Masquerade
core novel 2024 Masquerade
Record
| First published | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.89 (5,081 ratings, collected 2026-08-28) |
| Page count | 352 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781250904294 |
Synopsis
Masquerade reframes the Persephone myth in a reimagined fifteenth-century West Africa. Ododo, a nineteen-year-old blacksmith from Timbuktu skilled in a craft normally reserved for men, is abducted from her market stall in broad daylight and taken on a grueling journey across the Sahara to the distant capital of Sangote, with no explanation offered for why she alone has been targeted. Upon arriving, she learns that her kidnapper is Oba Diori Silue, the region's formidable warrior king, who has brought her to his court for reasons tied to prophecy and power rather than simple abduction. Stripped of everything familiar and thrust into a court steeped in politics and magic she barely understands, Ododo must find her footing in Sangote and decide how to survive, and perhaps even wield influence, in a world that has upended everything she once knew.
Where it sits
- Universe: Masquerade
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: O.O. Sangoyomi
Awards (verified)
- British Fantasy Award (Best Fantasy Novel (Robert Holdstock Award)), 2025: won; Won over a shortlist that included Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan, The Green Man's War by Juliet E. McKenna, Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan, and A Shadow Over Haven by David Green. The award body's own site was not reachable for this research pass; the win is corroborated instead against a dedicated awards-tracking database's year page for this award, which independent trade coverage of the same result agrees with.
Notes
- A standalone historical fantasy reimagining of the Yoruba orisha Oya set in the Oyo Empire; the author's debut novel.
Sources
- Biblio.com listing, Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi (Forge, 2024)
- https://www.gpb.org/blogs/narrative-edge/2025/09/23/masquerade-by-oo-sangoyomi
- Science Fiction Awards Database, British Fantasy Awards 2025
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