Reviews with content warning for Blood - Binti

Binti is the first in a series of novellas by Hugo-Award-Winner Nnedi Okorafor and while I can absolutely see the appeal and was mesmerized by the ideas behind this piece of work, it wasn't exactly for me :c

The novella starts with Binti's journey to a prestigious university as the first of her kind, the Himba (which, btw, are the indigenous people of Namibia! I did not know that the name was real but I'm immensely happy it is, and will proceed to find out more about them now). Armed with not much except a jar of otjize, a mixture of her homeland clay and oil and a traditional way of cleaning and adorning their bodies for her people, she boards the ship that will carry her to her new destination - her new life. Except on the way there, the ship gets boarded by creatures who slaughter her future classmates and leave her stranded on a ship filled with the dead and the creatures themselves, patiently on course for the University - for they have stolen something of these people and they want it back.

The overall ideas, as I have already said, were beautiful and intriguing. I was especially glad to see the end play out

when Binti helps them recover the Stinger of their chief. It was such a pivotal moment

and the way the importance Binti's culture was for her was emphasized was very impactful and full of joy. However, the overall pace was still too fast for me. I didn't have time to fully process any emotions apart from a few appreciative nods, and yet it still felt like a lot of time had passed in the novella itself. I was expecting for it to be fast-paced, given that it's barely 90 pages, but I was sadly really not a fan of how it played out in the end.

I would still recommend this novella, given that it's fairly short, because for the ideas it carries, and I might very well pick up book two anyway after this! <3

Content Warnings

jmcordero's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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clea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I found the setting and overall story arch of this novella very interesting. But I would've loved to get more explanations, to learn more about the planets and the aliens living there. The "world-building" felt a bit superficial to me.
Even for a novella, the pacing was very rapid. Therefore, the plot seemed rushed and the characters lacked a bit of depth, I couldn't really connect to them.
But it is still an engaging, quick read with relevant themes and interesting ideas.

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nmcannon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Binti was an impulse borrow from the library. Like speculative fiction fans the world over, I know Nnedi Okorafor is a master at the craft, a true magician with her words, and her ability is never more apparent than in this small novella.

Far in the future, Binti is a genius “harmonizer” among the Himba people. In other words, she has a talent for bringing nature, numbers, and people into harmony. Though the Himba people are highly talented engineers, they rarely interact with the neighboring Khoush people, and they’re thought to be “savages” on the outskirts of society (while somehow also producing the planet’s most advanced tech—listen, prejudice doesn’t make sense). It’s absolutely unheard of for a young Himba woman to travel in space or attend the prestigious Oomza University. Yet Binti does both. Things seem to be going well right up until the alien Meduse begin ritualistically slaughtering everyone on the ship, except for her.

Okorafor does so much in such a little page count. The world-building is top-notch, especially with the aliens and technology. Neil Gaiman wasn’t kidding when he said readers will fall in love with Binti—I love her too. She carries and draws strength from Himba culture, and Himba culture, in turn, saves her. She’s wise and knowledge, but also incredibly young and fragile, and Okorafor doesn’t shy away from that. I’m lucky I found this series so late, because I can immediately continue reading Binti’s adventures.

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abutler's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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translove's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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horizonous's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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ejb44's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor centres itself on Himba woman Binti who decides to go against what her village expects of her and go to university. On this journey she faces one of the hardest experiences of her life, one that will follow her through the rest of the series and be a key factor in her trauma-healing and decision making. From themes of identity and culture-mixing to friendship and family struggles, Okorafor doesn’t fail to beautifully explore what it means to be from various cultures.

For such a short book, Okorafor manages to create such a detailed world without compromising character and plot development. This skill is fairly unique, and I think the balance between these three aspects of a novel entangle with each other so well. Every aspect of the science fiction in this novel is capitalised to its maximum, without feeling overbearing like I felt it did in her other novel Lagoon.

Okorafor’s exploration of identity, migration and how others’ perceptions of you can shape those aspects of your life really root this story – it is obvious from the beginning the message she is trying to put across. By placing themes of migration and identity in a post-colonial context and exploring these conversations free from European influence, Okorafor is expanding the limitations faced by black women. These themes permeate the other books in the series and never once become repetitive. The message really hit home for me, as someone who has grown up not really fitting in with any other culture in my family (the perks of growing up with parents from two countries!). Okorafor brings in her own ideas as she is Nigerian but was raised in America, and you can tell from the writing it really is a topic that means a lot to her and is close to her heart.

Overall this book is fantastically brilliant, short, vibrant and deals with important topics in such a short space of words. I would also recommend the book Shame On Me by Tessa McWatt to accompany you’re reading of this series as it deals with the same subjects from a non-fiction point of view.

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