Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

Publisher - Gollancz

Published - ebook out now Hardback 8/2

Price - £12.99 kindle ebook £22 hardback

Yoruba gods liberating a Nigerian artefact from London's British Museum, this is a heist novel filled to the brim with magic.

Shigidi is a disgruntled nightmare god in the Orisha spirit company, reluctantly answering the prayers of his few remaining believers to satisfy the demands of the company board. When he meets Nneoma, a sort-of succubus with a long and secretive past, everything changes.

Together, they attempt to break free of their constraints and live on their owns terms. But the elder gods have other plans for Shigidi, and the Orisha Spirit Company is not so easy to leave. The chairman has a final job for Shigidi and Nneoma, one that will take them to the very heart of the British Museum.

From the boisterous streets of Lagos to the rooftop bars of Singapore and the secret spaces of London, Shigidi and Nneoma will encounter strange creatures, rival gods and manipulative magicians as they are drawn into a spectacular heist that spans two realms . . . and which could turn their own worlds upside down . . .

How gods of all sorts of religion and myths fare in our current allegedly rational time is a rich vein of contemporary fantasy from the road-trips of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods to the inventive take on Loki that Joanne Harris has delivered us in her own series reinventing Norse Gods. How would once mighty gods see our modern world, what do they have to say about us and what type of adventures will they have. A new approach to pantheons gets brought to our attention in Wole Talabi’s hugely enjoyable Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon which is wickedly inventive, subversive, and hopefully has many more tales to tell us.

Shigidi was once a down at heel nightmare god. A small god in the Orisha Spirit Corporation formed of Yoruba based deities. He gets routinely ordered to terrorise and where necessary kill those who the believers want killing. In exchange for some spirit energy. He is good at it but feels this is all he can ever become. A chance encounter with a very powerful Succubus named Nneoma who senses Shigidi may be a kindred spirit and offers a life in freelancing. The two are lovers enjoying the world when a very powerful god pulls in the duo to retrieve a valuable object from a place he cannot go – The British Museum. Shigidi needs to beat the UK’s security mages, tackle his old employer, and not get jealous over Nneoma’s friends plus the small matter of staying alive.

This is a story fizzing with inventive ideas that delivers a very effective heist tale but also a fresh take on religion, gods and a secret history of the world. Talabi doesn’t mind dropping us in at the deep end when we first find Shigidi and Nneoma on the run from the museum heist that doesn’t sound like it went to plan. We get a story that pops back and forth in time; sometimes days, years and occasionally centuries but it neatly wraps together but you have to hold on tight as things get slowly explained to us and the start there are names and concepts thrown that we have to work out. My preferred kind of read!

I really liked the idea of religions as feuding international corporations and for Shigidi it is an interesting tale of someone slowly realising his bosses have been using him and his abilities for their own profits so now he and Nneoma are doing their own thing. He casts off being a small, ugly and broken Nightmare God into an athletic and powerful man. Live your own life free from control and be who you want to be. An interesting concept to play with. We are also used to seeing these type of rogue immortals starting to like humans – not here! We are their fuel source and our duo do not mind snacking on us even after turning freelance. That we never feel they’re monsters though (this is simply what they are at an inherent level) is a credit to Talabi’s skills.

Despite being part of the title Shigidi is not your typical lead. He’s not in charge overall, he is relatively still inexperienced with higher powers and doesn’t yet fully understand his own abilities. He is powerful and he rarely gives up but its also his vulnerability as to nneoma really loves him that gives him an unusual fragility despite all that power. With Nneoma there are dangers of having a succubus as a character and this novel does indeed have a lot of sex and associated magic. Talabi though makes Nneoma just as much a main character as Shigidi and we get to see past the confident sexual disguise and see a person struggling with the loss of her sister and a desire never to let her emotional bonds put her in danger. The two characters though complement each other; they see aspects of themselves in each other – intelligent, inventive, and powerful but they also need each other Nneoma is more comfortable with her magical world and allies while Shigidi brings the power and a cunning way to beating traps. For this novel their storyline is about them being honest with each other as to where they really stand.

The wider plot is really interesting. I do love a heist and liberating colonial treasures looted by the Empire is very refreshing. To paraphrase Indy these do not belong in the British Museum. This widens up as we find each country has their own mages and powers and our duo need to find a way through them. Into which we start to get a Secret History aspect to the world as none other than Alastair Crowley makes a guest appearance – as to how I’ll leave to you to discover but it’s a very entertaining sub-plot and reminds us how powerful Nneoma is. While this goes on we see the wider Spirit Corporation in turmoil and a Succession-style set of competing family members. Some of which have already marked Shigidi as a rebel and plan further retribution for his decisions to go out on his own. My one slight concern is a focus on fat people often being a sign of villains. This may be based on certain character’s wider portrayals but its 2024 now and that needs letting go of as a description for evil.

Talabli balances action fights between magical immortals with this kind of intrigue plus a memorable chase scene at the end to great effect. The novel is constantly moving and dangling future storylines. Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon offers a powerful start to a new contemporary fantasy series and I really want to see this world and its host of memorable characters again. Frenetic, intricately plotted and a central duo to toot for it is highly recommended!