Orishas Among Mortals: Collection 1 by Antoine Bandele is a trio of tales that drop West African deities right into mortal affairs. Across the three stories, one each featuring the Eshu, Oya, and Shango Orishas, we see just how messy it can get when gods become involved with mortals.

This was my first time reading and listening to anything by this author and these narrators. The production was good, and I liked the music and sound effects in places. They were well balanced and did not feel distracting or overwhelming. I also appreciated that with each book in the collection, the author gives a short introduction, explaining that the upcoming story is based on a different book and offering the listener the chance to pause and read it beforehand. While I have not read the related books, I did not feel it took away from these stories, though I can see how it would enhance the experience, and it has made me interested in reading them.

While the first two stories are short and under an hour each in audio, my favourite was the last one, partly because its longer length allowed for greater depth and tension. In Oya’s story, the female narrator’s attempt at a Nigerian accent is a poor imitation of the real thing and would normally distract and take away from the listening experience, but funnily enough, in this case, it did not. My favourite of the three was Shango’s story; the banter between Shango and Thor was highly entertaining, and I particularly enjoyed the intertwining of the Norse god Thor, something I have never encountered before. Coming from West African heritage myself, I have always felt there was a connection between our deities and those in Norse mythology, so seeing that concept explored here was fascinating.

This was a great introduction to Antoine Bandele’s writing, and I am looking forward to reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bandele Books for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook.

Returning to the world of the TJ Young universe felt like slipping into a familiar rhythm—one rich with myth, magic, and emotional depth. Orishas Among Mortals is a vibrant collection of two short stories and a longer novella that expands the lore of the series while offering fresh perspectives on beloved deities like Eshu, Oya, and Shango.
While the first two stories were fast-paced and emotionally resonant, the third novella, though rich in lore, felt slightly choppier in flow. Still, it deepened the stakes and broadened the universe in meaningful ways. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer, this collection is a beautiful way to revisit—or be introduced to—a world where gods walk among mortals and every story pulses with ancestral power.

I’m already craving my next return to this realm.

Everything I didn't like about this was purely my own fault as I didnt understand how integrated into the actual books these stories were. So ignoring that, I had a great time in this world and getting to see the inner thoughts of the orisha when most other african mythology stories I have read we arent seeing their POV.
Listening to this made me add the other books in this world to my library hold immediately and I can't wait to see how these are all connected.

The narrator was incredible and did a great job with multiple characters.

Please note; this review is only for 25% of the audiobook. I've made the decision to not continue with this audiobook, as I did not realise it was connected to another book/series and I feel I would be more immersed if I'd started with the novel, not the short stories.

What I will say is the writing is easy to follow and very funny! Aimed for a younger teen audience, I feel it would be a book/series my Nephew would really enjoy and have already mentioned it to his Mum!

As for the audiobook itself, the Narrators are brilliant! I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a full casted audiobook with sound effects. It made it feel very immersive and honestly, if I was previously properly introduced to the world, it would definitely make a welcome addition to the series!

So I want to start off by saying I was really excited about this book. It sounded so interesting to me and that's why I requested it. However I was offended not even 10% into the book. In the beginning the book mentions how one of the Orishas that was in charge of making humans got drunk and created disabled people, the Orisha stopped making humans after that. I find that to be incredibly inappropriate to insinuate that disabled people are created by mistake, a drunken mistake at that. Because of that I decided not to finish the book. I make it a point to support books form marginalized communities but that support stops when people start putting down other communities. I hope some reflection is done and improvement is made in the future.

This audiobook was amazing! It was published by Bandele Books on 01/31/2024, with a 5 hour and 52 minute run time. I am so thankful for the opportunity to listen to in on NetGalley. It had amazing narrators, John Joseph Rogers abs Nekia Renee Martin provide so much life to these stories. This book was a collection of 3 stories that follow three different deities (Eshu, Oya and Shango) who need help from mortals. This sci-fi fantasy collection of stories is so immersion that you are transported into the stories. I loved not only the narrators, but the music that plays between the stories, made this a 5 star audiobook.

Orisha’s Among Mortals is a collection of short stories and novellas that are connected to the series: TJ Young and the Orisha. This is a new to me author and a new to me world. I enjoyed the audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the world and characters. Antoine definitely knows how to bring the world and the words alive. This was a solid 4 stars for me.

I would like to begin by saying that I understand that the whole idea with novellas like this is to give something more to the people, who are already interested in the series and they are not meant to be an introduction to the series, however, you are not required to read the series before reading the stories, so no one can really stop me.
I found some ideas expressed in the story rather uncomfortable, such as the expressed need to kill your enemies in a war. The impression from the stories is that the Godkillers (I assume it is written like that, as I only had access to the audiobook) are mindless creatures that just attack and might be controlled by something bigger, so we as readers should not feel for their losses, but if something is mindless, you can't have a war with it. My point being - this is a slippery slope.
Further on, there was discussion of how soldiers should follow order and not "venture out of their own volition" which is also a sentiment that is rather dangerous.
Both of the points above were from the last story, but there are also other things, that stood out to me in the other two stories as rather dangerous and problematic opinion. In the first story, we have not only the idea of making "the trickster" into an evil character, but we also have the villain of the story actively making someone go against their beliefs and opinions for their sake (even if in the end we are told that none of it was true, so there is no worry). Yes, I get that this helps to build him into a better villain, but while reading it just felt uncomfortable being in that situation. And in the second story we have amounts of sexism that the alpha male crowd is dreaming about.
In conclusion, this felt icky to read and made me push away from the idea of further reading this author. If you do not mind your author casually dropping some conservative takes - this is a good author to read, the writing is good and the mythology is interesting, but I guess I am just "too woke" for this.

This was my first time reading anything from this author and I loved the pacing and the stories kept me entertained about the TJ Young universe. It feels young and fun with lots of adventures.

This is a collection with two short stories and one a little bigger. What I loved the most was the blend from different mythologies with the West African gods. For a first step to the series this one offers a few spoilers, but all in all, it’s very well explained and fast paced. The narration was so good and had a few interludes that made it so much more.

This was a fun introduction to the world and a great taster for the series. I’m definitely curious to see what the full novels are like.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the review copy.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories, which works well as an introductory to the world of TJ Young and the Orishas. In this YA series Antoine Bandele has created a modern fantasy world that draws on East African Mythology.

I listened to this Audio thanks to netGalley and would recommend it. The narrators embodied the different characters they portrayed, and the incidental music and sound effects really helped to conjure up the rich world Bandele has created.

I liked the interplay of our modern world and technology with the ancient gods and there powers. while the main focus is on the East African god, they existed along side the pantheons of gods from other parts of the world. In "An Axe for a hammer" I particularly liked the bond between Shango and Thor from Norse mythology.

I look forward to continuing this series and know that as a teenager I would have devoured it. While my heritage is Caribbean, I am a part of the African diaspora and then as now appreciated reading African mythology and seeing myself reflected in the stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bandele Books for the ALC of Orishas Among Mortals.

4.5⭐️ - a note that i have listened to the whole collection of stories before reading the rest of the series.

This 3 story collection drew me in immediately and had me wanting to read the whole series! Following the African Gods and their adventures with Norse Gods, this is a thrilling and captivating ride.
The audiobook was fantastic! I loved the immersive quality and the traditional singing in between stories. I also appreciated the Author interludes to let us know that we should read certain books before moving onto the other stories.
My favourite story was that of Eshu and his trickster ways. I thought his character was very entertaining. I thought the length of ‘An Axe For A Hammer’ was slightly too long considering it made up about half of the book. I thought the other two were just small tasters compared to a much fuller third story.
This is a fantastic read for all ages, exploring African and Norse mythology and Gods. I can’t wait to read the rest. I highly recommend this to everybody.

These are fun stories that feature Orisha characters as mythological magical figures from the TJ Young Universe. This has Shango & Thor, Eshu & Obatala and Oya as characters on missions. This works as a fun and dynamic expansion of this story universe. These short stories also function as background to the overall series narrative but are also fully contained and interesting short stories on their own. I think this serves as a fun introduction to the series for new readers.

This audiobook is narrated by Nekia Renee Martin and John Joseph Rogers. These stories have slight sound effects between chapters. The Interludes offer explanations and background on the stories and are vpiced by the author. This is a high quality audiobook production which in my limited experience always makes these more accessible for children.

Thank you to Antoine Bandele, Bandele Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

3⭐ (for now)
This is an absolutely stunning world I've jumped into based on African mythology!

Although the author states you don't necessarily have to read the actual series first, I feel like this would've slapped 100x more if I had read the actual series first. (hence the "for now).

Will definitely be picking up Book #1 of this series soon.

*** the production of this audiobook was TOP TIER! I actually want to consume the whole series in audiobook format because *chef's kiss*

Thank you NetGalley, Bandele Books & Independent Book Publishers Association for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Orishas Among Mortals
Antoine Bandele

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Back in March, I read a great little short story collection by this author - Tales From The Otherworlds - and although I was a little above the target age audience, I really enjoyed exploring this authors fantasy ideas.

This collection includes the 2 short stories and the longer novella which were written to accompany this author's TJ Young series of novels.
Now, these fantasy reads are not normally my go to reads, so I was particularly drawn to these shorter reads rather than the novels - and as such, I did not read these in tandem and haven't read any of the TJ Young series ......yet!

However, I could tell that these stories would fit brilliantly between the novels to add extra background and character development.
That said, I don't think that I was wholly hindered having not followed each with it's novel.

These stories took us to other realms and introduced the Orisha characters to us.
A diverse bunch of Gods based around West African mythology.

The first two short stories were super quick reads and I loved learning about each Orisha and seeing how they interacted both between themselves and also with us mortals.
This quick introduction was just enough to see the characters and little of what they could do - enticing us to read their full story.

I think my favourite story though, was the final novella, which being a longer read, really allowed us a greater insight into both the characters and the overall greater battles that the Orishas are facing.
I loved that this story brought together not only a mix of the Orisha Gods and mortals - but also combines Gods from other realms that we are more familiar with - Thor, who is prominent in this story, being one of my favourites - but we also see Greek and Egyptian Gods featured too.

These are really well written and interesting stories and I could easily fall into the TJ Young series having read these - but they are definitely chunky reads (which scare me slightly!) - one day, I'm determined to overcome this fear and head on in, so watch this space.....


💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

I must say that I truly enjoyed reading this collection of stories. I was captivated from the first page to the last. I must say An Ax For a Hammer was my favorite. The notion of two gods-- Thor and Shango, having a mutual respect for one another to fight together towards a common goal was great to see This was my first read from Antoine Bandele wrote in such a vivid manner that I felt like I was there. I was there when Thor was running out of steps, I was really drawn in; I felt as if I was on the sidelines cheering Thor on; not wanting him to run out of steps because it would mean his end.
Thank you Antoine Bandele and Netgalley for allowing me to review this ARC.

Okay, bear with me, because I do love this universe. I think there's an issue here that I specifically experienced and that might be an issue for other readers, though.

So, I read the first (super short) novella earlier this year. "The Mischief Maker" is supposed come before book 1 in the TJ Young book, but it contains a significant spoiler for that book. Based on that, I read book 2 before picking this up, and was confused because you do actually need to read "The Wind Speaks" for book 2 to make entire sense. And now, I'm about a third of the way through book 3, and I'm so glad that I went back and read "An Axe for a Hammer," because again, it's a bit of a struggle to follow the main novel without this context. I wish this was a little clearer, because even the audiobook suggests reading "Mischief Maker" first.

Especially in "An Axe for a Hammer," we spent a lot of time with the gods in these stories, and I found myself a lot less invested in the cosmic super-powerful god battles than I am in the human characters of the main series. I perked up when Ayo (my favorite character from the series, yesss) popped in for book 3, but the court case kind of dragged on. I understand why we need that for book 3 to make sense, but the pacing was a bit too slow and repetitive as a result.

However! I recommend the TJ Young series for readers of YA, and fans of things like Percy Jackson. This novella collection provided a larger peek at that ever-expanding universe. The audio production is also excellent; I've listened to a lot of audiobooks read by people who can't do different accents to save their lives, and the narrator of "Axe for a Hammer" (John Joseph Rogers?) really knocked it out of the park with the range of voices and accents required.

tl;dr, I do recommend this if you plan to read the main series. If you pick this one up on its own, I think you will be very, very confused. ;)

Thank you to NetGalley and Antoine Bandele for the audio ARC! Antoine's also working with several other authors on an expanded multiseries world in the style of Rick Riordan Presents, and I think TJ Young got optioned for... film? Streaming? Anyway, if this series isn't on your radar, check it out.

In Bandele's work, I thought the stories were well-written and fun to follow, but I felt there were too many interludes. The breaks felt unnecessary based on where they occurred in the story, even though the music and sound effects were unique. I also thought it was a strange choice to have some of the stories within this book be linked to other, separate works; there was a note from the author to stop and read another book before continuing forward. That said, the narration was well done, and I enjoyed the tales of the Orishas.

As a Yoruba woman, this book was very disappointing. The way the narrator was pronouncing the deities name wasn’t it at all, an indigene could have been used to narrate the story. The story has potential though I just couldn’t listen because of the wrong pronunciations.

I read and enjoyed part 1, but didn’t realize I would need to read a separate book to finish this one. I’ve requested it from my library (on hold) and will wire a complete review once I’m done with both books. I wish I knew that I would need to have book 1 of the series on hand before starting this.

POSTED:
I like how these novellas keep the TJ series from his POV but gives an expansion/BTS view of the world from other POV's.

🎧 The narrators were great

My only issues was that I didn't know I needed to have books 1 & 2 ready to complete this collection.

I went into Orishas Among Mortals without having read any of the main TJ Young books, and came out both entertained and intrigued enough to want to pick them up.

This is a collection of three stories set in that universe, and while they connect to the broader series, some stand on their own surprisingly well. The first story worked especially well independently. A fun, myth-infused tale featuring a trickster god who’s wily, conniving, and charming.

The second story was a bit less self-contained, and the third felt more like a lore-deepening interlude that probably lands better if you already know the series. That said, as someone who doesn’t mind spoilers or being dropped in the deep end, I still enjoyed all three.

What really stood out to me was how the third story blends West African and Greek mythology in a way I haven’t seen before. It’s a clever twist that adds texture to the worldbuilding, and Bandele, an BIPOC author, does a great job of making the mythologies feel both familiar and fresh.

I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed the narration. The performances were strong across the board, and the music was a subtle but effective touch. I don’t usually like music in audiobooks, but as short interludes between chapters, it worked well and added to the atmosphere.

This was a fun introduction to the world and a great taster for the series. I’m definitely curious to see what the full novels are like.

All in all a vibrant, myth-rich (African meets Greek) short story collection that makes for a great entry point into the TJ Young universe. With standout narration and immersive audio touches.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the review copy.