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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hard to tell from the summary but this is actually a decent romance novel in between all the adventure and mythology. A quick and fun read steeped with African culture and fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It was a fine book, but it took a long time to grab and maintain my attention. It was very easy to put down no matter how long I was reading. I still have a lot of questions, but I really enjoyed the African mythology in this one. I wouldn't read it again, but I'm not mad that I did the first time.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Itβs interesting that this book is billed as a heist story, because the heist elements play second fiddle to all of the impressive world building that occurs throughout this book. The idea of godhood being run like a corporation is always fun, but I would have liked to see more interplay with the different pantheons/divinities mentioned in the book (it mostly sticks to just the one without going into detail about how they interact with others). The structure of the story had the potential to be interesting as a bunch of stories within stories, but it mostly came off as abrupt breaks from the narrative to explain who people are and go into their backgrounds. As an audiobook performance, I think it was solid. As a story, it was alright.
She shouted at the driver as she pressed her hand into Shigidi's and pulled his head into her bloody bosom.
Eeeeh, okay?
DNFing this one at 12% because I couldn't care less about the plot or the characters and some of the choices are making me upset.
This book gets compared to [a:Max Gladstone|3405346|Max Gladstone|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440009008p2/3405346.jpg]'s [b:Craft Sequence|13539191|Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1)|Max Gladstone|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333049511l/13539191._SY75_.jpg|19101555] quite a lot and I can see why - it's the gods obviously and the way they form a firm or whatever BUT once you look at the details the books are really nothing alike. I had mixed reactions to Craft Sequence too, okay, especially to the
Spoiler
shark sex sceneSo yeah, how does that connect to Shigidi? Well, there is just none of that... the male gaze is strong in this one. The bosoms, the leather skirts and sex descriptions that made my skin crawl for some reason. I can't really pinpoint all the specific problems I have with all this, but it doesn't work as a whole to me. I think that Talabi makes significant effort to make Nneoma a three-dimensional character that is complex, but she comes across as sex object and emotionally unreachable femme fatal. It's one of those things where you feel like the author is seeing her from the outside but doesn't actually understand what it feels to be like her? I mean, if you are succubus it probably makes sense to wear leather skirts and people objectifying you is something you are going for, but if this was Talabi's intent it just isn't working out.
I didn't get very far into the book, so I might not getting all of it correctly, but... the romance is... I just hated it. Shigidi used to be ugly as a nightmare god and now he's hot because Nneoma got a new body for him - meaning he can finally get some. He falls in love with Nneoma and he tells her he loves her and pesters her to give him the answer if she loves him too or not. And she doesn't want to. And you know what, that's fair, if you love her, give her a break, it's pretty obvious she has some issues she has to work through! Shigidi is just giving me a masive incel vibes* and I don't think Talabi made that decision on purpose.
* To be clear, incels are also victims of the way our society functions, this isn't black and white situation, I'm just saying that Wole Talabi included very actual and sensitive topic without realising he did that and it's just not working out for me.
So yeah, I was so distracted by all of this that I wasn't even capable of paying attention to the plot which lowered my motivation to continue to zero. The audio is narrated quite pleasantly, so I'm sorry to drop it, but... yeah. Not a book for me. At this point I would probably give this two stars, but I feel I dropped this too early on to actually rate it.
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22843613-shigidi-and-the-brass-head-of-obalufon-sff-botm---august-2024
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars.
I had a few problems with this debut. I didn't always love how the time skips impacted the pacing and tension of the heist, and I wasn't sure what the author intended with his queer representation or the detailed descriptions of "corpulent" bodies. Interesting choices, but read awkwardly to me.
I also wish Shigidi had more going on for him than his love for Nneoma β like other positive, non-romantic relationships, perhaps. His motivations, and his sense of self-fulfillment and worth, all stem from her. I often found the other minor povs, and Nneoma herself β a partially subverted femme fatale β more compelling than his for that reason. They all had a bit more going on and other relationships or obligations that drive them.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the incorporation of Yoruba mythology, the various locations we travel to, and the colonial critique of the British Museum (never gets old, as long as they still have cultural objects they rightly shouldn't have). The portrayal of both the spirit companies and the system of "pray pay" versus the "spirit-eating" freelancers are almost equally unsavory that you could start a good group discussion around the morality and implications of it all. It's an entertaining concept and a foundation for entertaining political shenanigans that this book introduces.
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon marries the pulpier aspects of urban fantasy with the more philosophical musings of mythic fiction. I think this has great sequel potential, too. I hope the author goes that route.
I had a few problems with this debut. I didn't always love how the time skips impacted the pacing and tension of the heist, and I wasn't sure what the author intended with his queer representation or the detailed descriptions of "corpulent" bodies. Interesting choices, but read awkwardly to me.
I also wish Shigidi had more going on for him than his love for Nneoma β like other positive, non-romantic relationships, perhaps. His motivations, and his sense of self-fulfillment and worth, all stem from her. I often found the other minor povs, and Nneoma herself β a partially subverted femme fatale β more compelling than his for that reason. They all had a bit more going on and other relationships or obligations that drive them.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the incorporation of Yoruba mythology, the various locations we travel to, and the colonial critique of the British Museum (never gets old, as long as they still have cultural objects they rightly shouldn't have). The portrayal of both the spirit companies and the system of "pray pay" versus the "spirit-eating" freelancers are almost equally unsavory that you could start a good group discussion around the morality and implications of it all. It's an entertaining concept and a foundation for entertaining political shenanigans that this book introduces.
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon marries the pulpier aspects of urban fantasy with the more philosophical musings of mythic fiction. I think this has great sequel potential, too. I hope the author goes that route.
Magic, ancient gods, a grand heist, and very modern corporate satire all come together in this wild adventure. This book shot to the top of my TBR as soon as it was out, and I can't get enough of Talabi's genre-crossing novel. It has important things to say on colonisation and cultural "ownership". At the same time, it's also about finding faith, love, and self-determination. Simply stunning. Highly recommend.
Sex heavy in a way that I personally was not super interested in
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No