I can sum it up in one phrase. I wanted more! Given the length of the book there is some lacking in character development. The reader has to make a lot of assumptions and form their own idea of the characters. For me, this made it difficult to feel immersed in the story and the characters for a good portion of the first part of the novella. I found it difficult to feel connected and engaged with Ashâke. The world building is a bit rushed as well; however, with basis in mythology it was pretty easy to fill in some of the blanks. I think that could have only been solved by maybe another 50 to 100 pages. Despite that, I hung in and quickly was quickly swept up in the action following the big reveal. From that point I couldn't put it down. This is a part one of a duology. I'm curious to read the second and see where the story leads. I am also interested in discovering if the two together would have made an excellent full length novel. The writing is really good. I loved the way Ogundiran wove together the story. It definitely was a fun read.

"In the Shadow of the Fall," the first volume in Tobi Ogundiran's Guardians of the Gods series, is a compelling novella that explores the intense journey of Ashâke, an acolyte desperate to become a priestess. Unlike her peers, Ashâke struggles with a painful reality—she cannot communicate with the divine forces she is meant to serve.

Driven by frustration, Ashâke makes a risky decision to summon and trap a deity, but instead, she experiences a terrifying vision that thrusts her into a centuries-old conflict. This vision not only alters her fate but also draws the attention of a powerful enemy, placing her at the center of a dangerous and high-stakes battle.

Ogundiran’s writing is vivid and engaging, effectively bringing Ashâke’s world to life. Despite its shorter length, the novella delivers a richly layered story with tight pacing and strong character development.

Ashâke should be a priestess by now, but while all of her peers have ascended into service, she’s still an acolyte, toiling away at menial tasks in a remote, isolated temple. Desperation leads her to try to call on the orishas directly, but instead of binding the gods to her will, Ashâke discovers incredible things about the state of the spiritual world and her place in it. All of this leads her on a quest full of surprising truths, new friends, and frighteningly nasty villains.

There are so many things to love about this novella (the first in a planned duology),

Ashâke is the chosen one, bound to gain power and knowledge and focus, and while it doesn’t necessarily feel earned yet, it does fit into a sense of a much larger world happening around our heroine. Here’s hoping the next book takes us further into that world and solidifies her place in it. I’m certainly looking forward to whatever comes next.

This is a great novella that has enough world building for the novella length and character depth that doesn't feel you wanting more. The cosmic african mythology is really good and I cannot wait for the second book!

I enjoyed my experience with this book. I was rooting for Ashâke the whole time and enjoyed seeing her discover her true potential. I also did not see the ending coming, that was a fun twist. I am looking forward to more from the author. 

Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

⭐️: 5 / 5

Publication Date: August 6, 2024

I want to thank Tor Publishing and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Some of the coolest aspects of this story, was following the FMC’s journey. She’s a young woman trying to escape a life she’s only ever known for the past 22 years. While this book is short it takes you on quite the journey from there.

As for my reservations, I only wish this could have been a bit longer. I knew going into it that it would be shorter but I still was left wanting more at the end.

Overall I thought this was a spectacular novella. The opening chapter hooks you into following the rest of the journey. There’s twists and turns throughout that kept me engaged the whole way through, and I absolutely enjoyed the ending. It left me waiting eagerly for the next installment in the series.

Would recommend for those who are fans of
- Character driven stories
- Mythological stories
- Spirits
- Short chapters

⚠️ violence

Man, if this would have been a full length novella, I could easily see this being a 5 star read. As a novella I give it 3.5.

I loved the plot and the setting. It was just hard for me to fully get behind the characters and their motives because it simply wasn’t enough time to flesh those things out. There were events that took place that should have pulled some type of emotion out of me but I simply didn’t care enough about the characters because I didn’t get to know them. The interlude parts and going back in time were necessary for the world building but it felt jarring at times and took me out of the story.

The writing was excellent, the story line superb… it just needed more room to breathe. There is a burning question that I need answered so I’ll definitely be reading the second one.

Thank you NetGalley and Tordotcom for the e-arc.

Ashâke is an acolyte biding her time, waiting for her accession to Priestess. In the temple of Ifa the acolytes must wait to be spoken to by the orisha, in order to ascend and be given the honour of spreading the word and serving them throughout the Kingdom. She gets impatient and takes matters into her own hands but her summoning goes wrong and her actions set into action the coming of things way bigger than herself and powers determined to bring the end.

This book was so compelling I could not put it down. The author did such a fantastic job of putting so much characterization, and world building into the length of a novella. The plot was fast paced but did not gloss over important details. The writing was truly phenomenal. I just wanted a little bit more as I do with all novellas, but I cannot wait for the follow up and to continue to learn about this world and characters.

I wanted to like this book but the character development was really lacking and I just could not find a connection with the characters.

Genre: epic fantasy novella

A novella length debut from Tobi Ogundiran. This trend of epic fantasy tucked into a novella length story is one that I absolutely adore, not only because it's easier to consume in shorter form, but because it showcases an author's skill at concise worldbuilding. In the Shadow of the Fall borrows from Yoruba legends to create a vibrant and terrifying clash between people and gods.

Ashâke, acolyte in the temple of Ifa, is desperate to summon an orisha, so performs an illicit ceremony. When the priests catch her, she's punished. Escaping to the wider world, though, leads to knowledge Ashâke isn't ready to hear.

I picked up the audiobook, which is narrated by Channie Waites (who also narrated Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark), and it was a treat! I love the way she brings characters to life through voice acting, lending a subtle air of terror to the story overall.

4.5🌟 This is a really quick and interesting fantasy novella based on African, Ifa, mythology. We meet Ashake, an acolyte, who is attempting to live her life in devotion to the Orishas, unfortunately, things don't go as expected and she is thrust into a whirlwind journey to find her place within her faith. This story is short but mighty! If you love fantasy novels and desire something with an intense storyline with unexpected twists and turns, then I absolutely recommend this book. I'm so excited to get my hands on the next book in this story to see where Ashake's journey takes her next. I know the conclusion is going to be epic!!!

Also, the cover art of this book and the next are absolutely stunning!!! I'll will definitely be getting physical copies to decorate my book shelves.

Thank.you, Netgalley and Tor publishing for providing an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found the setting of the story to be really interesting. I think the writing is really well done... however I really couldn't get into this story and it prevented me from wanting to finish it. I really didn't love the characters and because of that I had to DNF.

"For fans of N. K. Jemisin and Tomi Adeyemi" was all I needed to hear to be excited about In The Shadow of the Fall. In addition to stunning wordbuilding, this prose is stunning and captivating. If you're a novella reader, you're in for a treat! And it you don't typically read novellas, this is absolutely the standard.

Thank you NetGalley and Tordotcom for offering me an Arc of In the Shadow of the Fall!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc! 4/5 stars, an amazing novella that I'm excited to see more of!

we love to see new mythology enter the fantasy world! I'm not very familiar with west african mythology but it was super interesting to see in a new fantasy. ogundiran does a really great job of establishing the world and fleshing it out, especially given that it's a novella. some fantasy suffers from confusing world building that you only understand ten chapters in but ogundiran's world building is precise and well explained, but also very descriptive and lush. ashake is also a very vivid character - you feel her emotions as she experiences them, and she's very well written. she did annoy me at times, but given her situation and circumstances, her reactions are totally understandable. I do think because this is a novella, it does suffer a little from length - we move through ashake's emotions so quickly that you almost get whiplash from how quickly she swings from one to another. I think a full length novel would've allowed us to sit in ashake's emotions for longer, for her to fully digest what she's feeling after she learns new things, and that would've made her feel more fleshed out. but overall, a wonderful first novella, and I'm definitely gonna be locked in for the second!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. We follow a young woman who after a life of devotion feels abandoned and desperate. She then takes matters into her own hands and things don’t go that way one would anticipate.

Give the shorter length of this book, both the plot and characters were very well mapped and fleshed out. I’m hoping there’s a sequel coming because it definitely does not feel resolved!

Thank you to Tor for the review copy. My opinions are my own.

This was a fast paced novella that is at points confusing, but the twists I didn't see coming, but thinking back there were signs. This is a story that I think reading a couple of times would not be a hardship because there is so much packed into the 160 page story. I thought I knew what was going on but I am left with a bunch of questions about some of the people and what was going on, so I hope my questions get answered in the next novella.

Recommend for those who like interesting stories and complicated mythos, but also those who love mysteries with a magical bent.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetFalley for the e-ARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars, rounded up

Rep: Black girl protagonist, Black characters, pantheon of Orishas, Western-Africa folklore

TW: violence, massacre, religious piety, death, brutalization of children
I thought this book review was going to be late, but fortunately I mixed up the NetGalley archive date with the publishing date! I absolutely loved this book and I saw that the sequel, AT THE FOUNT OF CREATION (and conclusion, as this is a duology) was posted to NetGalley. Once I submit this review I am going to request that one as well.

This is a novella, sitting at about 150 pages, and once again I can count on Tordotcom to deliver a fantastic fantasy novella. I haven’t experienced a miss from them yet, but I digress. We start off by meeting the young, but old for an acolyte, Ashâke. She is questioning her purpose at the temple of Ifa as she has not been spoken to by an Orisha (Deities from the Yoruba religion), so naturally she goes to extreme means to take matters into her own hands. Consequences ensue and she goes on a journey, which leads to some horrifying truths. This one is a little tricky to talk about, because it is short and I don’t want to give away the plot. However, Ogundiran does a great job creating a sense of urgency and foreboding, while introducing us to the world and the characters in a manner that feels authentic and timely.

We met Ashâke and get to spend time with her at the temple. We come to understand the dynamics and the reasoning for why they exist, which lends itself to us understanding Ashâke’s woes and desires. However, this story is dual-pov so we jump around and follow a rather nefarious character, who serves as a counter to Ashâke. The author intelligently utilizes dramatic irony (when the reader is knowledgeable about things the character is not) to heighten our emotions while reading which inherently scopes out the world for us. Ashâke meets a handful of characters along her way, which enlighten her to understand what she was missing and what is at stake. There’s a group of travelers that we meet along the way which add a layer of culture, richness, and community and aid in the dimensions of the world, without Ogundiran having to info-dump. The reader can organically learn about the world through character interactions and their individual histories.

By way of the second point of view character we also get to see the happenings of the Orisha. I think it’s always interesting to learn more about their pantheon, and we come to learn why they are revered and how mortals suffer when gods clash. I’d recommend this series for fans of African fantasy and folktales, adventure, destiny, self-discovery, and lovers of worlds ruled by divine beings.

In the Shadow of the Fall is an exciting and beautifully written novella.

Ashake is an acolyte at the temple, but has yet to ascend to the priesthood. She is older than the other acolytes, and frustrated that the Orisha have not spoken to her yet. After an ill-planned forbidden ritual goes poorly, Ashake is punished and begins to lose faith in the Orisha. She flees the temple, and finds a kind group of nomads who take her in while she questions everything she once knew. Meanwhile, a dark force is threatening the peace of the land and the Orisha themselves. When Asake confronts some truths that leave her shaken, she must make a difficult decision about the path forward.

I really enjoyed this novella! So much so, I was wishing it was longer, as I was completely drawn into the story right from the beginning. The story moved quickly since it is fairly short, and there is a lot of character development and world building throughout. There are a lot of West African influences in this book, and helped create a rich and vibrant world for this story. We follow Asake, who is lively and likable, and I empathized with her struggles with her faith. There are a few exciting twists and plenty of action to keep the plot moving along. I also enjoyed the few alternative POV chapters which provided some interesting background and set things up for the next story. Overall, this was a fast paced and engaging read, and I’m very much looking forward to the next book!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was so good! It's very short but dang the author managed to pack some intricate world building and character depth into this story. The pace was fantastic. It hooked me from the beginning with some strong stakes and kept me compelled with the characters. I had a great time and now I'm on the end of my seat waiting for the sequel!

I feel really bad reviewing this book because there was nothing wrong with it, but I just couldn't get into the story. I guess this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.