” a spectacular heist story which ranges from the streets of Lagos to the rooftop bars of Singapore and the secret spaces of London” The Bookseller, May 2023
starts out as a minor nightmare god of the Yoruba religion. He gets his assignments from superior gods and goddesses, particularly thunder god, Sango. He hates his job of bringing nightmares and death to the enemies of those who pray hard enough. The religion is run like a company—just as other religions are—not by people, but by the gods that they worship. When Shigidi meets succubus, Nneoma, during one of his assignments and she offers him a different life, he surprises himself by agreeing. Nneoma becomes his lover and reshapes him to a beautiful, powerful humanlike form, which still needs spirit power to survive. Instead of waiting for prayers, they go out to get those spirits themselves. This brings them in conflict with his old bosses, which leads to a violent and spectacular conflict. Later, while on holiday, Shigidi and Nneoma are approached by the founder and returned CEO of Shigidi’s former spirit-company, and contracted to help steal a precious artefact from the British Museum. In return, Shigidi is offered revenge against his nemesis, Sango. Shigidi and Nneoma have to enlist help from an insider to the London occult and deal with their own relationship issues while avoiding the dangers that come with trying to retrieve something from a place protected by powerful, ancient magic.
Title: SHIGIDI AND THE BRONZE HEAD of OBULAFON
Rights: World English pre-empted sold to DAW (USA), UK to Gollancz Publishing
Word Count: approx. 85.000
Planning: August 2023
Author: Wole Talabi