what was holding her back. I also really enjoyed meeting everyone at the encampment.

My only issue with the entire story is that it was a novella and wasn’t able to give the story more body and more development between moments of impact. I very much enjoyed the story that was here but it felt like it moved very fast.

I will definitely be on the lookout for the next installment. I need to know where Ashake goes after all the discoveries she made at the end.

The mythology in this book is so gorgeously portrayed, I loved the writing style. The storytelling managed to make me attached to the characters in a few pages and I was able to fully visualize even the most minor characters.
I am now fully invested in this story and can't wait for the sequel.

Thanks to netgalley for this arc

3.5 Stars.

Novella'c can be very hit or miss for me. Either I love the story so much that I'm begging for more or I want more because I felt elements of the story could use more development.

In the case of "In The Shadow Of The Fall" by Tobi Ogundiraan, I felt there could've been more. I had a few issues with the pacing as the time between the MC learning something mind and belief-shattering and then finding out the information she had just learnt wasn't completely accurate was way too short. The author began to build a connection between secondary characters and the reader but I don't think there was enough before "emotional" things started happening to these characters. However, I did find the emotional turmoil the MC felt towards things that happened to the secondary characters to be believable and well done. I was quite interested in the mythology and the magic that was hinted at and wish we had seen or learnt more. If the author decides to write a full-length novel set in this world and follow this MC, I would be interested.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So my biggest complaint here is that it all ended too soon. I mean, it is a novella, but there was so much goodness here that I was totally unprepared for the end. That makes it all the more impressive that I throughly enjoyed the world-building and MC character development (something that is usually a lot more limited is shorter stories). The basic story follows that struggle of a temple acolyte who is struggling to succeed as her peers all advance and eventually leave. We pick up the story as she desperately tries to remedy the situation with an ill-conceived plan that doesn’t quite work out as expected. The underlying mythology was also well done, with just enough detail to peak interest and hint at a much greater depth that [hopefully] comes soon … and The “bad-guy” was interesting, if only sparsely described … but there is enough there to get a good feel for the danger he poses. And we get a brief introduction to a nomadic people that could have used a lot more space to explore … because I just love the concept there. Finally there is a pretty significant reveal at the end that caught be by surprise … so well done there. Over all … it didn’t feel like a novella until the abrupt ending … all in all it was an incredible teaser that could easily anchor a solid fantasy series … so I will very likely pick up next installment eventually (which unfortunately loos to be just a little longer on page count).

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#IntheShadowoftheFall #NetGalley

I liked this story a lot. I don’t often read novellas so I feel like my rating is skewed. Since I typically read epic 600+ page fantasy novels or huge series, this felt a bit lacking. I would love more time spent with Djola and Mama Agba or the high priestess. More time with the characters would help the change of heart the FMC constantly goes through feel more believable. It felt rushed but being a novella I can move past it. I do really like this story and am excited to read more.