Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

The debut fantasy novel from an award-winning, Nebula-nominated Nigerian author A mythic tale of disgruntled gods, revenge, and a heist across two worlds, perfect for fans of Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and Karen Lord Shigidi is a disgruntled and demotivated nightmare god in the Orisha spirit company, reluctantly answering prayers of his few remaining believers to maintain his existence long enough to find his next drink. When he meets Nneoma, a sort-of succubus with a long and secretive past, everything changes for him. Together, they attempt to break free of his obligations and the restrictions that have bound him to his godhood and navigate the parameters of their new relationship in the shadow of her past. But the elder gods that run the Orisha spirit company have other plans for Shigidi, and they are not all aligned--or good. From the boisterous streets of Lagos to the swanky rooftop bars of Singapore and the secret spaces of London, Shigidi and Nneoma will encounter old acquaintances, rival gods, strange creatures, and manipulative magicians as they are drawn into a web of revenge, spirit business, and a spectacular heist across two worlds that will change Shigidi's understanding of himself forever and determine the fate of the Orisha spirit company.

Literature & Fiction

Talabi, Wole

Genre Fiction

"A jaw-dropping collection....Beautiful, vibrant, and electrifying, this has the makings of a modern classic." --Publishers Weekly (starred review), and a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Spring 2024 Roundup pick "Deftly entwining his Nigerian culture with sf and Afrofuturism, Talabi uses each story to analyze Africa's rapidly evolving relationship with technology. For fans of Margaret Atwood's dystopian works and P. Djèlí Clark's speculative fiction, Convergence Problems provides an Afrocentric sf narrative that is sure to captivate." -- Raychel Bennet, Booklist (starred review) "Written with an emotional economy few storytellers can master....A fascinating and riveting exploration of what the future may hold--for better or worse." --Kirkus From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; constantly converging on our future selves. In "An Arc of Electric Skin," a roadside mechanic seeking justice volunteers to undergo a procedure that will increase the electrical conductivity of his skin by orders of magnitude. In "Blowout," a woman races against time and a previously undocumented geological phenomenon to save her brother on the surface of Mars. In "Ganger," a young woman trapped in a city run by machines must transfer her consciousness into an artificial body and find a way to give her life purpose. In "Debut," Nairobi-based technical support engineer tries to understand what is happening when an AI art system begins malfunctioning in ways that could change the world. The sixteen stories of Convergence Problems, which include work published for the first time in this collection, rare stories, and recently acclaimed work, showcase Talabi at his creative best: playful and profound, exciting and experimental, always interesting.

Convergence Problems

Winner of the Ilube Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel 2024 A Washington Post top 10 best science fiction and fantasy book of 2023 "A&nbsp;heist caper with sex, violence, and superpowers popping off every technicolor page." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Defiantly ambitious...an action-packed thrill ride." --The Washington Post A mythic tale of disgruntled gods, revenge, and a heist across two worlds, perfect for fans of Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and Karen Lord Shigidi is a disgruntled and demotivated nightmare god in the Orisha spirit company, reluctantly answering prayers of his few remaining believers to maintain his existence long enough to find his next drink. When he meets Nneoma, a sort-of succubus with a long and secretive past, everything changes.&nbsp; Together, they attempt to break free of the restrictions that have bound him to his godhood and navigate their new relationship. But the elder gods that run the Orisha spirit company have other plans for Shigidi. From the boisterous streets of Lagos to the swanky rooftop bars of Singapore and the secret spaces of London, Shigidi and Nneoma will encounter old acquaintances, rival gods, strange creatures, and manipulative magicians as they are drawn into a web of revenge, spirit business, and a spectacular heist across two worlds that will change Shigidi's understanding of himself forever and determine the fate of the Orisha spirit company.

Clarkesworld Issue 174 (Clarkesworld Magazine)

Clarke, Neil

Spires, D.A. Xiaolin

Kim, Isabel J.

Ratnakar, Arula

Lee, Isabel

Zhenzhen, Wang

Pauling, Sarah

Short Stories & Anthologies

Wyrm Publishing

Now entering its nineteenth year, the Caine Prize for African Writing is Africa's leading literary prize, and is awarded to a short story by an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere. The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally. The focus on the short story reflects the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition. This collection will bring together the five 2018 shortlisted stories, along with stories written at the Caine Prize Writers' Workshop, which will take place in April 2018.

Redemption Song and other stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2018

Onjerika, Makena

Hardy, Stacy

Ogundimu, Olufunke

Ekwempu, Nonyelum

United States

New Internationalist

An elderly woman in early 22nd century Lagos is called in to help test the artificial intelligence built from her genius mother's mind, but all is not as it seems in the Nommo-award winning story, "The Regression Test". Exiled from Earth for a crime of passion, a young man must learn to survive a barely habitable prison planet and come to peace with his past in "Polaris". "Wednesday's Story", nominated for the 2018 Caine Prize, is at once a retelling of nursery rhymes and folklore and a meta-fictional meditation on the mechanics, art and power of storytelling. In the novella "Incompleteness Theories", an international team, led by a Nigerian physicist, try to invent teleportation technology with haunting, unforeseen results. From the bustling streets of Lagos to the icy moons of Jupiter, this debut collection of twenty stories from the vivid imagination of the award-winning Wole Talabi explores what it means to be human in a world of accelerating technology, diverse beliefs, and unlimited potential, from a uniquely Nigerian perspective.

Incomplete Solutions (Harvester)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Luna Press Publishing

99 Fleeting Fantasies: A Fantasy Anthology

Nye, Jody Lynn

MABERRY, JONATHAN

McGuire, Seanan

Mohamed, Premee

Rambo, Cat

Brozek, Jennifer

Frasier, Crystal

Stross,Charles

Fantasy

Pulse Publishing

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Books by Talabi, Wole