Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon
#7533.64 adjusted 3.76 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2023 Reading commitment Low Wole Talabi Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Overview
A standalone Yoruba-mythology-based fantasy heist novel (2023) following Shigidi, a minor Nigerian nightmare god grown tired of his diminished role in the Orisha Spirit Company, and Nneoma, a shapeshifting night spirit and succubus he falls for, as a favor demanded by the god Olorun draws them into a high-stakes plan to steal a legendary artifact, the brass head of Obalufon, from the British Museum, all while evading the Royal British Spirit Bureau. Wole Talabi's debut novel won the 2024 Nommo Award for best novel and was a finalist for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. Talabi is primarily known as a science-fiction short-fiction author; no other work of his shares this continuity.
Mythic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (2023) core · 3.64 (1,674 ratings); A Yoruba-mythology-based fantasy heist novel following the deity Shigidi. Talabi is primarily known as a science-fiction short-fiction author; no other work of his shares this continuity, so this stands as its own self-contained novel rather than part of a series.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon? Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon finished? Complete (2023).
- How much reading does Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~314 pages).
- How is Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon ranked? #753 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,674 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #753?
Ranked #753 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.64 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (1,674 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #752, Harmattan Season (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #753 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Nebula Award (Best Novel), 2024: finalist: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon; 59th Annual Nebula Awards (ceremony 2024, for 2023-published work); verified directly against nebulas.sfwa.org. Winner that year was The Saint of Bright Doors (already admitted to this canon).
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.64 across 1,674 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (Wole Talabi) as a new universe accepted 2026-08-19
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- DAW Books / Penguin Random House (publisher) Tier 1
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wole_Talabi
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19
Rule: Core Canon = the single published novel (2023), a standalone with no announced sequel.