Fallen Book 1: Separation by Jean-Marc Akerele

Fallen Book 1, Separation, is a tale of magical realism which weaves elements of Yoruba mythology and folklore into the story of a fallen supernatural being who must discover himself and his true nature and in doing so defy the very Gods themselves and the order of the universe so that he can save it.

Alade Akeju is living as an exile in Washington DC, from a magical land called Ile-Ife which lies hidden deep within a fold in the fabric of reality located in Africa, where a race of supernatural beings serve the powerful Orishas and maintain the balance in the cosmos. Having fled his responsibilities long ago, and hiding in the human world, Alade has excelled in the grey space between morality and immorality, becoming the best in the shadowy world of consultants who specialize in obtaining whatever it is that his powerful clients desire.

On his way to his office, he is accosted by Raziel, the avatar of an Orisha who using supernatural powers immobilizes him and forces him to listen to her tell him that his carefully crafted world is about to come to end. After she disappears, it is within twenty-four hours of this fateful meeting that his understanding of the world turns upside down as he discovers that he has been the pawn of the Gods from which he had run so long ago all along and he soon finds himself thrust into a world of darkness and despair which he is ill-equipped to cope with. Another avatar soon arrives to inform him that he must fulfill his original destiny, that which he had run from so long ago, in order to obtain source of power which the Gods need to battle the Interloper, a newer God who may not actually be Alade's enemy. Alade does as he is bid, and cultivates the dark power which the Gods desire not realizing that once again he is the victim of a cruel deception, one that shatters the very foundation of his beliefs. When He decide to disobey the Gods he is punished in order to force him to fulfill his task and it is this punishment which creates unforeseen consequences. In his pain and despair Alade is transformed and in with the knowledge imparted to him by a mysterious and unknown Orisha, he himself becomes a God and he is hungry for revenge. The first book ends with he and his companions who are supernatural creatures of various types preparing to leave the dark and hidden world where he retrieved this new power and form in order to return to the real world and bring war to the Gods themselves.

Filled with Gods, supernatural creatures, criminals and more, Fallen follows Alade through a gauntlet of turmoil, darkness and despair leading to a final climactic revelation that may ultimately lead him to destroy the very world he was trying to save.