I enjoyed the author’s storytelling! I was immediately engaged from the first page. This was a fun and quick read and I’m looking forward to book two!

Thank you to Netgalley and TorDotCom for this novella!

A quick and engaging novella that can be read in one sitting! Even though it's short it accomplished a lot in its world-building, and I really loved the main character. Since it's so short and has an open ending, it feels more like an introduction or a prequel, but no it's the first installment of a series. I wanted it to slow down a little more and luxuriate in the details but I still really enjoyed this and would recommend it. Maybe we'll get that in the next installment. An exciting voice in fantasy for sure!

I really enjoyed the African-inspired world building and I loved learning about the mythology. For a novella, the world building was fairly comprehensive and I could really see this world with acolytes and orishas. However, I unfortunately struggled to connect with the protagonist which prevented me from enjoying this more.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Absolutely devoured this.

Such a well crafted novella-the world building felt immersive and lush even though the book is just over 100 pages.

Ashâke is an accolade at an Orisha temple but has been overlooked and shamed for not being chosen as a priestess by the gods. She is punished and runs away to find that what she had previously learned of the gods was not the whole truth.

I love African mythology and was so invested in this novella. I could have handled a much longer story even tho this was done in a way that left you wanting more but not because it left anything out. The characters were incredibly developed and instantly engaging, I am so excited to see how this ends in the next book.

Thank to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for an eARC.

I’ve read Tobi Ogundiran’s short fiction before—The Nine Jars of Nukulu, which was published in The Book of Witches edited by Jonathan Stahan and illustrated by Alyssa Winans. So, when I heard about his 2024 novella, In the Shadow of the Fall, I knew it was going to be at the top of my list for July releases. And like The Nine Jars of Nukulu, Ogundiran packs a lot into this novella’s pages.

It begins with Ashâke, an acolyte, attempting to and ultimately failing at a desperate bid to bind an orisha. Sounds bad, right? The story makes it abundantly clear her sentiments were unwittingly fostered by her feelings of being rejected and ostracized for failing in areas where other acolytes had succeeded. She wanted to belong in the only place she’s ever known. So the epiphany she has, her crisis of faith—for lack of better words—that desire and her failings, is why I found her instantly sympathetic and likeable as a character.

The story is pretty fast paced and it doesn’t stay in one setting, even so it never felt rushed. The world building was one of my favorite aspects. I was engrossed with following Ashâke’s journey as she discovered the nuance of a history she once believed she was well versed in. And I liked how Ogundiran turned her understanding upside down as well as how the information was imparted to me, the reader. It was often through song, storytelling, and conversations between the characters.

This, however, was by no means a light story. Every secret was consequential, and it got pretty dark at times, what with how the villains operated.

That being said, In the Shadow of the Fall was excellent.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Tordotcom) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

In The Shadow of the Fall by Tobi Ogundiran is a Nigerian fantasy novella. The book is quite packed for a novella, vivid and with interesting twists, The book is interesting overall, but also a little confusing for me. Possibly because I am Yoruba and it is a novella, some dots didn't connect for me. Thank you, Net Galley and Tor Publishing for giving me the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the e-arc!

In the Shadow of the Fall follows Ashâke who wishes to become a priestess that serves the Orisha. Although her passion is strong, she struggles with communicating to the Orisha. Her attempt to summon them sets her on a journey of discovery. This book suprised me will how well it was able to give a well rounded story with a short page count. Immediately, the audience is thrown into Ashake's life as an acolyte and how she is willing to risk everything to see the truth. I had a good time with this read and i am ready to read the sequel to see how this will end. If you are looking for a short fantasy series, then check this title out it won't disappoint.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC to me in exchange for my honest review.

WOW! This novella has me upset because I want more!! In a short time, the author created a beautiful world that I could see and hear as I read. I didn’t have to wait long for the story to unfold. Our main character, Ashake, is an acolyte, desperate to hear from any Orisha who will speak to her. I grieved for Ashake as she experienced what she thought to be their rejection and the shame of it. Even the creepy and frightening antagonist drew me in. I found myself quickly beginning to care about the other characters, even though Ashake drove me crazy through a lot of the story. The spin on the songs of the Griots may have been my favorite part. This was a beautiful, captivating and satisfying read! I am already invested in the hero’s journey I am quite sure the author will lead Ashake through in the rest of the series.

The author plunges readers directly into this story, and I loved every moment of it. The novella's setting is captivating, and the pacing is impeccable. I felt as if I were physically present in this world alongside the protagonist, Ashâke. Every character, regardless of how brief their appearance, is well-developed and feels entirely authentic, as though I were reading a historical account. I'm thoroughly invested! I eagerly anticipate the second book in this series.

A heartfelt thank you to the NetGalley team and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I devoured this book in almost one sitting, it was that good. It is a shorter novella, but the flow and story were captivating. I've already preordered the second book, I'm that excited.

Ashâke leads a sheltered life as an acolyte, waiting for the day when she will become a priestess and spread the word of the orisha. The trouble is several seasons have passed and she still hasn't heard the orisha speak to her. When she tries to summon and trap an orisha, her hold world comes crumbling down.

Ashâke is a character you can root for; this book has a lot of twists for a novella and our girl never gives up. Because this book is so short, I don't want to give too much away. The plot was solid and mostly made sense. The only issue I had was that the temple knew that there was a force out in the world trying to end the orisha, but the priests/priestess seemed very unprepared. I get this sets up Ashâke for her hero's journey, but it just felt very naive.

Overall, this is a great quick read, I can't wait to see what the second book holds.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor books for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

Ashâke is an acolyte who has been training and waiting for the day she hears the call of the orisha signaling it’s time for her to ascend to priesthood. After being passed over and not chosen, she feels snubbed and is desperate to make contact with any orisha. As she tries to summon and trap one, she is caught by the high priests. This type of contact with the orisha is forbidden, so she is punished for her attempts. Deciding to leave the temple, she learns so much more than she could’ve anticipated about the dangerous people (and celestial beings) lurking just outside the temple walls.

This is such a promising story! The things I really loved about this story: the worldbuilding, the characterization, and the INTRIGUE! Things I wanted from this story: MORE OF IT. I think my biggest qualm throughout the entire novella is that I wanted this to be a novel-length story. The world and the characters are so rich, but it fell flat for me in such a brief storytelling format. I wanted to see even more depth and dimension to the characters while getting more backstory about the world to be fully immersed. Instead, I frequently felt pulled from the story due to the rushed plot. I will still gladly come back for the second half of this duology and am intrigued to see how Ogundiran fleshes out the rest of this story.

I enjoyed the setting of this novella. The writing was nice. The characters were decently complex given the length of this story.

However I struggled to become engrossed or engaged with the story itself. It's one I appreciated but didn't entirely love.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Tobi Ogundiran, the award winning short fiction author, has produced his debut epic fantasy, the first part of which is the novella, In the Shadow of the Fall. It is a beautifully rendered story about a young acolyte of the orisha whose attempt to commune with the gods triggers a sequence of events that almost brings an end to the world she has been raised in. My only reservation is that this world shaking story is fitted into the confines of a novella that sometimes can’t quite handle the load. But more of that later. First, there is so much to enjoy in the quest of Ashâke to make contact with the orisha of the Nigerian pantheon. There are gods, priests, griots, witches, shape-shifting beings and a strong plot with a lot of action that leads up to a natural pause setting up a second book.

The story begins with the twenty-two year-old Ashâke sneaking out of the temple where she has been raised and trying to summon a god on her own. Bitterly disappointed after five attempts to rise to priesthood and failing each time to hear the voices of the orisha, she tries to achieve the same thing on her own. Of course, this is forbidden by all the rules of the temple and leads to a disaster in which she is nearly killed. After being nursed back to health by a witch doctor, she is taken before the High Priestess where she argues forcefully to save herself from banishment.

Though saved by the decision of the High Priestess, she is confined for a time to the food cellars deep below the temple. With the help of a bird spirit, she finds a way to escape and marches out of the temple to find her own way in the world. Of course, she is all bravado and has no plan at all for how to survive.

She soon runs into a clan of griots who welcome her with open arms, as they do all stray people in need of a home. The griots carry with them human memory stretching back to its creation, and, when they sing, their music and words put the listener in the midst of the scenes they describe as if they were really there. But when they sing of the fall of the orisha and the destruction of these gods, Ashâke is stunned because she has devoted her whole life to the temple and beliefs based on the existence of the orisha. She cannot grasp the idea that a malevolent force centuries ago had destroyed them in their sacred home. So, while the griots give Ashâke a warm home and family, they take away the basis of her beliefs.

It’s at that point in the story that I started to have problems, as several key revelations come crowding upon Ashâke in too brief a space. The middle section of the novella seemed to me to need more development to give the main character time to react and absorb a series of shocks. But they come thick and fast and turn her world upside down more than once. Ashâke, for me, in that section seems so gullible and so desperate for mothering that I started to lose interest in her as a character. But fortunately, once the dust settles again, the last part of the story is well told and perfectly paced to take us up to an excellent point of departure for the second novella in this series.

In the Shadow of the Fall has so much going for it that I could get beyond that crowded and rushed middle section. The descriptions of Ashâke’s world make everything tangible and real. The visions of the orisha are stunning, and the final action sequence shows Ashâke coming into her power in a compelling way. I look forward to the second book and hope it arrives soon.

Amazing for a novella to pack so much. Loved the characters, world, pacing. And the ending!!! The ending was so good!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

3.5

the setting of the story was really interesting. I liked the world and the possibilities of what's to come.

I enjoyed reading this novella! I thought that the plot was interesting and look forward to reading more as this book definitely left me with more questions at the end. However, I kind of felt dropped into the action. All of a sudden there's all these reveals and action, and the story definitely goes from 0 to 100 really quick. I also wished for more development from Ashâke's character. She's supposed to be 22 years old, but she behaves younger than that. Either way, I had a good time and I look forward to the sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you Net Galley for this arc!

It’s always the shortest books that pack a punch. This novella was enjoyable, I do wish it was a little longer but if you love African mythology and a cosmic war between the gods you are gonna eat this right up.

I have two gripes with this book. First, because it was a novella there didn’t seem to be much character development. Ashâke’s action and attitude made it hard to root for her. She is majorly lacking in self awareness or empathy for most of the story.

This brings me to my second gripe, I wanted more! The premise is so good that all my dislike of Ashâke doesn’t matter because I need to see where this story goes. I am eagerly awaiting At the Fount of Creation.

This is a fast-paced adventure following Ashâke, an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, who has had to struggle for the opportunity to be made a priestess and officially begin serving the orisha. She is an older acolyte, yet the orisha refuse to speak to her. She decides to take drastic measures and attempt to trap an orisha into speaking with her. In the process, she unintentionally draws the attention of an enemy of the priesthood and finds herself in the midst of an ancient war between gods.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding present in this story, and was really impressed with the author's ability to make us care about characters within just a few sentences. Since it's a novella, we didn't necessarily have time to get to know every character, but I felt I had a good understanding of each one on the page. At the same time, that made the book feel a bit rushed to me. I would have loved to see it unfold more, and leave me as the reader time to solve some of the mysteries alongside Ashâke rather than having the characters explain to me exactly what was happening in the world.

Thank you to Net Galley and Tor for the ARC. This was such an intriguing novella. Its so fast paced, each chapter leaves you longing for more answers. I loved the world building and I desperately want to know how the story continues.