Wole Talabi’s name should already be familiar to regular followers of Skiffy & Fanty. We interviewed him recently on the podcast to discuss his novel Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. Paul, Trish, and Shaun were all impressed with that book, and Shaun subsequently highlighted it as his favorite book pick for 2023 during our annual “Looking Back, Looking Forward” episode to start this year. While I was perhaps less ecstatic than they all were, I also liked the novel overall and favorably reviewed it on my own blog. And I was eager to read his newly published second collection of short fiction, Convergence Problems from DAW, particularly to get a greater look at Talabi’s approach to science fiction compared to the fantasy of Shigidi.
Even if you haven’t kept up with us, you may recognize Wole Talabi’s name, or some of the stories in this collection, from among the major SF short fiction markets. That isn’t to say that everything found here is recycled, so even the most widely read out there will find something new here, and something of significance. The centerpiece to Convergence Problems is “Ganger,” a novella that frames the basic elements of a Yoruba folktale alongside dystopian SF where a young girl seeks freedom from an enclosed, strictly regimented, urban landscape by having her consciousness uploaded into a drone. The novella has multiple levels of themes and succeeds spectacularly with its length and pacing, telling a pair of parallel stories that each captivate.
Aspects of Yoruba traditions and Nigerian politics or culture feed into the majority of Talabi’s stories in Convergence Problems, both long and short. “Nigerian Dreams” is one that I particularly enjoyed that directly addresses matters of Nigerian identity, the hopes and devastations of its politics, and the diaspora of residents, such as Talabi. It reads as one of the more personal, emotional selections of his writing here, and it resonates positively, even if filled with some melancholy.
Sadness and pessimism are not defining characteristics of the stories here. The title of the collection comes from Talabi’s enjoyment of building speculative stories from unexpected difficulties that arise between conceptualization of advancements (such as a technology) and their implication. Yet even with the difficulties that may arise, Talabi (true to his vocation as an engineer) paints technology with optimism (and humanity in general as well) even with the “convergence problems” that may arise in reality. “An Arc of Electric Skin”, another story steeped in politics, carries this characteristic of shining hope even through tragedy. “Blowout” offers a story in the vein of hard SF that nonetheless rests on a foundation of human (and familial) resilience: a woman seeking to save her brother.
One of the unexpected highlight stories for me was “Saturday’s Song.” I thought at first it would be too gimmicky, overly long, and I wasn’t keen on one part of the story consisting of verse. It also stands out from most of the other stories as being firmly fantasy rather than SF. However, the story proved an exception to all of those expectations, perhaps because how emotionally powerful it was. It’s also a story that is certain to please fans of Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, as the titular Yoruba deity appears in this as well. Other stories in the collection were less successful for me personally, such as a pair utilizing the second-person voice and a pair structured as blog post (or similar) entries.
On the other hand I adored “Tends to Zero,” a narrative that is just a smidge unconventional by including mathematical equations as section headers. I respect math, but am not brilliant or a natural at it. This story was one of the cases where I really appreciated the author notes on each story that appear as an appendix to the collection. I read each of these after completing a story. For “Tends to Zero,” reading the explanations of the equations drew me back to rereading the short story and I adored it more.
The collection ends with “A Dream of Electric Mothers”, a previously published, multiple award-winning story. While I can see why it won accolades, I personally found myself drawn to many of the other selections here far more. This is inevitable in any collection. But if you are one of those who have read this story and remember it fondly, I would definitely take that as a reason to seek out Convergence Problems and discover some more excellent works.
The collection also begins strongly with the aptly titled “Debut.” I found myself rereading it again after completing, a practice I sometimes have to do when first dipping into a book, whether a chapter of a novel or a first short story. If I had just flown on after the first read, I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I did. So it may not be a ‘simple’ or light read to acclimate readers at the start. But it does capture the overriding themes of the collection in a clever way. You can read this first story from the collection for free online. That should give anyone completely unfamiliar with Talabi’s writing a good introduction.
Cover art and design by Jim Tierney.
