Tordotcom is thrilled to announce that Jonathan Strahan has acquired In the Shadow of the Fall and a second novella in a planned duology titled Guardian of the Gods, penned by Tobi Ogundiran. Tobi’s short fiction has been nominated for the Nommo, Shirley Jackson, Ignyte, and BSFA Awards, and his short story “The Lady of the Yellow-Painted Library”, published in the NAACP Image Award-nominated anthology Africa Risen, was featured on the hit podcast Levar Burton Reads.
The deal for World English rights was brokered by Alexander Cochran at C&W.
Ashâke is an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, waiting for the day she becomes a full priest and can go out into the world to serve her orisha. But there is just one problem.
The orisha have refused to speak to her. Not for lack of trying. She’s watched her peers enter the Inner Sanctum—where they’re chosen and bestowed favor by the orisha—and emerge as full priests. She’s endured the jeers and ridicule of younger acolytes, she’s suffered the pity of the senior priests, she’s wallowed in self-pity. No more.
In her desperation, Ashâke builds a device to trap an orisha—any orisha. But when she performs the Rite of Summoning, she experiences a vision so terrible it destroys the device in a blaze of fire, draws the attention of a powerful enemy sect, and thrusts Ashâke into the center of cascading events that will shatter the very foundations of her world.
From author Tobi Ogundiran:
Sometime in 2020 I saw in my mind’s eye a young woman kneeling in the gloomy hall of an ancient temple, praying before the effigy of a silent god. I knew this god was a Yoruba orisha. And I sought to know why. This duology is my long-winded attempt to answer all the questions swirling about that image. In the Shadow of the Fall is about faith, and its insidious manipulation; about belief and how the stories we are told shape our worldview; about secrets and lies and truths and the precarious balance in which they exist. It also includes all the trappings of fantasy literature that I love. I had a ton of fun writing this, and I can’t wait for readers to dive into this world.
From editor Jonathan Strahan:
I read Tobi Ogundiran’s first stories in The Dark, FIYAH, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies and I was immediately entranced by his rich and powerful work. I knew then that I wanted to work with him, and when he first sent me In the Shadow of the Fall it was obvious that it was something special. Tobi’s story is rich, dark, and compelling, but filled with life and light and humour, and I think readers are going to be absolutely captivated by it. I can’t wait for readers to meet Ashâke and to find out what happens next!
In the Shadow of the Fall and Book 2 will be published in quick succession in 2024.
Tobi Ogundiran is the author of the highly anticipated Jackal, Jackal (Undertow 2023). His short fiction has appeared in several Year’s Best anthologies, and in anthologies such as Africa Risen and The Book of Witches. Tobi has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Nommo Award. Nigerian by extraction and Wanderlust by persuasion, he’s called many places home, including Lagos, Russia, and now Oxford, Mississippi. When he’s not crafting wondrous worlds, he works as a physician. Find him at tobiogundiran.com and @tobi_thedreamer on Twitter.
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