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Binti #1
Binti
For the first time in hardcover, the winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award!
With a new foreword by N. K. Jemisin
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself -- but first she has to make it there, alive.
The Binti Series
Book 1: Binti
Book 2: Binti: Home
Book 3: Binti: The Night Masquerade
With a new foreword by N. K. Jemisin
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself -- but first she has to make it there, alive.
The Binti Series
Book 1: Binti
Book 2: Binti: Home
Book 3: Binti: The Night Masquerade
96 pages, ebook
First published September 22, 2015
About the author
Nnedi Okorafor
147 books16.5k followersNnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com and follow Nnedi on twitter (as @Nnedi), Facebook and Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,725 reviews
February 10, 2017
I enjoyed the novella's grounding in cultural differences and the twist of a strong math "Harmonizer" tech, and while I also appreciate the fundamental message of acceptance, I had a really hard time with the message's the execution here.
Don't get me wrong, the writing was good and I loved the firm opening leading to a great horror tale set in a well-imagined SF universe, complete with a reverse fish-out-of-water twist.
It's what happened afterward that I take umbrage.
I like tales of acceptance. It is a core trope of SF, for heaven's sake.
What I don't like is a completely insane turnaround in a plot firmly rooted in terrorism and attempted mass-murder of
Where is the consequence of these horrible actions?
WTF.
Sorry, this might have been pulled off better had it been a much longer format with a lot more than a hate-and-prejudice exhortation of death in place of a meet-cute. Perhaps an adventure a-la Enemy Mine where they have to learn, slowly, to tolerate each other. And THEN end with
And don't get me started on Why Mud Cures All Ails.
Other than these fairly huge issues, though, I thought the novella was charming and well-written and it might have been something quite glorious with a bit more meat and plot. I'm glad I read it. :)
Don't get me wrong, the writing was good and I loved the firm opening leading to a great horror tale set in a well-imagined SF universe, complete with a reverse fish-out-of-water twist.
It's what happened afterward that I take umbrage.
I like tales of acceptance. It is a core trope of SF, for heaven's sake.
What I don't like is a completely insane turnaround in a plot firmly rooted in terrorism and attempted mass-murder of
Where is the consequence of these horrible actions?
WTF.
Sorry, this might have been pulled off better had it been a much longer format with a lot more than a hate-and-prejudice exhortation of death in place of a meet-cute. Perhaps an adventure a-la Enemy Mine where they have to learn, slowly, to tolerate each other. And THEN end with
And don't get me started on Why Mud Cures All Ails.
Other than these fairly huge issues, though, I thought the novella was charming and well-written and it might have been something quite glorious with a bit more meat and plot. I'm glad I read it. :)
February 11, 2022
This is... cute, I guess. Imaginative. Fresh. But yet lacking so much of what makes a cohesive seamless narrative that I am indeed surprised to see that it won the Nebula Award.
I hate to call this one childish for the one reason: good stories aimed at the youngsters should possess the wonderful level of imagination and complexity. And this one has all the foundations, so wonderfully laid out in its strong beginning, promising the strangeness of mathematical reasoning weaved together with the tribal culture rites. But, sadly, the promising start quickly disintegrates into a story that blithely speeds along to the conclusion it desires while ignoring character building, logic, and any resemblance to the actual complexity in the interpersonal (interspecies here, I guess?) relationships.
I guess I must call this story, despite the imaginative and fresh initial premise, just simplistic and naive. Because this is how we wish the world would work: forgiving any murder or war and accepting your enemies once a miscommunication of sorts has been cleared (or magically covered with magical mud, if you so wish) and harmoniously living ever after in a wonderfully harmonious universe. And about that mass murder that was just shrugged off? Well, sorry, but now we are cool, I guess, and even participate in a sort of a student exchange program? Ugh.
Acceptance does not work like this. It really does not. Sorry.
Anyway, I'm not sure how this ended up getting such accolades. Okorafor has written much better stories but this is sadly lacking. But yes, cute.
2.5 stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
I hate to call this one childish for the one reason: good stories aimed at the youngsters should possess the wonderful level of imagination and complexity. And this one has all the foundations, so wonderfully laid out in its strong beginning, promising the strangeness of mathematical reasoning weaved together with the tribal culture rites. But, sadly, the promising start quickly disintegrates into a story that blithely speeds along to the conclusion it desires while ignoring character building, logic, and any resemblance to the actual complexity in the interpersonal (interspecies here, I guess?) relationships.
I guess I must call this story, despite the imaginative and fresh initial premise, just simplistic and naive. Because this is how we wish the world would work: forgiving any murder or war and accepting your enemies once a miscommunication of sorts has been cleared (or magically covered with magical mud, if you so wish) and harmoniously living ever after in a wonderfully harmonious universe. And about that mass murder that was just shrugged off? Well, sorry, but now we are cool, I guess, and even participate in a sort of a student exchange program? Ugh.
Acceptance does not work like this. It really does not. Sorry.
Anyway, I'm not sure how this ended up getting such accolades. Okorafor has written much better stories but this is sadly lacking. But yes, cute.
2.5 stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
June 13, 2018
WINNER!!! 2015 nebula for best novella!! shows what i know!
and now hugo winner, too!
i cannot be trusted to speak about books! i know nothing!
having been gleefully freeloading off the free tor shorts for years now, i absolutely want to support tor in their "buy some novellas, cheapskate"* endeavor, especially since the first one i read - Every Heart a Doorway - was one of the best things i have ever read ever. but even though Binti won/was nominated for a billion awards, it was only medium-enjoyable for me.
i'd read Lagoon by this author, with the same general reaction (even though I KNOW everyone tells me Who Fears Death is incredible, and i believe them and i will read that one, because every author gets three chances with me)
this is the first book in what i expect will be a trilogy, and it's only 90 pages, so it's hard to be hypercritical of it, although just now reading the synopsis for part 2, it takes place a year later, so i guess this part of it is over and i can be as critical as with any other book.
so - first, the good things: i really like the character. 16-year-old binti comes from the isolated himba region whose desert community holds fast to its customs and where the emphasis is on family, science, and a connection to the land so deep that no one ever leaves their homeland. however, binti, despite the privileges of her family, cannot refuse the unprecedented opportunity to study at the oozma university, which offer has never before been granted to a himba.
I was sixteen years old and had never been beyond my city, let alone near a launch station. I was by myself and I had just left my family. My prospects of marriage had been 100 percent and now they would be zero. No man wanted a woman who'd run away. However, beyond my prospects of a normal life being ruined, I had scored so high on the planetary exams in mathematics that the Oozma University had not only admitted me, but promised to pay for whatever I needed in order to attend. No matter what choice I made, I was never going to have a normal life, really.
on her journey towards the terminal, binti feels her outsider status acutely. because her people never leave their land; because they are so insular, other people assign characteristics to them through lack of contact/experience: they are assumed to be backwards, primitive, and filthy, in part because of the himba custom of smearing their bodies and hair with a fragrant paste made from the clay of their land, as well as their darker skin and fuzzy hair.
once binti makes it to the ship (which is actually a living creature "closely related to a shrimp"), surrounded by other prospective students, she has an easier time acclimating, and even makes friends and develops a crush on a boy.
and then the meduse arrive, and everything goes sideways.
for the characters and this reader both.
again, binti is a remarkable character - she's plucky, brave, resourceful, and supersmart but she's not unrealistically heroic and capable - she's never experienced life beyond her home and family, and her discomfort and awkwardness are appropriate for someone with her background.
i also appreciated the attention to detail given to the customs of her people, and her memories of her life among them.
but from the meduse part on, there seemed to be a motivation to reach a desired ending without respecting the consequences of certain actions, which brad addresses admirably in his review, to which i can add nothing more because it speaks to every single "but wait" objection i had while reading this and i don't wanna be a plagiarist.
like him, i appreciate the message, but the delivery of the message was a bit trite and slapdash.
however, i like the character enough (and i owe tor enough), that i will likely read the second part of this. this novella is completely appropriate for a YA audience, and i think it would be better received by younger readers, who tend to read more for plot and enjoyment than old folks like me who suck all the joy out of books with too-nitpicky dissections resulting from too much academic training in joy-sucking.
i still love you, tor, and i will continue to love you both for free and for ca$h.
*not actual name of program
come to my blog!
and now hugo winner, too!
i cannot be trusted to speak about books! i know nothing!
having been gleefully freeloading off the free tor shorts for years now, i absolutely want to support tor in their "buy some novellas, cheapskate"* endeavor, especially since the first one i read - Every Heart a Doorway - was one of the best things i have ever read ever. but even though Binti won/was nominated for a billion awards, it was only medium-enjoyable for me.
i'd read Lagoon by this author, with the same general reaction (even though I KNOW everyone tells me Who Fears Death is incredible, and i believe them and i will read that one, because every author gets three chances with me)
this is the first book in what i expect will be a trilogy, and it's only 90 pages, so it's hard to be hypercritical of it, although just now reading the synopsis for part 2, it takes place a year later, so i guess this part of it is over and i can be as critical as with any other book.
so - first, the good things: i really like the character. 16-year-old binti comes from the isolated himba region whose desert community holds fast to its customs and where the emphasis is on family, science, and a connection to the land so deep that no one ever leaves their homeland. however, binti, despite the privileges of her family, cannot refuse the unprecedented opportunity to study at the oozma university, which offer has never before been granted to a himba.
I was sixteen years old and had never been beyond my city, let alone near a launch station. I was by myself and I had just left my family. My prospects of marriage had been 100 percent and now they would be zero. No man wanted a woman who'd run away. However, beyond my prospects of a normal life being ruined, I had scored so high on the planetary exams in mathematics that the Oozma University had not only admitted me, but promised to pay for whatever I needed in order to attend. No matter what choice I made, I was never going to have a normal life, really.
on her journey towards the terminal, binti feels her outsider status acutely. because her people never leave their land; because they are so insular, other people assign characteristics to them through lack of contact/experience: they are assumed to be backwards, primitive, and filthy, in part because of the himba custom of smearing their bodies and hair with a fragrant paste made from the clay of their land, as well as their darker skin and fuzzy hair.
once binti makes it to the ship (which is actually a living creature "closely related to a shrimp"), surrounded by other prospective students, she has an easier time acclimating, and even makes friends and develops a crush on a boy.
and then the meduse arrive, and everything goes sideways.
for the characters and this reader both.
again, binti is a remarkable character - she's plucky, brave, resourceful, and supersmart but she's not unrealistically heroic and capable - she's never experienced life beyond her home and family, and her discomfort and awkwardness are appropriate for someone with her background.
i also appreciated the attention to detail given to the customs of her people, and her memories of her life among them.
but from the meduse part on, there seemed to be a motivation to reach a desired ending without respecting the consequences of certain actions, which brad addresses admirably in his review, to which i can add nothing more because it speaks to every single "but wait" objection i had while reading this and i don't wanna be a plagiarist.
like him, i appreciate the message, but the delivery of the message was a bit trite and slapdash.
however, i like the character enough (and i owe tor enough), that i will likely read the second part of this. this novella is completely appropriate for a YA audience, and i think it would be better received by younger readers, who tend to read more for plot and enjoyment than old folks like me who suck all the joy out of books with too-nitpicky dissections resulting from too much academic training in joy-sucking.
i still love you, tor, and i will continue to love you both for free and for ca$h.
*not actual name of program
March 23, 2019
I like originality and I also like a story told economically and writer Nnedi Okorafor gets my high praise in both categories for her 2015 novella Binti.
Okorafor has created in Binti a speculative fiction gem where a reader is led along a culturally alien yet approachable thrill ride. At once fascinating and hair raising, Okorafor has crafted a dynamic tension that grips the reader throughout this short work.
Binti is a student who has been accepted into a far future academy and chooses to attend the university over the protests and prohibitions of her traditional and isolationist family. Being the first of her family from a rural area of Earth, itself described as something of a planetary backwater, to go to this school is difficult enough for Binti, but Okorafor then introduces a far more dangerous cultural conflict through which Binti must survive.
Told with an intensity found more in the horror or thriller genres, this speculative fiction work blends elements of science fiction and fantasy into a very entertaining whole that is reminiscent of Octavia Butler or Ursula K. Le Guin. I also considered a comparison to China Mieville. Okorafor’s use of cultural distinctions, probably inspired from her Nigerian heritage, further separates this very unique novella from the pack of contemporary fiction.
I have long heard her name and knew that I would need to explore her writing. Binti is likely only the first of Okorafor’s work I will enjoy.
Okorafor has created in Binti a speculative fiction gem where a reader is led along a culturally alien yet approachable thrill ride. At once fascinating and hair raising, Okorafor has crafted a dynamic tension that grips the reader throughout this short work.
Binti is a student who has been accepted into a far future academy and chooses to attend the university over the protests and prohibitions of her traditional and isolationist family. Being the first of her family from a rural area of Earth, itself described as something of a planetary backwater, to go to this school is difficult enough for Binti, but Okorafor then introduces a far more dangerous cultural conflict through which Binti must survive.
Told with an intensity found more in the horror or thriller genres, this speculative fiction work blends elements of science fiction and fantasy into a very entertaining whole that is reminiscent of Octavia Butler or Ursula K. Le Guin. I also considered a comparison to China Mieville. Okorafor’s use of cultural distinctions, probably inspired from her Nigerian heritage, further separates this very unique novella from the pack of contemporary fiction.
I have long heard her name and knew that I would need to explore her writing. Binti is likely only the first of Okorafor’s work I will enjoy.
February 1, 2016
Binti is a curious little novella by Okorafor, an author who has been my radar for bringing winds of Africa into science fiction and fantasy, and it does not disappoint. A sixteen-year old woman of the Himba tribe has been accepted into the prestigious Oomza University on a mathematics scholarship. The trouble is, “we Himba don’t travel. We stay put. Our ancestral land is life; move away from it and you diminish. We even cover our bodies with it… Here, in the launch port… I was an outsider; I was outside.“
An auspicious, classic beginning, one that captures the uncertainty of an unusually talented woman stretching beyond her tightly knit culture to experience something larger. “No matter what choice I made, I was never going to have a normal life, really.” Okorafor deftly creates Binti’s character, bringing to mind the old days when I was seventeen and heading off across the country to college. Binti also faces all the prejudices that come from those unfamiliar with her culture. However, once she gets to the transport ship, she meets other young people also heading to the University and begins to find a kind of equilibrium and friendship. Until the Meduse come, five days before they are supposed to arrive at Uni.
Once the alien Meduse attack, it evolves into first a survival story and then an alien outreach, with the plotting and writing less deft as the themes shift. Another incomprehensible alien artifact becomes a deux ex machina until rapport can be developed. Actually, I suppose that is very normal for the fantastical young adult-discovery tales; some magical object that gives them an unusual edge or specialness. In this case, I rather felt like it diminished the focus on Binti, who earlier was in the process of trying to recognize and honor her personal uniqueness.
The ending didn’t quite work for me; I felt like it dismissed early losses for the ‘greater good,’ the satisfactory resolution of the idealistic ethical issue, and I’m not sure that was the message meant. More significantly, like Lagoon, I wondered if there was a bit too much attempted in such a limited format. There’s a galaxy of other beings, unknown alien artifacts, a future-Earth that has technologies unusual to our own, living ships, and then the very fascinating concept of mathematical harmonics. I would have thought either expanding more, so more organic integration of information could occur (ie, no pseudo-technology info-dumping), or limiting the scope would service the complexity of the story better.
The overall verdict is that one should read it, if you are interested in diving into fresh voices in science fiction, and in stories where cultural and ethnic issues are woven into genre traditions. Okorafor is worth trying.
Cross posted: https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2016/...
An auspicious, classic beginning, one that captures the uncertainty of an unusually talented woman stretching beyond her tightly knit culture to experience something larger. “No matter what choice I made, I was never going to have a normal life, really.” Okorafor deftly creates Binti’s character, bringing to mind the old days when I was seventeen and heading off across the country to college. Binti also faces all the prejudices that come from those unfamiliar with her culture. However, once she gets to the transport ship, she meets other young people also heading to the University and begins to find a kind of equilibrium and friendship. Until the Meduse come, five days before they are supposed to arrive at Uni.
Once the alien Meduse attack, it evolves into first a survival story and then an alien outreach, with the plotting and writing less deft as the themes shift. Another incomprehensible alien artifact becomes a deux ex machina until rapport can be developed. Actually, I suppose that is very normal for the fantastical young adult-discovery tales; some magical object that gives them an unusual edge or specialness. In this case, I rather felt like it diminished the focus on Binti, who earlier was in the process of trying to recognize and honor her personal uniqueness.
The ending didn’t quite work for me; I felt like it dismissed early losses for the ‘greater good,’ the satisfactory resolution of the idealistic ethical issue, and I’m not sure that was the message meant. More significantly, like Lagoon, I wondered if there was a bit too much attempted in such a limited format. There’s a galaxy of other beings, unknown alien artifacts, a future-Earth that has technologies unusual to our own, living ships, and then the very fascinating concept of mathematical harmonics. I would have thought either expanding more, so more organic integration of information could occur (ie, no pseudo-technology info-dumping), or limiting the scope would service the complexity of the story better.
The overall verdict is that one should read it, if you are interested in diving into fresh voices in science fiction, and in stories where cultural and ethnic issues are woven into genre traditions. Okorafor is worth trying.
Cross posted: https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2016/...
June 7, 2019
This was one of the most creative books I've read in a while!
Very interesting concepts but I wanted more... will definitely pick up the next one when it's out!
Very interesting concepts but I wanted more... will definitely pick up the next one when it's out!
January 13, 2022
“We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward.”
Nnedi Okorafor's Binti is a beautifully written and engaging science fiction tale which, despite its length, has the feel of an epic. In the story, Binti leaves her tribe in Namibia to go off-planet to study at the Oomza Uni. Binti's people are obsessed with knowledge; however, they do not travel; they stay on their original homelands on Earth. Binti, bringing her people's culture with her into the galaxy, will prove to be a notable exception. Before they make it to Oomza Uni, though, their ship is attacked and her shipmates are murdered by humanity's dread enemy, the Meduse. With this attack, things become even more interesting. My only real complaint from this novella is that I finished reading it too quickly. 4.5 stars.
Nnedi Okorafor's Binti is a beautifully written and engaging science fiction tale which, despite its length, has the feel of an epic. In the story, Binti leaves her tribe in Namibia to go off-planet to study at the Oomza Uni. Binti's people are obsessed with knowledge; however, they do not travel; they stay on their original homelands on Earth. Binti, bringing her people's culture with her into the galaxy, will prove to be a notable exception. Before they make it to Oomza Uni, though, their ship is attacked and her shipmates are murdered by humanity's dread enemy, the Meduse. With this attack, things become even more interesting. My only real complaint from this novella is that I finished reading it too quickly. 4.5 stars.
May 8, 2024
‘I believed I could only be great if I were curious enough to seek greatness.’
I’ve always enjoyed how speculative fiction is a great avenue for social commentary on current issues while providing a futuristic landscape to make these concepts more malleable and chart new directions with them. Binti, the afrofuturist novella from Nnedi Okorafor and first in a series of stories about the narrator, is a thrilling tale of culture and conflict when an interplanetary voyage is violently hijacked en route to a university. Binti Ekeopara Zuzu Dambu Kaipka of Namib is the first of her people to ever be invited to attend the Oomza Uni and sets off into a wider universe where xenophobia is widely prevalent, only to have to negotiate a powder keg of long standing interspecies conflict in order to survive and ‘prevent a bloodbath in which everyone would lose.’ Okorafor expertise in world building creates a future so marvelously expansive for such a short book as Binti interrogates concepts of identity and ethics in cultural contexts where Binti is caught between holding onto tradition and adapting to a larger world around her.
‘My people are sons and daughters of the soil.’
Okorafor’s dynamic use of cultural touchstones amongst the various characters becomes the stage for which the themes play out in Binti. The narrator is from the Himba people, a real ethnic group indigenous to Namibia in Southern Africa. In Binti, the Himba are adept at electronic technology, with her father being a successful maker of ‘Astrolabs’ (a communication device that stores the whole of a person’s life) and Binti being a ‘master harmonizer’ able to create electric currents with her body.They are tight-knit, wary of outsiders, and while Binti’s acceptance to the university is a major accomplishment, it is upsetting to her community.
The Himba are generally looked down upon by the Khoush, the lighter-skinned humans who are city and space dwellers and the race that runs and attends Oomza Uni. Binti tells us they have a feeling of superiority to other races and while Binti experiences racism, it is different than the aggresiveness the Khoush feel for the Meduse, the jellyfish-like species with which the Khoush have a long-standing disdain. The nuance is best expressed in the way they treat Binti and Okwu, the Meduse she tepidly befriends amidst the tense standoff central to the story: ‘where they saw me as a fascinating exotic human, they saw Okwu as a dangerous threat.’
‘They say that when faced with a fight you cannot win, you can never predict what you will do next.’
There is a great depth of world building in Binti and with only minimal explanation, Okorafor is able to probe vast implications as to the nuances of interspecies relations. In a book that focues largely on ideas of tradition, we see how hatred can become a sort of traditions itself, such as the way ‘the Khoush expected everyone to remember their greatest enemy and injustice. They even worked Meduse anatomy and rudimentary technology into mathematics and science classes.’ Generations of groomed disdain often has violent consequences when assumptions bypass true understanding of unfamiliar people and cultures. The Meduse, in turn, operate on assumptions such as ‘humans only understand violence,’ making Binti’s need to negotiate survival all the more difficult and fraught with misunderstanding.
Adapting is a crucial element to survival, and one Binti must utilize in order be the great harmonizer she is destined to be. We see a contrast in her relations with others and how it relates to aspects of culture, such as friends from her own culture (one in which members don’t really associate beyond work with outsiders) who do not value her aims of mathematical scholarship and then her friends on the ship that value her for her academics but are removed from her culture. It is a reminder that while our culture and traditions are valuable parts of our identity, it is not all we are. Later, Okwu and Binti, about as at odds with each other as they can get, begin to value each other through a mutual respect and open curiosity for one another’s cultures. Using the edan, a mysterious object she discovered long ago that activates and protects her from the Meduse while also giving them the ability to speak to each other despite not knowing one another’s language (it is sort of a Pentecost moment here), they begin to relate through similar aspects of individual identity, valuing the determination and convictions the other holds. Binti, in this way, becomes a parable on seeking to understand in order to overcome prejudice.
‘My hair was braided into the history of my people.’
There is a beautiful moment when, through their ability to communicate, they discover that the Meduse word for their speared tentacles that are critical to their cultural identity and Binti’s word for her hair braids translate into the same word: Okuoko. It becomes a touchpoint of similarity despite being two different things, though both essential elements of their cultural identity. For Binti, her braids are woven in a way that ‘tell the story’ of her family and legacy. The tentacles are part of the Meduse’s self-defense, and the story revolves around the Meduse attempting to break into the Uni in order to recover the tentacle spear the Khoush took from the Meduse chief for the purpose of study and have displayed in the Uni’s museum. At the end, Binti’s braids are replaced with Meduse okuoko and is symbolic of her identity adapting from an isolated set of traditions into a more collective identity in a larger world.
This is similar with the Otjize, the mixture of red clay the Himba wear on their skin as part of their cultural identity and religious practice. Along the way, Binti and Okwu discover the clay works as a miraculous healing balm on Meduse skin and, later, Binti discovers she can recreate the mixture with clay found on her new home planet at the Uni. It becomes a more nuanced symbol of the benefits from sharing culture with others as well as a reminder that traditions can adapt to incorporate new landscapes and new lives outside the traditional cultural homeland. An element of traditions adapting after diaspora is evident here.
‘“When you do math fractals long enough, you kick yourself into treeing just enough to get lost in the shallows of the mathematical sea.’
The story certainly probes ideas of ethics, such as the previously mentioned spear kept in the Uni museum. The story feels like an allegory of colonialism in a way, touching on how, throughout history, cultural artifacts have been taken from other cultures to collect in, say, the British Museum. There is also the gatekeeping of academics, with Khoush traditionally being the only ones invited to study at the Uni. In Binti, we see science and mathematics being a way for cultures to interact through the shared knowledge, such as it being an equalizer for Binti and the Khoush friends she makes in the early stage of the voyage, but also a warning to the violence when academics is undertaken without ethics. At novellas end, however, we see a renewed commitment towards inclusion in the Uni and hope for a brighter, shared future. It could come across as a bit simplistic and naive, especially how quickly the shift occurs, but I do enjoy the hope inherent here.
I quite enjoyed Binti, a quick tale about culture and forging connections across divides and hope to continue reading the series. I mean, I need to know what the edan is, and I enjoy how weird tech artifacts always figure into Okorafor’s afrofuturism stories. I also enjoy how much her stories employ actual African culture and deal with issues of Western society and colonialism in friction with culture. This is a fun one with a lot of excellent world building that seems shockingly vast considering the small scope of the novella. And just cool sci-fi stuff, like the ship they travel in is actually a living creature refurbished for ferrying people around the stars. I also enjoy the hope in a shared, ethical future where we can learn to stop war and overcome prejudice. Cheers to that.
3.5/5
I’ve always enjoyed how speculative fiction is a great avenue for social commentary on current issues while providing a futuristic landscape to make these concepts more malleable and chart new directions with them. Binti, the afrofuturist novella from Nnedi Okorafor and first in a series of stories about the narrator, is a thrilling tale of culture and conflict when an interplanetary voyage is violently hijacked en route to a university. Binti Ekeopara Zuzu Dambu Kaipka of Namib is the first of her people to ever be invited to attend the Oomza Uni and sets off into a wider universe where xenophobia is widely prevalent, only to have to negotiate a powder keg of long standing interspecies conflict in order to survive and ‘prevent a bloodbath in which everyone would lose.’ Okorafor expertise in world building creates a future so marvelously expansive for such a short book as Binti interrogates concepts of identity and ethics in cultural contexts where Binti is caught between holding onto tradition and adapting to a larger world around her.
‘My people are sons and daughters of the soil.’
Okorafor’s dynamic use of cultural touchstones amongst the various characters becomes the stage for which the themes play out in Binti. The narrator is from the Himba people, a real ethnic group indigenous to Namibia in Southern Africa. In Binti, the Himba are adept at electronic technology, with her father being a successful maker of ‘Astrolabs’ (a communication device that stores the whole of a person’s life) and Binti being a ‘master harmonizer’ able to create electric currents with her body.They are tight-knit, wary of outsiders, and while Binti’s acceptance to the university is a major accomplishment, it is upsetting to her community.
‘My tribe is obsessed with innovation and technology, but it is small, private, and, as I said, we don’t like to leave Earth. We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward. No Himba has ever gone to Oomza Uni. So me being the only one on the ship was not that surprising. However, just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with.’
The Himba are generally looked down upon by the Khoush, the lighter-skinned humans who are city and space dwellers and the race that runs and attends Oomza Uni. Binti tells us they have a feeling of superiority to other races and while Binti experiences racism, it is different than the aggresiveness the Khoush feel for the Meduse, the jellyfish-like species with which the Khoush have a long-standing disdain. The nuance is best expressed in the way they treat Binti and Okwu, the Meduse she tepidly befriends amidst the tense standoff central to the story: ‘where they saw me as a fascinating exotic human, they saw Okwu as a dangerous threat.’
‘They say that when faced with a fight you cannot win, you can never predict what you will do next.’
There is a great depth of world building in Binti and with only minimal explanation, Okorafor is able to probe vast implications as to the nuances of interspecies relations. In a book that focues largely on ideas of tradition, we see how hatred can become a sort of traditions itself, such as the way ‘the Khoush expected everyone to remember their greatest enemy and injustice. They even worked Meduse anatomy and rudimentary technology into mathematics and science classes.’ Generations of groomed disdain often has violent consequences when assumptions bypass true understanding of unfamiliar people and cultures. The Meduse, in turn, operate on assumptions such as ‘humans only understand violence,’ making Binti’s need to negotiate survival all the more difficult and fraught with misunderstanding.
‘The Meduse are not what we humans think. They are truth. They are clarity. They are decisive. There are sharp lines and edges. They understand honor and dishonor. I had to earn their honor…’
Adapting is a crucial element to survival, and one Binti must utilize in order be the great harmonizer she is destined to be. We see a contrast in her relations with others and how it relates to aspects of culture, such as friends from her own culture (one in which members don’t really associate beyond work with outsiders) who do not value her aims of mathematical scholarship and then her friends on the ship that value her for her academics but are removed from her culture. It is a reminder that while our culture and traditions are valuable parts of our identity, it is not all we are. Later, Okwu and Binti, about as at odds with each other as they can get, begin to value each other through a mutual respect and open curiosity for one another’s cultures. Using the edan, a mysterious object she discovered long ago that activates and protects her from the Meduse while also giving them the ability to speak to each other despite not knowing one another’s language (it is sort of a Pentecost moment here), they begin to relate through similar aspects of individual identity, valuing the determination and convictions the other holds. Binti, in this way, becomes a parable on seeking to understand in order to overcome prejudice.
‘My hair was braided into the history of my people.’
There is a beautiful moment when, through their ability to communicate, they discover that the Meduse word for their speared tentacles that are critical to their cultural identity and Binti’s word for her hair braids translate into the same word: Okuoko. It becomes a touchpoint of similarity despite being two different things, though both essential elements of their cultural identity. For Binti, her braids are woven in a way that ‘tell the story’ of her family and legacy. The tentacles are part of the Meduse’s self-defense, and the story revolves around the Meduse attempting to break into the Uni in order to recover the tentacle spear the Khoush took from the Meduse chief for the purpose of study and have displayed in the Uni’s museum. At the end, Binti’s braids are replaced with Meduse okuoko and is symbolic of her identity adapting from an isolated set of traditions into a more collective identity in a larger world.
This is similar with the Otjize, the mixture of red clay the Himba wear on their skin as part of their cultural identity and religious practice. Along the way, Binti and Okwu discover the clay works as a miraculous healing balm on Meduse skin and, later, Binti discovers she can recreate the mixture with clay found on her new home planet at the Uni. It becomes a more nuanced symbol of the benefits from sharing culture with others as well as a reminder that traditions can adapt to incorporate new landscapes and new lives outside the traditional cultural homeland. An element of traditions adapting after diaspora is evident here.
‘“When you do math fractals long enough, you kick yourself into treeing just enough to get lost in the shallows of the mathematical sea.’
The story certainly probes ideas of ethics, such as the previously mentioned spear kept in the Uni museum. The story feels like an allegory of colonialism in a way, touching on how, throughout history, cultural artifacts have been taken from other cultures to collect in, say, the British Museum. There is also the gatekeeping of academics, with Khoush traditionally being the only ones invited to study at the Uni. In Binti, we see science and mathematics being a way for cultures to interact through the shared knowledge, such as it being an equalizer for Binti and the Khoush friends she makes in the early stage of the voyage, but also a warning to the violence when academics is undertaken without ethics. At novellas end, however, we see a renewed commitment towards inclusion in the Uni and hope for a brighter, shared future. It could come across as a bit simplistic and naive, especially how quickly the shift occurs, but I do enjoy the hope inherent here.
I quite enjoyed Binti, a quick tale about culture and forging connections across divides and hope to continue reading the series. I mean, I need to know what the edan is, and I enjoy how weird tech artifacts always figure into Okorafor’s afrofuturism stories. I also enjoy how much her stories employ actual African culture and deal with issues of Western society and colonialism in friction with culture. This is a fun one with a lot of excellent world building that seems shockingly vast considering the small scope of the novella. And just cool sci-fi stuff, like the ship they travel in is actually a living creature refurbished for ferrying people around the stars. I also enjoy the hope in a shared, ethical future where we can learn to stop war and overcome prejudice. Cheers to that.
3.5/5
June 20, 2024
“But deep down inside me, I wanted . . . I needed it. I couldn’t help but act on it. The urge was so strong that it was mathematical.”
― Nnedi Okorafor, Binti
I can't believe this novella won both a Hugo and a Nebula award! The premise promised an exciting science fiction adventure, with a protagonist from an African background who is a mathematical genius, leaving her tribe to attend a university on another planet. However, I found the book to be tedious and dull, with bland writing. Binti, the main character, didn't live up to the expectations of a compelling heroine. Instead of engaging in thrilling action, she spent most of the book talking to the enemy, discussing, making, and applying "otjize" to her hair, and explaining its nature to others. The repetitive focus on "otjize" overshadowed any potential excitement or depth in the story.
― Nnedi Okorafor, Binti
I can't believe this novella won both a Hugo and a Nebula award! The premise promised an exciting science fiction adventure, with a protagonist from an African background who is a mathematical genius, leaving her tribe to attend a university on another planet. However, I found the book to be tedious and dull, with bland writing. Binti, the main character, didn't live up to the expectations of a compelling heroine. Instead of engaging in thrilling action, she spent most of the book talking to the enemy, discussing, making, and applying "otjize" to her hair, and explaining its nature to others. The repetitive focus on "otjize" overshadowed any potential excitement or depth in the story.
August 2, 2020
When I first read Binti in 2017, I enjoyed it fine, but I don’t think I understood it as being particularly Good. Reading it again in 2019, after reading far more fantasy and science fiction (and a significant amount of postcolonial literature), I think I got a lot more from these 85 pages.
Binti is a young black woman on her way to the premier institution in the galaxy; her people, unlike their sometime-rivals sometime-allies the Kush, almost never leave. She has broken this tradition (an absolute first-generation college student) through being extremely smart, and she has done something perhaps more revolutionary: she has chosen to take her chance and leave home. Though her parents love her, they don’t approve of her choosing to go somewhere where she will not continue their traditions. She knows from the time she leaves that she may very well be disowned. She herself isn’t entirely confident either; she self-doubts multiple times in the first twenty pages, despite her joy.
On her journey to her new university, however, her ship is attacked by a race known as the Meduse. These creatures are murderous, of course, but Binti, and the audience, eventually learn to look at them with empathy. Their stinger has been stolen and placed in a Kush museum, in something akin to the colonial appropriation perpetuated by the British museum today. The Meduse have been violated, and thus they want to recapture and reclaim their lost territory.
The growth of the friendship between Okwu and Binti is at the center of Binti — and the ensuing novella series, though to a lesser degree — and though it forms due to necessity, the strength of this relationship comes in their mutual understandings of each other. Their hair, like her hair, is considered alien; their bodies, like hers, are considered other. Their friendship is always what resonates with me the most when thinking about this series.
Binti’s journey, however, is what is most revolutionary about this book. Instead of following traditions, she breaks boundaries; she has a place in the universe, and yet she steps out into a whole new world. In a subversion of the typical outsider-leaves-to-find-themselves narrative, she is not in any particular way an outsider to her initial community; she is simply brilliant and quietly ambitious and brave enough to risk all she has ever known for a future she hopes will be for her. Throughout the story, as a harmonizer, she must symbolically give up pieces of her old identity, yet she keeps her old rituals as a part of herself. Her strength comes in her ability to embrace both her old identity and her new identity and build herself into a whole person, stronger than ever.
A black woman, and a young black woman, is front and center, and she is front and center because of her inner strength and her empathy. And that's just really neat.
I really struggled to engage with this the first time around, something that I attributed to "not liking novellas," which I thought I "struggled to be engaged in before the end". I am no longer a boring sad person who dislikes everything she doesn't get (I was 16, let me live) and I now love novellas. However, this problem of lacking engagement persists, and it is because of the lack of description. I love this world — the ideas of sentient ships and Oomza Uni both slap so hard — but I don't feel like I have any perception of what it looks like. I believe this must have been a purposeful decision for symbolic reasons, because it feels... very conscious.
However, I did really like this on reread. Score one for the team!
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Binti is a young black woman on her way to the premier institution in the galaxy; her people, unlike their sometime-rivals sometime-allies the Kush, almost never leave. She has broken this tradition (an absolute first-generation college student) through being extremely smart, and she has done something perhaps more revolutionary: she has chosen to take her chance and leave home. Though her parents love her, they don’t approve of her choosing to go somewhere where she will not continue their traditions. She knows from the time she leaves that she may very well be disowned. She herself isn’t entirely confident either; she self-doubts multiple times in the first twenty pages, despite her joy.
On her journey to her new university, however, her ship is attacked by a race known as the Meduse. These creatures are murderous, of course, but Binti, and the audience, eventually learn to look at them with empathy. Their stinger has been stolen and placed in a Kush museum, in something akin to the colonial appropriation perpetuated by the British museum today. The Meduse have been violated, and thus they want to recapture and reclaim their lost territory.
The growth of the friendship between Okwu and Binti is at the center of Binti — and the ensuing novella series, though to a lesser degree — and though it forms due to necessity, the strength of this relationship comes in their mutual understandings of each other. Their hair, like her hair, is considered alien; their bodies, like hers, are considered other. Their friendship is always what resonates with me the most when thinking about this series.
Binti’s journey, however, is what is most revolutionary about this book. Instead of following traditions, she breaks boundaries; she has a place in the universe, and yet she steps out into a whole new world. In a subversion of the typical outsider-leaves-to-find-themselves narrative, she is not in any particular way an outsider to her initial community; she is simply brilliant and quietly ambitious and brave enough to risk all she has ever known for a future she hopes will be for her. Throughout the story, as a harmonizer, she must symbolically give up pieces of her old identity, yet she keeps her old rituals as a part of herself. Her strength comes in her ability to embrace both her old identity and her new identity and build herself into a whole person, stronger than ever.
A black woman, and a young black woman, is front and center, and she is front and center because of her inner strength and her empathy. And that's just really neat.
I really struggled to engage with this the first time around, something that I attributed to "not liking novellas," which I thought I "struggled to be engaged in before the end". I am no longer a boring sad person who dislikes everything she doesn't get (I was 16, let me live) and I now love novellas. However, this problem of lacking engagement persists, and it is because of the lack of description. I love this world — the ideas of sentient ships and Oomza Uni both slap so hard — but I don't feel like I have any perception of what it looks like. I believe this must have been a purposeful decision for symbolic reasons, because it feels... very conscious.
However, I did really like this on reread. Score one for the team!
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July 19, 2017
I don't get the hype. Yes, culturally diverse - I like the main character and her background, but as an actual science fiction work, it's very weak.
May 2, 2017
3ish stars.
This is a 90-something page novella that tries to pack so much in that it ends up reading like the SparkNotes of a full novel.
The worldbuilding is very cool. I especially like the idea of an organic animal-type spacecraft. And Binti's culture (which, upon reading the afterword, I found to be based on an actual group of people in Namibia) is awesome. It'd be cool to see more of this universe (the Oomzi University especially) and its various inhabitants, but that's not my main issue with the length.
Now, I'm a fan of the novella format. Some books work really well in that format, Every Heart a Doorway and Sunbolt being a couple of the recent ones I've read. And, let's be honest, sometimes I only have the patience to read a book that's 100 pages long. I'm even more lenient when the novella is part of a series as this one is so that subsequent books can provide some expansion. But it appears the next book in this series takes place a year in the future and follows a new plotline, essentially closing the case on the events that transpired in this book. Unfortunately, those events are the ones that need some expansion.
The book pretty much follows this streamlined formula:
1) Event 1 takes place
2) Event 2 takes place
3) Conflict 1 arises
4) Conflict 2 arises
5) Conflict 1 is resolved by deus ex machina
6) Conflict 2 is resolved by deus ex machina
7) Conflict 3 arises
8) All conflict is resolved.
THE END
There's really nothing in between to (in my opinion, at least) allow for much tension or style. I don't really get why this wasn't expanded into a novel. It's good, but it could have been a lot better.
https://mrphilipslibrary.wordpress.co...
This is a 90-something page novella that tries to pack so much in that it ends up reading like the SparkNotes of a full novel.
The worldbuilding is very cool. I especially like the idea of an organic animal-type spacecraft. And Binti's culture (which, upon reading the afterword, I found to be based on an actual group of people in Namibia) is awesome. It'd be cool to see more of this universe (the Oomzi University especially) and its various inhabitants, but that's not my main issue with the length.
Now, I'm a fan of the novella format. Some books work really well in that format, Every Heart a Doorway and Sunbolt being a couple of the recent ones I've read. And, let's be honest, sometimes I only have the patience to read a book that's 100 pages long. I'm even more lenient when the novella is part of a series as this one is so that subsequent books can provide some expansion. But it appears the next book in this series takes place a year in the future and follows a new plotline, essentially closing the case on the events that transpired in this book. Unfortunately, those events are the ones that need some expansion.
The book pretty much follows this streamlined formula:
1) Event 1 takes place
2) Event 2 takes place
3) Conflict 1 arises
4) Conflict 2 arises
5) Conflict 1 is resolved by deus ex machina
6) Conflict 2 is resolved by deus ex machina
7) Conflict 3 arises
8) All conflict is resolved.
THE END
There's really nothing in between to (in my opinion, at least) allow for much tension or style. I don't really get why this wasn't expanded into a novel. It's good, but it could have been a lot better.
https://mrphilipslibrary.wordpress.co...
October 18, 2019
The world needs more revolutionary, progressive social Sci-Fi like that.
The evolution of Sci-Fi, that was a long time a predominantly weird
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
genre leads to a much wider and more multicultural approach with settings of people of different cultures, traditions, mythologies, nations, civilizations and ideologies. For instance Buddhism and Asian mentality mixed with immortality, AI, resurrection, hive minds, etc. Or biopunk genre based on indigenous people living in rainforests and unexplored nature and wilderness all around the world. The whole Gaia mentality mixed with all kinds of emancipation, feminism and cultural rebellion.
What unbelievable kind of social Sci-Fi may grow out of these new ways of telling a story with often overused tropes may be astonishing. No more old macho stereotypes with the evil aliens, mainly evil industries and mainly superficial social studies. Women are to a certain extent simply better at describing emotional und especially empathic characters and protagonist driven plots and Sci-Fi is the genre with the most possibilities to let the most amazing dreams come true, cause elements of fantasy, history and, of course, many sciences can be mixed in. Especially social sciences, be it relations between aliens and humans, different developing humans, robots or AIs and anyone.
I have read hundreds, hopefully once in decades thousands, of Sci-Fi novels and got used to a nice, but quite kind of monotonous way of telling the story. First at the beginning, the genre was extremely egocentric, not to say, megalomaniac, as many of the old masters of the genre could be described as. The funny thing is that they used to describe utopias with old and mostly evil gender and race stereotypes, not recognizing that not just the tech, but humanity as a whole may evolve too and forgot to or didn´t want to mention it in their novels. After that came the more plot-driven steampunk, Spaceopera, Cyberpunk and Hard Sci-Fi genres with a mostly male protagonist. Now, finally, in the 21 century, more and more great stories, written by women, I would say to a certain extent not writeable by men, come to enrich the life of avid readers.
The evolution of Sci-Fi, that was a long time a predominantly weird
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
genre leads to a much wider and more multicultural approach with settings of people of different cultures, traditions, mythologies, nations, civilizations and ideologies. For instance Buddhism and Asian mentality mixed with immortality, AI, resurrection, hive minds, etc. Or biopunk genre based on indigenous people living in rainforests and unexplored nature and wilderness all around the world. The whole Gaia mentality mixed with all kinds of emancipation, feminism and cultural rebellion.
What unbelievable kind of social Sci-Fi may grow out of these new ways of telling a story with often overused tropes may be astonishing. No more old macho stereotypes with the evil aliens, mainly evil industries and mainly superficial social studies. Women are to a certain extent simply better at describing emotional und especially empathic characters and protagonist driven plots and Sci-Fi is the genre with the most possibilities to let the most amazing dreams come true, cause elements of fantasy, history and, of course, many sciences can be mixed in. Especially social sciences, be it relations between aliens and humans, different developing humans, robots or AIs and anyone.
I have read hundreds, hopefully once in decades thousands, of Sci-Fi novels and got used to a nice, but quite kind of monotonous way of telling the story. First at the beginning, the genre was extremely egocentric, not to say, megalomaniac, as many of the old masters of the genre could be described as. The funny thing is that they used to describe utopias with old and mostly evil gender and race stereotypes, not recognizing that not just the tech, but humanity as a whole may evolve too and forgot to or didn´t want to mention it in their novels. After that came the more plot-driven steampunk, Spaceopera, Cyberpunk and Hard Sci-Fi genres with a mostly male protagonist. Now, finally, in the 21 century, more and more great stories, written by women, I would say to a certain extent not writeable by men, come to enrich the life of avid readers.
June 4, 2017
I previously rated this book 4 stars but now that I think of it, its not worth 4 stars so I am removing 1 star.
Binti is a Himba. She lives in a city and crafts astrolabes with her father. She got selected for the Oomza University that is on another planet. She is the first one to be selected from her tribe as well as her city. Her family is against her going to the university so she flee to the town in the dark of night. On her way to the other planet, their spaceship got attacked by the aliens. Aliens with tentacles.....
I loved the world-building. The description of how their spaceship is built and all that.
However I managed to find few plot holes in the story. So yeah, a little back story might have earned that 1 star.
It is a light read though. There are no complicated characters, twists or turns that may clench your heart. I found it refreshing after finishing the pile of ARCs so any of you folks who are looking forward to read something to shake you up from reading slump, this book might help you.
July 3, 2019
1.) Binti ★★★★★
2.) Binti: Home ★★★★
3.) The Night Masquerade ★★★★.5
--------------------------------------------------
14/01/18 -
Still love this so much!
21/01/17 -
I loved this! What an intriguing first installment!
2.) Binti: Home ★★★★
3.) The Night Masquerade ★★★★.5
--------------------------------------------------
14/01/18 -
Still love this so much!
21/01/17 -
I loved this! What an intriguing first installment!
January 29, 2019
Starting off on my adventures with Binti, a mathematically brilliant, 16 year old member of the technically advanced but socially isolated Namibian Himba tribe. Binti decides -against massive family pressure - to accept a full-ride scholarship to the Oomza University on another planet. So she sneaks off in the dead of night, without telling her family. On the spaceship ride to Planet Oomza (or whatever its name is), disaster strikes, and Binti is forced to change and grow as a result.
This Hugo and Nebula award-winning novella has a serviceable SF plot (with several rather noticeable holes in it) but an amazing heroine that, for me, more than makes up for the plot’s weaknesses. She's unusual and complex and feels real to me. Nnedi Okorafor’s writing style is also appealing.
Full review to come! I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review, as part of Binti: The Complete Trilogy.
This Hugo and Nebula award-winning novella has a serviceable SF plot (with several rather noticeable holes in it) but an amazing heroine that, for me, more than makes up for the plot’s weaknesses. She's unusual and complex and feels real to me. Nnedi Okorafor’s writing style is also appealing.
Full review to come! I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review, as part of Binti: The Complete Trilogy.
April 15, 2019
Stuck between 2.5 and 3, gave this novella a 3 eventually.
It was an enjoyably good and quick read.
The bravery of a 16 year old girl leaving everything for the sake of her curiosity of knowing further, her survival instinct, the eden and otjize; were the factors that pulled me in but lost me when there was a lack of strong character and story development around all these!
The feelings grew and died immaturely and all jumbled upon each other!
Though the details about the traditions and customs of the protagonist's region and people attracted my attention and I found myself wanting to know more about them.
For being a novella, the plot was simple but interesting.
It could have been much more intriguing and adventurous if it had more twists and then brought to a specific conclusion.
It seemed to be written in a hurry just to convey the story with many unaddressed issues and loose ends.
It wasn't written impressively enough to hook the readers, so it didn't turn out to be a page turner for me!
Although in my opinion, this plot had a huge potential if it was written patiently with knots tying all the minute details together.
But if you're sitting idle and need a quick read of something with no judgement regarding writing style and things not coming a full circle, then this little book could serve you best as a good time pass!
Moreover, it may be better appreciated by a younger audience!
It was an enjoyably good and quick read.
The bravery of a 16 year old girl leaving everything for the sake of her curiosity of knowing further, her survival instinct, the eden and otjize; were the factors that pulled me in but lost me when there was a lack of strong character and story development around all these!
The feelings grew and died immaturely and all jumbled upon each other!
Though the details about the traditions and customs of the protagonist's region and people attracted my attention and I found myself wanting to know more about them.
For being a novella, the plot was simple but interesting.
It could have been much more intriguing and adventurous if it had more twists and then brought to a specific conclusion.
It seemed to be written in a hurry just to convey the story with many unaddressed issues and loose ends.
It wasn't written impressively enough to hook the readers, so it didn't turn out to be a page turner for me!
Although in my opinion, this plot had a huge potential if it was written patiently with knots tying all the minute details together.
But if you're sitting idle and need a quick read of something with no judgement regarding writing style and things not coming a full circle, then this little book could serve you best as a good time pass!
Moreover, it may be better appreciated by a younger audience!
December 1, 2018
FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN
Me ha encantado Binti, en serio
FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN
Que sí, que el desenlace es facilón e incluso poco creíble pero es que a mi ME DA IGUAL.
He disfrutado muchísimo con esta novela corta, era justo lo que necesitaba en este momento, una lectura original, ágil, entretenida y cargadísima de imaginación y buenas ideas por todas partes.
Además me he hecho super fan de Okwu, necesito ponerme ya con Binti hogar y voy a hacerlo.
Me ha encantado Binti, en serio
FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN
Que sí, que el desenlace es facilón e incluso poco creíble pero es que a mi ME DA IGUAL.
He disfrutado muchísimo con esta novela corta, era justo lo que necesitaba en este momento, una lectura original, ágil, entretenida y cargadísima de imaginación y buenas ideas por todas partes.
Además me he hecho super fan de Okwu, necesito ponerme ya con Binti hogar y voy a hacerlo.
March 16, 2021
Ten things to enjoy in Hugo & Nebula Award-winning Binti:
1) A sci-fi tale that begins in the refreshingly unique setting of Namibia and ends at a space university.
2) An endearing, strong, black, female lead.
3) A living, organic spaceship.
4) Violence and combat, but staged in such a way that they never seem like reasonable solutions, only possible ones.
5) Jellyfish-like, Lovecraftian antagonists.
6) An immersive, entertaining story that can be enjoyed over a cup of coffee (or, maybe, two).
7) Some really great writing that works well within the soft sci-fi concept (more focused on human experience of sci-fi rather than the sci-fi itself).
8) Invigorating descriptions of hair. No, really! This is good hair.
9) An allegory for the difficulties of communicating with someone from another culture, the dire consequences of these miscommunications, and the power of language and diplomacy.
10) An enjoyable introduction to a projected trilogy of novellas. An easily digestible alternative to the immense trilogies for which the genre is famous.
1) A sci-fi tale that begins in the refreshingly unique setting of Namibia and ends at a space university.
2) An endearing, strong, black, female lead.
3) A living, organic spaceship.
4) Violence and combat, but staged in such a way that they never seem like reasonable solutions, only possible ones.
5) Jellyfish-like, Lovecraftian antagonists.
6) An immersive, entertaining story that can be enjoyed over a cup of coffee (or, maybe, two).
7) Some really great writing that works well within the soft sci-fi concept (more focused on human experience of sci-fi rather than the sci-fi itself).
8) Invigorating descriptions of hair. No, really! This is good hair.
9) An allegory for the difficulties of communicating with someone from another culture, the dire consequences of these miscommunications, and the power of language and diplomacy.
10) An enjoyable introduction to a projected trilogy of novellas. An easily digestible alternative to the immense trilogies for which the genre is famous.
September 8, 2021
4.5 Stars
This is a fantastic African inspired science fiction novella with a strong female character at the center of the story. In a short number of pages, the author successfully woven imaginative world building into a compelling story filled with action and adventure. I highly recommend this one and really need to finish out the trilogy now. I definitely want to read more African Futurism.
This is a fantastic African inspired science fiction novella with a strong female character at the center of the story. In a short number of pages, the author successfully woven imaginative world building into a compelling story filled with action and adventure. I highly recommend this one and really need to finish out the trilogy now. I definitely want to read more African Futurism.
January 21, 2019
“No matter what choice I made, I was never going to have a normal life, really. I looked around and immediately knew what to do next.”
Awards are not to be trusted.
Sometimes they get it right by accident, but for the most part the assessment criteria seem to have little to do with the quality of the work.
Binti tells the story of the girl Binti (surprise!) of the Himba people, primitive isolationists who are desperately reluctant to hinder her, a prodigy among them, to leave their reclusive society in order to attend space university. She does anyway, running away from her family, there are some extremely dangerous complications that she’s able to very easily solve because... she’s the protagonist, aaaand... the end.
Binti is a novella not without its merits, but certainly not with any particular originality. Neither in the young protagonist from a disenfranchised primitive isolationist culture who's the first to partake in a prestigious institution. Nor in the exploration of culture clash between humans and aliens. These issues have been dealt with again and again by many works of fiction, often far more skilfully than in Binti.
Then there is the juvenile writing style (which, admittedly, makes sense with the first person narrative of a teenage protagonist) and the deus ex machina and the plot holes defying all logic and rules of writing. Is this the mythical originality I've heard about, mayhap?
At its core, Binti alternates between doing too much and too little, inevitably the curse of such a short novella. It can be read as a decent little story, that is neither thought-provoking nor intellectually stimulating, but for the right people (not me) I am sure can be quite fun. I personally thought it was boring and lazily written too, but that's just personal taste. However, I am not entirely uninterested in Okorafors work, and will be on the lookout for more of her writing in the future. Hopefully it proves a lot more of a positive experience.
Awards are not to be trusted.
Sometimes they get it right by accident, but for the most part the assessment criteria seem to have little to do with the quality of the work.
Binti tells the story of the girl Binti (surprise!) of the Himba people, primitive isolationists who are desperately reluctant to hinder her, a prodigy among them, to leave their reclusive society in order to attend space university. She does anyway, running away from her family, there are some extremely dangerous complications that she’s able to very easily solve because... she’s the protagonist, aaaand... the end.
Binti is a novella not without its merits, but certainly not with any particular originality. Neither in the young protagonist from a disenfranchised primitive isolationist culture who's the first to partake in a prestigious institution. Nor in the exploration of culture clash between humans and aliens. These issues have been dealt with again and again by many works of fiction, often far more skilfully than in Binti.
Then there is the juvenile writing style (which, admittedly, makes sense with the first person narrative of a teenage protagonist) and the deus ex machina and the plot holes defying all logic and rules of writing. Is this the mythical originality I've heard about, mayhap?
At its core, Binti alternates between doing too much and too little, inevitably the curse of such a short novella. It can be read as a decent little story, that is neither thought-provoking nor intellectually stimulating, but for the right people (not me) I am sure can be quite fun. I personally thought it was boring and lazily written too, but that's just personal taste. However, I am not entirely uninterested in Okorafors work, and will be on the lookout for more of her writing in the future. Hopefully it proves a lot more of a positive experience.
December 21, 2017
I expected more from this. There's some important themes about acceptance and colonialism addressed in here, for sure, but the execution is what I found most lacking.
As a novella, it works in that there's a clear beginning, middle and end. There's certainly plot movement as Binti leaves her homeland for an entirely new world and the prospect of education - an opportunity never given to the children of her people. The strongest part of the novel is certainly the beginning, as Binti's cultural heritage and traditions were the aspect of the story I found the most compelling, and the most strongly developed.
The rest of the story lacks the impact and finish I've come to look for in works of fiction that I end up loving. It doesn't help that I'm reading a really well-written novel right now, because in comparison the prose in this fell extremely flat. It's all too cut and dry telling, over showing. "I went here. I saw this thing do this action. I picked up the edan." Okay, the first two examples I made up, but the third certainly happens. All the prose reads this way. There's no punch to it, and frankly, I was a little bored.
This is not touching on the fact that what themes there are about acceptance and overcoming differences just aren't incorporated well. This is advertised as a Science Fiction novella, but it reads like middle-grade or the lower spectrum of Young Adult. The ending of this entry was far too neat and tidy, especially considering the atrocities committed by certain characters in the story that are quite literally hand-waved away by Binti's intervention and a heartwarming speech.
Like I said, I expected more - but it was okay. Unfortunately I don't think this generated enough interest for me to continue.
As a novella, it works in that there's a clear beginning, middle and end. There's certainly plot movement as Binti leaves her homeland for an entirely new world and the prospect of education - an opportunity never given to the children of her people. The strongest part of the novel is certainly the beginning, as Binti's cultural heritage and traditions were the aspect of the story I found the most compelling, and the most strongly developed.
The rest of the story lacks the impact and finish I've come to look for in works of fiction that I end up loving. It doesn't help that I'm reading a really well-written novel right now, because in comparison the prose in this fell extremely flat. It's all too cut and dry telling, over showing. "I went here. I saw this thing do this action. I picked up the edan." Okay, the first two examples I made up, but the third certainly happens. All the prose reads this way. There's no punch to it, and frankly, I was a little bored.
This is not touching on the fact that what themes there are about acceptance and overcoming differences just aren't incorporated well. This is advertised as a Science Fiction novella, but it reads like middle-grade or the lower spectrum of Young Adult. The ending of this entry was far too neat and tidy, especially considering the atrocities committed by certain characters in the story that are quite literally hand-waved away by Binti's intervention and a heartwarming speech.
Like I said, I expected more - but it was okay. Unfortunately I don't think this generated enough interest for me to continue.
June 28, 2016
Read as part of the Hugo Voters' Packet.
Enjoyable YA space adventure with an engaging protagonist.
In this future, the Himba tribe of Namibia are an insular minority, looked down upon by the majority Khoush although the Himba have become specialized experts in math and 'harmonizing,' producing "astrolabes" (which seem to be the future's smartphones). Teenage Binti's skills have won her a coveted scholarship to an intergalactic university, but to her family, it is unthinkable that she would be permitted to leave her tribe and go. Unwilling to let her dreams die, Binti runs away and soon finds herself on a ship en route to Oomza Uni. Unfortunately, that ship is hijacked by alien terrorists.
Although the setup is both fun and fascinating, there were a few plot holes and the way things eventually worked out was too easy and simplistic, I thought.
My issues with the story:
Enjoyable YA space adventure with an engaging protagonist.
In this future, the Himba tribe of Namibia are an insular minority, looked down upon by the majority Khoush although the Himba have become specialized experts in math and 'harmonizing,' producing "astrolabes" (which seem to be the future's smartphones). Teenage Binti's skills have won her a coveted scholarship to an intergalactic university, but to her family, it is unthinkable that she would be permitted to leave her tribe and go. Unwilling to let her dreams die, Binti runs away and soon finds herself on a ship en route to Oomza Uni. Unfortunately, that ship is hijacked by alien terrorists.
Although the setup is both fun and fascinating, there were a few plot holes and the way things eventually worked out was too easy and simplistic, I thought.
My issues with the story:
June 15, 2018
Great novela by the author of Who Fears Death, Binti tells the story of a brilliant, brave young girl who risks everything to go to college, including her family, home and even her life.
November 14, 2015
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/11/14/r...
When Tor.com first announced their line-up of novellas for 2015, Binti was probably one of the top three I was most excited about. Now I have to wonder if I went overboard and hyped myself up too much, because it turned out that I did not fall in love with this book like I had hoped I would. Now don’t get me wrong, because I enjoyed Binti. It’s a sweet little novella that captivated me and left me wanting more. Still, why it left me wanting more is the key matter I want to discuss in my review.
At its heart, Binti is a very human story about self-discovery and self-acceptance. It follows the eponymous protagonist, a young woman who is leaving home for the very first time. Her people the Himba are a very private society with a deep respect for tradition and culture, preferring to keep to themselves. Binti, however, has bigger plans. She applies for Oomza University and is accepted, becoming the first ever Himba to be offered a place at the school. Binti’s family and friends laughed at her, ridiculed her, cried and begged her not to go, but Binti would not be dissuaded. She secretly books passage for a space flight that would take her to the university, where she would embark on a journey to higher learning.
On the way, however, her ship is attacked by members of an alien race called the Meduse. The Meduse hate humans, and they also hate the University for committing a grave crime against their chief. Binti is forced to watch in horror as all the new friends she made are ruthlessly slaughtered. Somehow, Binti herself manages to escape the massacre. She doesn’t know why she was spared, though she suspects the answer to that question and her only chance to survive might be found within her. She must stay alive until help can be reached, and to do that, she will have to open herself to an unlikely ally.
As a protagonist, Binti is delightfully complex, being a heroine who straddles two worlds. Unlike the other members of her family, Binti has the desire to travel beyond the stars, and the moment she found out about Oomza University, it became her dream to one day study there. That said, she also has deep ties to the Himba, adhering to their many customs, like using the clay of her land on her skin and hair as part of a cleansing ritual, or following in her father’s footsteps to study and develop technology. Leaving home is never easy, and I admired Binti’s courage to face down the new and the unknown, even when she is met with ignorance from other travelers who have never encountered a Himba before and treat her differently—at best, like an oddity; at worst, like a savage.
What’s interesting is that Binti’s own experience with the Meduse teaches her something about the way people view the world, revealing how one can become prejudiced when faced with prejudice against themselves. The theme of the story is about acceptance, of embracing your own identity and being proud of who you are, but also learning to respect others and sympathize with different points of view.
If that sounds like a very straightforward message, that’s because it is. It’s a beautiful message, one I really liked, but at times I felt it was presented a bit too cleanly. And while I have nothing but good things to say about the world building and the establishment of the premise, when it came to the narrative itself, I felt the plot lacked substance. It’s fine, perhaps, if you view this as Binti’s personal journey. But as much as I enjoy a story with a message, I also prefer it when the latter is balanced with the former to make the experience more meaningful and convincing. I was fully engaged for most of this book, but felt the resolution was too rushed and roughly sketched, like the story just couldn’t wait to make its point.
Like I said, I wanted more—mainly more meat on the bones of this story, and to a lesser extent, more emphasis given to Binti’s own skills and intelligence, because I also felt the ending was weak due to the heavy reliance on factors outside the protagonist’s sphere of control. Still, all in all I am glad I read this novella. It was a thought-provoking tale, and I’m blown away by Nnedi Okorafor’s talent for world building. I think it’s high time I picked up one of her novels because I think a fuller story would work better for me.
When Tor.com first announced their line-up of novellas for 2015, Binti was probably one of the top three I was most excited about. Now I have to wonder if I went overboard and hyped myself up too much, because it turned out that I did not fall in love with this book like I had hoped I would. Now don’t get me wrong, because I enjoyed Binti. It’s a sweet little novella that captivated me and left me wanting more. Still, why it left me wanting more is the key matter I want to discuss in my review.
At its heart, Binti is a very human story about self-discovery and self-acceptance. It follows the eponymous protagonist, a young woman who is leaving home for the very first time. Her people the Himba are a very private society with a deep respect for tradition and culture, preferring to keep to themselves. Binti, however, has bigger plans. She applies for Oomza University and is accepted, becoming the first ever Himba to be offered a place at the school. Binti’s family and friends laughed at her, ridiculed her, cried and begged her not to go, but Binti would not be dissuaded. She secretly books passage for a space flight that would take her to the university, where she would embark on a journey to higher learning.
On the way, however, her ship is attacked by members of an alien race called the Meduse. The Meduse hate humans, and they also hate the University for committing a grave crime against their chief. Binti is forced to watch in horror as all the new friends she made are ruthlessly slaughtered. Somehow, Binti herself manages to escape the massacre. She doesn’t know why she was spared, though she suspects the answer to that question and her only chance to survive might be found within her. She must stay alive until help can be reached, and to do that, she will have to open herself to an unlikely ally.
As a protagonist, Binti is delightfully complex, being a heroine who straddles two worlds. Unlike the other members of her family, Binti has the desire to travel beyond the stars, and the moment she found out about Oomza University, it became her dream to one day study there. That said, she also has deep ties to the Himba, adhering to their many customs, like using the clay of her land on her skin and hair as part of a cleansing ritual, or following in her father’s footsteps to study and develop technology. Leaving home is never easy, and I admired Binti’s courage to face down the new and the unknown, even when she is met with ignorance from other travelers who have never encountered a Himba before and treat her differently—at best, like an oddity; at worst, like a savage.
What’s interesting is that Binti’s own experience with the Meduse teaches her something about the way people view the world, revealing how one can become prejudiced when faced with prejudice against themselves. The theme of the story is about acceptance, of embracing your own identity and being proud of who you are, but also learning to respect others and sympathize with different points of view.
If that sounds like a very straightforward message, that’s because it is. It’s a beautiful message, one I really liked, but at times I felt it was presented a bit too cleanly. And while I have nothing but good things to say about the world building and the establishment of the premise, when it came to the narrative itself, I felt the plot lacked substance. It’s fine, perhaps, if you view this as Binti’s personal journey. But as much as I enjoy a story with a message, I also prefer it when the latter is balanced with the former to make the experience more meaningful and convincing. I was fully engaged for most of this book, but felt the resolution was too rushed and roughly sketched, like the story just couldn’t wait to make its point.
Like I said, I wanted more—mainly more meat on the bones of this story, and to a lesser extent, more emphasis given to Binti’s own skills and intelligence, because I also felt the ending was weak due to the heavy reliance on factors outside the protagonist’s sphere of control. Still, all in all I am glad I read this novella. It was a thought-provoking tale, and I’m blown away by Nnedi Okorafor’s talent for world building. I think it’s high time I picked up one of her novels because I think a fuller story would work better for me.
May 31, 2018
Review originally published on my blog: https://morejeansthoughts.wordpress.c...
This book blew me away with the emotional impact it was able to have in less than one hundred pages. A novella as opposed to a full-length novel this book is the first in a series, of which two more are already available (and I’m half way through number two). It follows our protagonist Binti, a member of the Himba people who are one of multiple cultures that live on Earth. The Himba tend to remain in their own community and never do they leave Earth. Binti, however, is the first of her people to have been offered a place at Oomza University, situated on a planet other than her own, and she is not about to turn it down.
This is where our story begins: Binti leaving home silently in the early morning to travel through space and attend Oomza University. The next few pages are packed full of action; nothing unfurls as you may perhaps have expected from the offset of the novella. For a story confined to less than one hundred pages it is impossible to be disappointed by the sheer degree of content, character exploration and sci-fi goodness. The length does, however, restrict the author’s ability to provide detailed world building behind the science in this futuristic setting and how far perhaps the universe has come since today.
This is one where readers need to be willing to entirely suspend their disbelief and enter into Binti’s world with whole-hearted acceptance. Of course, this is only possible when the author has spent time and energy carefully constructing the world that is there. Although you may not be provided with pages explaining the process of each piece of science or human development contained within the novella’s pages, there is little question that everything fits together seamlessly and has a reason even if there is only a short time to dwell on it.
The character of Binti herself is the focus of this story; she provides an anchor for any reader in a world floating around in the unknown. We follow her pursuit of what she wants whilst struggling to let go of what others expect of her. We watch as she attempts to find the balance between her culture and her decision to go against what is the norm for her people. She is a multifaceted character who is able to assert herself as all of these aspects of her personhood and she will not let others dismiss her.
Whether you are a die-hard science fiction reader or a newbie to the genre Binti, is to me, one worth checking out. Following Binti’s journey in Binti was emotional and encapsulating and luckily enough for all of us there are two more books in the series where Binti’s story can continue (and both are longer than the first so that’s a bonus). I’ll confess I have already read the sequel Binti: Home, which I loved equally, and will be starting the third and final book Binti: The Night Masquerade ASAP.
This book blew me away with the emotional impact it was able to have in less than one hundred pages. A novella as opposed to a full-length novel this book is the first in a series, of which two more are already available (and I’m half way through number two). It follows our protagonist Binti, a member of the Himba people who are one of multiple cultures that live on Earth. The Himba tend to remain in their own community and never do they leave Earth. Binti, however, is the first of her people to have been offered a place at Oomza University, situated on a planet other than her own, and she is not about to turn it down.
This is where our story begins: Binti leaving home silently in the early morning to travel through space and attend Oomza University. The next few pages are packed full of action; nothing unfurls as you may perhaps have expected from the offset of the novella. For a story confined to less than one hundred pages it is impossible to be disappointed by the sheer degree of content, character exploration and sci-fi goodness. The length does, however, restrict the author’s ability to provide detailed world building behind the science in this futuristic setting and how far perhaps the universe has come since today.
This is one where readers need to be willing to entirely suspend their disbelief and enter into Binti’s world with whole-hearted acceptance. Of course, this is only possible when the author has spent time and energy carefully constructing the world that is there. Although you may not be provided with pages explaining the process of each piece of science or human development contained within the novella’s pages, there is little question that everything fits together seamlessly and has a reason even if there is only a short time to dwell on it.
The character of Binti herself is the focus of this story; she provides an anchor for any reader in a world floating around in the unknown. We follow her pursuit of what she wants whilst struggling to let go of what others expect of her. We watch as she attempts to find the balance between her culture and her decision to go against what is the norm for her people. She is a multifaceted character who is able to assert herself as all of these aspects of her personhood and she will not let others dismiss her.
Whether you are a die-hard science fiction reader or a newbie to the genre Binti, is to me, one worth checking out. Following Binti’s journey in Binti was emotional and encapsulating and luckily enough for all of us there are two more books in the series where Binti’s story can continue (and both are longer than the first so that’s a bonus). I’ll confess I have already read the sequel Binti: Home, which I loved equally, and will be starting the third and final book Binti: The Night Masquerade ASAP.
December 26, 2021
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DNF @ 38%
I'm reading AKATA WITCH right now and it is fantastic, so obvs that meant that I when I realized I had BINTI on my Kindle as well, I gave it a quick look-see to see if I wanted to dive right in after I finish AKATA. Sadly, I don't think this book is for me. Lest you say, "Well, you're not a sci-fi reader," you would be totes wrong. When I'm not reading bodice-rippers, I read a lot of sci-fi, and I grew up on both of the big "Star" franchises as a kid. And actually, one of the things I admired about this book was the integration of the pseduo-African culture of the heroine into this world and how it uses this to call out racism against Black people (hair politics, assuming poverty and lack of intelligence, colonizer mentality, etc.). I just think it's too small of a vehicle to do what it wants to do. AKATA is a full-length book (albeit a short one) and everything flows beautifully. In this book, the pacing is off and we're kind of just thrown into the world-building. I think Okorafor is an incredibly talented and imaginative writer, but this is not really her best work (in my opinion).
2 stars
February 3, 2016
Those of you who know me know how ridiculously hard it is to get a 5-star rating out of me. But this is master-class SF storytelling. Some novellas you read and think, "I wish this had been a novel." Some you read and think, "It's a bloated short story." Binti is quite possibly as close to perfect as it could have been, at its exact length. Full-length review coming.
August 11, 2019
I didn't really enjoy this. It seemed a bit all over the place and the amount of times the word otjize was said in every section really bothered me by making it repetitive. There was a part of the story where the main character talks about having equations going through her mind to be able to make a complex and satisfying choice like something no one has ever done before... and then the author puts a^+b^=c^. Pythagoras. Something you learn in year6 when you're 11. She's meant to be a genius mathematician! Overall, fairly disappointing and I will not be carrying on with the series.
2 disappointing stars.
2 disappointing stars.
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