Mild spoilers ahead.... SpoilerThis book collects together three science fiction novellas, plus a new short story, all centered on the character of Binti, a Himba girl who leaves Earth to study at a renowned university. The first novella won the Nebula and Hugo awards, and the third novella is currently a Hugo Award nominee. Binti is sixteen years old at the start, and these stories have a correspondingly youthful energy, a bright palette, despite containing moments of brutally upsetting violence. I like Binti: how she combines both a love of her home and a desire for more, her courage, how she befriends those very different from her. I like the multiplicity of cultures shown in the book, both those of science-fictional aliens and those of humans that were new to me (the Himba) or invented (the Enyi Zinariya). I note that, while I was entertained by the first two novellas, it was the third one that held my interest best, that made me eager to return and finish the story. I also note that I anticipated several of the plot developments, but this is an observation not a complaint, I was glad that the story took the turns it did. Recommended.
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