I had read Talabi's Hugo and Nebula nominated novelette A Dream of Electric Mothers in Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction and loved it but was disappointed by Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, so I went into this collection with some trepidation but I really enjoyed it!

In Convergence Problems, Talabi explores the rapid change of technology, especially as it relates to Africa. There are stories that explore colonialism both historically and in the space age, identity, AI, grief, family, and so much more. Talabi's prose is excellent and his ideas are inventive and engaging. There are several stories that play with form in such a fun way, and I would love to see more of that! I think I will give Talabi's next full length novel a chance but where his work has worked best for me is in the short form.

Standouts to me were:
An Arc of Electric Skin
Nigerian Dreams
Performance Review
Comments on Your Provisional Patent Application for an Eternal Spirit Core
A Dream of Electric Mothers

I consider Wole Talabi a master of literary futurism. Perhaps because of his background as an engineer, and certainly because he was an early reader of sci-fi, his work is conceptually dense with wonderful, very believable ideas—like, in one of the stories in this collection, Debut, AI makes art on its own. And although I’m not a fan of African fantasy, Talabi may make a believer of me yet; as he has said, he doesn’t feel constrained by genre when he writes, and many of his stories are a blend—a “continuum of the fantastic” (see this fantastic talk with Gary K. Wolfe https://www.crowdcast.io/c/ohatr6v1q6ng).

Convergence Problems is a collection that displays Talabi’s literary philosophy to full effect. Apart from the enchanting Debut, included in the collection is the wonderful, and yes, dreamy, Hugo- and Nebula Award-nominated novelette, A Dream of Electric Mothers, which blends African belief in consulting ancestors with technological means of doing so, in an imagined alternate African future. But Talabi is not all about imagined futures; he keeps his eye firmly on the present, too, with stories like the excellent Nigerian Dreams, which examines migration, and Abeokuta52, where Nigerian citizens pay a high price for Nigerian development (hints of neocolonialism here). Abeokuta52 is my favourite of the two hermit crab stories in the collection; the other story is Comments on your Provisional Patent Application for an Eternal Spirit Core. Ganger imagines a post-apocalyptic Nigeria with people divided by class into arcologies and villas under a dome; I look forward to reading the eventual novel about revolution.

There’s much more in the collection, including Saturday’s Song, which references the nightmare god Shigidi from Talabi’s wonderful BSFA-nominated and Nebula Finalist debut novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, and the Gravity (movie)-esque The Million Eyes of a Lonely and Fragile God. And the heartbreaking Embers, another of my favourites in this collection, about a man stranded in time when the world moves on from oil. Although I will rate Talabi as one of my favourite African writers, he is properly placed on the world stage as one of today’s most exciting SF writers.

Thank you to DAW books and to NetGalley for early access.

These are a great group of short stories. Wole is an amazing and thoughtful writer. The use of science and culture here is wonderful.

I've been getting back into sci-fi and Convergence Problems caught my eye as I typically enjoy short stories. I'm glad I gave it a go!

This is a collection of stories ranging in length from the equivalent of an online article with comments to a novella spanning a big chunk of the book.

The topics are all futuristic and in some way connected to AI and technology - as expected from a writer/engineer. There's also a very strong element of African heritage and culture. I found myself looking up and learning about traditions, deities, historical figures and terms I'd never encountered before, which made the experience feel fresh and balanced between the old and the new.

There's something for everyone - utopias, dystopias, romance, happy endings, terrible endings and everything in between. Despite their short format, there's a depth to the stories that calls for time to process what you read at certain points. As a result, this one took longer to read than the typical light book.

If you're a fan of well-done, realistic sci-fi and you'd also like to learn more about African culture, I really recommend this one.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

Scifi short stories at their peak, from an up-and-coming African author with a distinctive voice.

"People are made of stories too, but only the versions of their stories that they tell themselves."

Meet the women of Wole Talabi's science fiction crew.

Ng'endo, high-ranking tech supervisor, who discovers AI is making art by itselves.

The unnamed doctor, who teaches her lover to channel lightning.

Saturday, whose stories are told through the voices of her siblings (with a nod to Shigidi from Talabi's first book).

The mother & daughter whose memories fuel Kalu, the soldier in the story "Lights in the Sky", written uniquely in second-person point of view.

Folake, scientist monitoring Mars from her orbital space station, desperately trying to understand if being a hero or being family is more important.

"Gamma: Love in the Age of Radiation Poisoning" and the unnamed narrator who tells her brief love story.

Laide, with brain technology and societal interference, that cause her some... difficulties. And a scathing satire of Apartheid.

"Sometimes the only way to be free is to go deeper into the prison."

Stella, the scientist mother who inspires an alien investigation.

Lagos, and the city, she who is alive and dying and reborn.

Nneka, experiencing on-the-job pressure and experimentation.

B, the giver and receiver of Silence.

Tinuke, the astronaut at Europa Exploration Station.

Emeko, inventor of eternal spirit memory electronics, whose documents with her brother tell a chilling story.

Dolapo, the government committee military leader, whose REM sleep journey into thoughtspace.

After reading and loving Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, I was excited to try out another work by Talabi and I was not disappointed. Even through complex science stories, he manages to make his human characters and their humanity shine through each story. They were compelling and their feelings, choices, and actions easily understood. He takes us from Earth to the stars and through climate disasters and ramifications to take us to hope and connection.

There are some books that turn your mind inside out, push your thoughts past limitations, expand and broaden what you know, what you think you know, and what you are still struggling to comprehend. That's the kind of collection this is, and I suggest everyone to pick this one up whether you are a fan of sci-fi or stories that explore humanity and science/evolution through a philosophical lens while never losing the emotional core of the characters. I have so many thoughts after reading this collection that it'll take me a while to gather them all together, but the full review will be forthcoming!

Favourites:
"Ganger" — novella
"Performance Review" — short story
"Comments on Your Provisional Patent Application for an Eternal Spirit Core" — experimental format short story
"A Dream of Electric Mothers" — novelette

16 afrofuturistic science fiction short stories exploring and providing commentary on the potential challenges we might face in either the near future or in alternate realities. I was blown away by so many of the stories but most especially:
Saturday’s Song (7 god-like siblings chronicling an entirely human tale and learning from it), and
A Dream of Electric Mothers (Nebula-nominated novella featuring border disputes, a sentient AI formed from the collective consciousness of the deceased citizens of the country.)
(+) Nigerian author, Black cast of characters, some stories featuring QPOC characters

If was the first book I read by Wole Talabi and this anthology was a good introduction to this talented authors.
There's different themes, characters and Africa is the common trait.
I liked the storytelling and want to read a novel to have a better idea of this author
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A book of short stories can be like a box of chocolates. You never know what's inside until you start. This book was full of an amazing selection of chocolates, some very dark, others lighter, some sweet, and at least one that brought me to tears.

I have been trying to read more fiction by non-white, non-American or European writers, just to enjoy a new perspective. This book was like expecting Hershey's kisses and instead getting decadent, hand-rolled truffles. Enjoy one at a time, because you can overdo it at one sitting. But you'll be back for more because you can't stop wondering what comes next?

A thought-provoking and imaginative collection of stories that are also grounded in reality and humanity. From post-apocalyptic society to space, fantastical worlds become very real with characters confronting familiar and heart-wrenching challenges. Some of my favorites were Blowout, which explores what it means to be a hero and reconnects an estranged brother and sister, and Ganger, which delves into freedom of choice versus guaranteed safety, bodily autonomy, systemic oppression, brain control, gender, and sexuality.

What an excellent afrofuturist short story collection! I thought these were fantastic: profound and moving and engaging. Sure, some were stronger than others, but on the whole, this was wonderful.

These tackle some big questions about the future, about art and science, and about love and loss. They are deeply human while examining AI and technology. They are beautifully written and riveting.

My favorites were Saturday’s Song, Lights in the Sky, and A Dream of Electric Mothers.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW!

In Convergence Problems, will need to lobby examines a future where climate catastrophe has happened. Almost every story holds a thread of grief, loss, transition, and Hope.

I enjoyed that the author played with narrative style and a couple of the stories: One is a chat post with replies one is a patent application and one breaks up a traditional Nigerian folktale with a corollary in the future present.

I also appreciated the author notes at the end of the book for each of the short stories. I found them fascinating, because they gave a glimpse into the author's writing process.

I'm definitely going to be picking up a copy for myself because I will be revisiting some of these stories.

People who like afrofuturism, Black speculative fiction are probably going to like this book.

Thank you Net Galley and Daw books for my advanced reader copy.

In his introduction to this collection, Wole Talabi writes that in mathematical modelling, convergence is “bringing an approximate (simplified) solution close enough to a true solution, within a given tolerance during an iterative procedure;” he notes that while this is often needed, “there are often difficulties in converging to a solution.” Convergence Problems, then, is a collection of stories about problems that arise in imagined futures, even apparently desirable ones; Talabi notes that such problems are not always bad and can “expose poor logic or inconsistent assumptions.”

Inevitably with a short story collection, some stories will stand out to each reader more than others. For me, “Saturday’s Song,” “An Arc of Electric Skin,” “Abeokuta52,” and “A Dream of Electric Mothers” are all standouts, but there is no filler here – this is a fantastic, thoughtful, wide ranging collection. I averaged out the star ratings I gave to each individual story and came out with a number over four, and I’m more than happy to round up. The inclusion of Author Notes at the end situating the influences and publication of each story is a nice inclusion. I definitely recommend this collection.

Content warnings: homophobia, war, violence, gun violence, accidental injury, classism, terminal illness, suicide attempt, death, gaslighting, murder

Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi is a collection of sixteen science fiction stories by the author of Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (one of my most pleasurable reads lately). As with any story collection, Convergence Problems varies in impact of each individual piece, but if I wasn’t blown away by any of the tales save one, the collection as a whole is nicely consistent along the 3-4 scale, with no stories I’d call “weak” and most at the 3.5/4.0 level, making it in my mind a strong collection.

While the stories may incorporate familiar plots/subjects, they are freshened up by their (mostly) Nigerian setting on a surface level and more substantively by Talabi intermixing Yoruba folklore in several of the stories. As for those subjects, they range from several dystopic stories to stories that focus on grief, government corruption, freedom, AI, suicide, and more. Talabi also plays with form in a number of stories, while others are more traditional hard sci-fi with the level of detail one might expect from an engineer, which Talabi is (I’ll confess sometimes the technical detail were a bit much for me --- YMMV). Overall, I’d recommend the book for the consistency of its above average quality, it’s relatively fresh take on familiar elements, and its playful use of form and structure. A few specifics:

“Debut” A story about AI sentience and art creation that is just as long as it should be and no longer

“An Arc of Electric Skin” a thought-provoking story with a not-so-easy ending

“Saturday’s Song” My favorite in the collection (I wrote “great story!” at the end). A strong dose of folklore mixed in with question of forgiveness, vengeance, grief and the pain often engendered by family. A difficult, powerful tale

“Ganger” One of the few that felt its length (actually felt overlong) and felt overly familiar. The story isn’t bad, just not unusual or surprising in any way save for the folktale woven in and out, which was more interesting to me in its own right, Its connection to the sci-fi story was too on the nose for me, but I did like the conveyed idea that the old stories serve just as well as the new ones to make points about current and/or future society

“Ember” Another difficult story, one with a character whose horrible actions doesn’t make him any less tragic for the reader

“A Dream of Electric Mothers” another nice mix of myth, culture, and technology, probably my second or third favorite in the collection. Here, the political leaders of a country consult their ”collective digital memory . . . the memrionic copies of our citizens . . . an entity made up of the minds of citizens past that could process billions of input parameters . . and give advice on matters of national interest. An encoded and accessible electric voice of the ancestors.” What could have been merely political or technological is enhanced by Talabi’s deep dive into the personal.

BOOK: CONVERGENCE PROBLEMS
AUTHOR: WOLE TALABI
PUB DATE: 13 FEBRUARY 2024
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REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This book filled with short stories, different characters, and cultures is the first I've ever read. I love, love the infusion of Nigerian, African culture with sci-fi, something that's not popularly seen. I loved his reimagination of Nigeria. I loved through the sci-fi journey, there was no Western countries. I liked the places in Nigerian I saw, the familiar lingo and names. I love the author's writing. He's a wonderful writer, wowing me in the different stories. I didn’t like all the stories in the book, but I liked most of them. The author's imagination is out of this world.
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1. DEBUT: At first, I didn’t understand this at first. I stopped it and went back to it. But, i liked the Nigerian futuristic setting, some African characters, and its unusual ending
2. AN ARC OF ELECTRIC SKIN: This was wonderful. I could definitely relate considering Nigeria's history of corruption in the past. I understood Akachi's decision. I loved the superhero act. Even though I didn’t read his POV
3. SATURDAY'S SONG: This short story was two in one, and I learned a lot of things. I learned some Hausas worship small gods and about Shigidi. I liked the entirety of the storyline and the ending. I liked the Days of the Week POV. It was really nice.
4. LIGHTS IN THE SKY: I loved this too, the storyline and the setting. It was emotional and raw and relatable. A favorite.
5. BLOWOUT: This was good, too. I liked the insertion of the familiar places. I liked Folake's story and her reunion with her brother. It was nice
6. GAMMA (OR: LOVE IN THE AGE OF RADIATION POISONING): Short but poignant and sad. Had a dystopian setting, and I liked it. Had young characters, too. A favorite
7. GANGER: My least favorite, it was the longest, and I was very confused when I started it. Consequently, I liked the setting, which is very dystopian. I didn’t like the ending, too. 8. ABEOKUTA 52: I liked this too. It was the most relatable story. but it ended way too soon. I was familiar with the lingo and the place. It was very good. I didn't like the ending, though.
9. TENDS TO ZERO; I didn’t really like this one because of the main character. But I liked the magical realism part. I liked the realistic Lagos setting.
10. NIGERIAN DREAMS: I could relate to this because the main character wanted to 'japa', some thing many Nigerians want to do. I could also relate to the Nigerian dream that was in the book.
11. PERFORMANCE REVIEW: This had just two scenes, and I was able to understand the fmc's situation. I liked it and the sci-fi genre.
12. SILENCE: Short and poignant story of love. I liked it. A favorite.
13. EMBERS: A sad story borne out of the desperation of the mmc. I didn't really like this because of the ending. I loved the Kawashida power supply, though.
14. THE MILLION EYES OF A LONELY AND FRAGILE GOD: I didn't really like this too, but it was probably because of how realistic it was. It packed a punch, though.
15. COMMENTS ON YOUR PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION FOR AN ETERNAL SPIRIT CORE: I didn’t really like this. It was confusing, but I later got the gist.
16. A DREAM OF ELECTRIC MOTHERS: I didn't really like the story line, but I loved the setting. Odua republic led by a Yoruba king, the re imagination of Babalawos. I liked it.
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I liked this book and the author's writing. You might not like all the stories, but you'll love most of them. You'll be blown away by the author's writhing and imagination. A must-read.

I am blown away by this collection. The stories have a common theme, a thread weaving through each of them, but yet they are varied in style, genre, voice and format. Ingenious storytelling. These stories bring alive different possibilities and futures, both dark and beautiful, with advanced technology and traditional African culture and traditions intertwined.

Each of these stories gave me something. Some of the stories were longer and thus more fleshed out and intricate. The shorter stories gave you glimpses into different realities, but still managed to leave their mark on you, often in a profound way. The collection awoke feelings of unease, horror, anger, love, helplessness and compassion. But it was also full of insightful ideas and lines that really stuck with me. Some that reflect the more general way of the world and some very personal.

I especially enjoyed the unique story formats of “Comments on Your Provisional Patent Application for an Eternal Spirit Core” and “Abeokuta52”. It’s inspiring how Talabi manages to convey a whole world, intricate characters and a moving story in formats such as a blog post + comments and a patent application form.

I genuinely cannot pick a favourite out of these 16 stories. They all speak to me and move me in some way. I am so happy I was drawn to this book by its gorgeous cover and interesting blurb. I will be rereading these stories over and over.

This is a collection of short stories that span different genres, formats and writing eras in Talabi’s life. “Tends to Zero” makes me think of Sandman and N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became. “Silence” feels like a minutes-long ad for a perfume. Others have profound moral depth and ethical reach. My favorites are the science fiction stories. I love “Debut” for the images of AI art disrupting the world, “Lights in the Sky” for pulling the reader into the narrative. “Performance Review” was thrilling, and I can totally see this as an episode in “Black Mirror” or “The Twilight Zone”. I enjoy the complexity of “Ganger” the most. The narrative moves so well, so fluidly between the folktale legend of Awori and the future tale of Laide. Talabi’s friend Bankole is credited with the story seed in the Author’s notes, which I find super cool– like other great writers, Talabi works well with creative collaboration, pulling from and riffing on legends, folklore, and his friend’s ideas. My second close favorite is the final story, “A Dream of Electric Mothers” where important decisions are taken to the collective memory, which has roots in the use of oracles as well as in a future where a collective memory can be stored and accessed. The author notes are a must read for this story. I think that’s what this collection ultimately brings us: connection between the critical tales that make up a culture and the same tales embedded in the future. Very cool.

For me, an anglo female living in the California Bay Area, this book was delightful as a window into another region of the world. I loved reading the science fiction stories because I got the same feeling reading Talabi as I did when reading Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles: a sense of awe and amazement and fear as well. Good speculative fiction should make you wary. I especially appreciate Talabi’s Author Notes at the end, where he explains the origins and some of the concepts he explores in each of the stories. In his notes on “Performance Review” he delves into his experiences with the ethics of AI in writing. I found this and the rest of the notes insightful and enlightening.

Reader Advisory: I looked up many terms to orient myself to the Nigerian geography and culture. I recommend reading Nigerian folktales, mythology and history for a better connection to the stories. Additionally, I am finally reading Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart thanks to Talabi’s story “Embers.” To summarize, do some research while you read. You’ll be able to enjoy the stories more if you do. AND DON’T SKIP THE AUTHOR NOTES!

My many thanks to DAW Books and Netgalley for access to the ARC. As I hope you can tell, any opinions presented herein are my own. I’m not receiving any kind of douceur for my review.

I'm not one for SF short stories because much of it tends to go over my head but truly enjoyed this. Some of my favorites were Saturday's Song, Lights In The Sky, Ganger and Performance Review. I will definitely read more of this author's work.

Initially, I was making a list of my favorite stories so that I could name the standout entries. All anthologies have some stories I like more and some I like less, but here's the thing... a list of the stories that were 5-star entries for me would pretty closely resemble the table of contents. This whole collection is really strong, and it's an easy five stars from me.

Not only was each piece quite solid, they worked well together. They vary pretty widely in length, too. "Lights in the Sky" is an excellent flash fiction, "Tend to Zero" is a fantastic mid-length piece with notes of NK Jemisin's stories of cities personified, and the novella at the core of this book, while not my favorite piece, touched on many of the larger themes that cropped up in the other pieces. Some stories have a more fantastical bent, others are classic scifi, and all of them have Afrofuturist components that would make this book a good fit for fans of Nnedi Okorafor and Tlotlo Tsamaase's utopias-turned-dystopian.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. I'm looking forward to reading Talabi's entry in Africa Risen when I read it sometime later this year. Definitely going to pick up more of his work in the future!