Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

      

         Binti is a science fiction novella written by Nnedi Okorafor. It follows main character, Binti, who is the first person from her community to be accepted into Oomza Uni, an extremely prestigious university that is in space. Although Binti was immensely eager to go to this university, her family and community disapproved of her leaving home and going there as the Himba traditionally don’t travel far from their home. Despite this, Binti secretly left home to pursue her academic dreams even though she knew her family and community would not be happy and would talk bad about her decision.

           After departing from Earth on the spaceship that would take the students to Oomza Uni, the Meduse, jellyfish-like aliens, attack the ship and kill almost everyone on it including Binti’s new best friends and her crush right in front of her eyes. The only people who survived this attack were the pilot, who the Meduse purposefully spared to fly them to the university, so the Meduse could retrieve their chief’s stolen tentacle which the university used for research purposes. Binti was the only other person who survived because the Meduse were unable to kill her due to her powerful edan that protected her. Now, Binti must use her intelligence, culture, and technology to survive the Meduse and negotiate peace to save the people at Oomza Uni.

This novella explores several powerful themes. One of the main themes is staying connected to your identity even when going to new environments. Binti is from the Himba people of Namibia and is the only person of her people who has ever gone to this university. On her journey to the university, Binti rides a shuttle to get to the spaceship that would take her to Oomza Uni. Upon entering the shuttle, Binti describes how her clothing looks nothing like anyone else and how everyone gives her weird looks and openly say mean things about her. This causes Binti to be insecure about herself and she begins to question if she made the right choice to go to the university. Not only did she feel like an outsider on her journey to Oomza Uni, but also in her own family and community because she left home secretly to go to the university despite what she knew they would think of her and their open disapproval of her leaving home as no one from her community has ever left. As the story progresses, Binti learns to hold pride in her culture and traditions. Her otjize clay becomes extremely useful to bring peace as well as being a symbol of her connection to her people even though she is away. Also, her harmonizer skill from cultural knowledge becomes a powerful advantage for her during the attack of the Meduse. This is important because Binti kept going with her dream despite the negativity she received from others while also holding onto her cultural identity. 

The edan is a big symbol in this novella. You’re probably wondering what an edan is…I was confused about it at first, but in the story it's described as a small ancient metal device with no known purpose. It is in the shape of a stellated cube and is covered with intricate designs and mysterious symbols. Binti discovered it in the desert one day and has been carrying it with her ever since out of curiosity. During the attack of the meduse, this object becomes crucial to her survival, revealing its powerful abilities. It symbolizes how even in a futuristic world with many advanced technologies, the ancient edan is one of the most powerful and important devices in the story showing how even something old and ancient like the edan can have a big role in the futuristic world. The edan is also a symbol of connection between different cultures as it helps her communicate and find peace with the Meduse. 

I really liked this story as it was very captivating and fast paced and I had to really pay attention to it otherwise I would be lost because so much happens, which I enjoyed. The pacing was great for the most part, but I felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

I also learned about other cultures too which was pretty cool and the story had a few plot twists I was not expecting which made it interesting. There’s also a lot of descriptive imagery that helps you imagine what everything looks like, especially since it's like a new future world.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novella, and you should definitely check it out!

-Jehan