Fantasy Novella Review: In the Shadow of the Fall by Tobi Ogundiran

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 23, 2024 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

In the Shadow of the Fall is the first half of a West African myth inspired fantasy duology by author Tobi Ogundiran. The story follows (a few interludes aside) the 22 year old Ashâke, who has lived seemingly her whole life in a Temple to the Orisha...Orishas she is distressed to be unable to hear, which causes her to take desperate measures that reveal the world isn't what she knows...and into conflict with an enemy who seeks to destroy the very gods she was raised to follow.

It's an intriguing setup and told very well, although it does very much seem like the first half of the story....so it might not be satisfying enough on its own for some readers (I'm kind of torn on this myself). But I enjoyed it enough that I'll probably be back for the conclusion next year.

More specifics after the jump:
Plot Summary:  

Ashâke is 22 seasons old and yet still an Acolyte at the Temple of the Orishas...despite the fact that all of her peers were five years into their own priesthoods. The reason is that she alone cannot hear the Orishas and she finds that silence agonizing. And so she resorts to a desperate measure: engaging in a dangerous and forbidden ritual to summon and bind an Orisha to get answers.

But when the ritual goes wrong and she finds herself punished on account of it by the High Priestess of all people, Ashâke has had enough...of the Temple and of the Orishas themselves. And so she finds a way to escape into the world she knows so little about - a world filled with peoples who might be friendlier and kinder than she could ever hope, but also filled with monsters who seek to destroy all that she was at once brought to believe in.....

With the exception of a pair of interludes, both which feature an early look at the mentality and powers of an antagonist (although one is set from the POV of a good supporting character), In the Shadow of the Fall is told from the perspective of Ashâke, its protagonist. And that's an effective way to tell the story, as Ashâke is a very understandable and enjoyable protagonist: she's a well meaning if impulsive person who is desperate to not be alone as the last acolyte and to find answers to why she seems to be forsaken. And when those answers never come, she (with some pushing) sets out to the rest of the world in hopes of finding the one friend she once had before she left to be a priestess...an impulsive, not well thought out decision, but one that's easily understandable.

Add to that solid main character a West-African myth inspired world featuring Orisha, an Orisha-killing cult, and a loving and kind community of griots who keep and spread the world's history, and you have a really intriguing setup for a story here. The only question I have and one I am not really sure my feelings on, is if this novella is satisfying as a story....because it's so clearly just the first half of the story, with the conflict only just established before the story ends. And yet, the novella ends at a reasonable stopping point, at a point where Ashâke is taking new steps into the world to face the unknown, with the issues of her earlier panic resolved, so it is kind of satisfying. Overall, I think I would recommend this novella, and will be coming back for the second half of the story.