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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: Violence, death, descriptions of blood and gore, PTSD, grief, war
Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor is a set of three novellas in one compendium. Binti is an African Futurist scifi that almost feels like Octavia Butler. I really enjoyed this series. I wasn't so sure at the beginning, but the last book really cemented the five star rating for me.
We follow Binti, a Himba girl who is a master harmonizer and gifted in mathematics. When she is accepted into prestigious Oomza University on a distant planet, she makes the controversial decision to leave her home planet in order to learn. Himba people do not leave and they don't embrace change. They always go inward. On the way to the university jellyfish like aliens, called Meduse, board and kill everyone on the ship except Binti and the pilot. Binti then has to broker peace between the Meduse and the university.
There is so much that happened in three books! I can't even summarize it all and have it make sense. The technology in this book is so cool! Living ships that can survive in space and are sentient. So many non-humanoid aliens! Mathematics is a key part of the story. Binti's story is really about the concept of change. Binti is the embodiment of change for the Himba people. The first to leave her planet and tribe, the first to befriend a Medusan, and the only one of her kind in the end.
There are many messages about learned prejudice, the lies we tell ourselves about people who are different from us, and the constant way humans try to treat others as less. I think a big part of Binti's story is also about intersectionality. How you can be many things at once without losing who you are. All of the cultures that were talked about were fascinating.
Because everything is math, that means everything is connected, everything has already been predicted and foretold in complex equations. Apparently, destiny is just math. I've seen some criticism of these books about there not being enough since they are novella, but I appreciate it when authors can be succinct and still get their point across. However, I wouldn't mind a whole book just about Oomza Uni, that place is fascinating with all the diverse aliens.
The science fiction in this is so great. I cannot recommend it enough.
Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor is a set of three novellas in one compendium. Binti is an African Futurist scifi that almost feels like Octavia Butler. I really enjoyed this series. I wasn't so sure at the beginning, but the last book really cemented the five star rating for me.
We follow Binti, a Himba girl who is a master harmonizer and gifted in mathematics. When she is accepted into prestigious Oomza University on a distant planet, she makes the controversial decision to leave her home planet in order to learn. Himba people do not leave and they don't embrace change. They always go inward. On the way to the university jellyfish like aliens, called Meduse, board and kill everyone on the ship except Binti and the pilot. Binti then has to broker peace between the Meduse and the university.
There is so much that happened in three books! I can't even summarize it all and have it make sense. The technology in this book is so cool! Living ships that can survive in space and are sentient. So many non-humanoid aliens! Mathematics is a key part of the story. Binti's story is really about the concept of change. Binti is the embodiment of change for the Himba people. The first to leave her planet and tribe, the first to befriend a Medusan, and the only one of her kind in the end.
There are many messages about learned prejudice, the lies we tell ourselves about people who are different from us, and the constant way humans try to treat others as less. I think a big part of Binti's story is also about intersectionality. How you can be many things at once without losing who you are. All of the cultures that were talked about were fascinating.
Because everything is math, that means everything is connected, everything has already been predicted and foretold in complex equations. Apparently, destiny is just math. I've seen some criticism of these books about there not being enough since they are novella, but I appreciate it when authors can be succinct and still get their point across. However, I wouldn't mind a whole book just about Oomza Uni, that place is fascinating with all the diverse aliens.
The science fiction in this is so great. I cannot recommend it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Death