Wole Talabi - Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

Wole Talabi is a well known Nigerian author, but this is their first foray into fantasy. Set in a universe where the spirit and human worlds coexist side-by-side, Shigidi is a low ranking nightmare god, who as with other Nigerian gods suffers from a lack of faith. Worshipers are few and far between. The Christian and Muslim faiths have hoovered up their followers, and with the loss of followers comes a consequent loss of power.

The idea that gods are only as powerful as the number of worshippers they have is an old trope in fantasy. My first recollection of it was in Terry Pratchett's Small Gods. The idea likely predates that. But its a neat idea and in the hands of Wole Talabi it becomes a mechanism to discuss power, colonialism and the modern world. Instead of religion, the gods organise through corporations. The boards of these argue about advertising campaigns designed to drum up new followers. The Nigerian patheon of gods, organised through the Orisha Spirit Company, has just come out of a relatively unsuccesful attempt to increase income by funding films in Nollywood.

More problematically for Shigidi, is that he is in love and is on the run. He's falled for the succubus Nneoma, and together they've fled his corporation. Going freelance enables them to live off the spirits of humans that they steal - requiring Nneoma to seduce them with her beauty, and then steal their spirit at the point of orgasm. But it also leaves them with some serious obligations that they finally have a chance to break free of when they are offered a deal: steal a powerful artifact from the heavily magically guarded British Museum, and bring it to the Nigerian Embassy, and they'll both be free of debt, obligations and much more powerful than they can hope for.

The book is pitched as a love story, as Shigidi falls for Nneoma, and she struggles with her own past, her issues preventing her committing to Shigidi. The book opens as she finally does so, as the two escape in a London Black cab through London spirit world. The book then jumps back in time multiple times to give the reader the full back story.

As I said. An intriguing idea, and interesting for the way it brings in serious issues that are being discussed today, namely why all that stuff is in the British Museum anyway. Unfortunately the book is weakened because of its emphasis on sex and violence. There are several long fight scenes and a variety of sex scenes (as well as the violence of Nneoma's stealing spirits from humans who can't escape). These undermine the more intriguing and subtle story of colonialism and post-colonial rule. The metaphor of decling religious power due to the rise of Western ideas and religions gets lost. In fact the best bit, when Shigidi is in the British Museum trying to steal the artifact is disappointinly short. But it offers some moments: 

The gallery walls were painfully white and sterile, arrayed with an assortment of colorful masks, cloths, pottery, weapons and all manner of items displayed atop plinths in transparent cases. Some of the items were works of art. Others he recognised as totems of gods, deities and spirit entities from his and other spirit companies he had worked with in the past, now all displayed - hung, bound, or in locked glass boxes like prisoners. He stared, shocked.

Some of the items Shigidi remembers from his life when the Nigerian gods were all powerful. That they were stolen and hidden in the Museum, filled "him with heat at what the sight before him represented". It was he thinks, "a certain kind of savagery to keep these once purposeful items for no other purpose than display, as trophies in memorian of a colonizer's self-given right to take." 

It's a powerful moment - fantasy becoming real. But I felt that these bits were lost in the fights, chases and the sex. 

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon benefits from a brilliant world construction. It needed a bit more depth to fully explore it. I hope that there are sequels as I'd really like to see what Wole Talabi does next with these characters and ideas.