Convergence Problems

Whether exploring artificial intelligences that create true art, following people who cross the uncanny valley to inhabit nearly human-looking robots, or inviting Shigidi from his own fantasy novel into a story, this collection of Talabi’s (Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon) short fiction melds technology with folklore, spirituality, and politics—sometimes all three at once. His speculative fiction often experiments with structure, presenting, for instance, a story passed through days of the week, a blog post where much of the story progresses between the comments or even a patent form. This creates no trouble for the narrator, Ben Arogundade, who even narrates the conversational tones of the author notes. As several stories take place in Nigeria—though there are journeys through space, dreams, and an alternate version of the world—Arogundade performs the dialogue accordingly. His narration smoothly transitions between exposition and worldbuilding, character moments, and legends, creating a cohesive, incredibly pleasing auditory experience. His outstanding performance may cause issues if listeners need to make a choice between punctuality or finishing Ganger, the addictive novella within.