Su nombre es Binti, y es la primera de los himba a la que se le ha ofrecido una plaza en Oomza Uni: la mejor institución de enseñanza superior de la galaxia. Aceptar esta oferta significará abandonar su casa, su familia y viajar a través de las estrellas entre extraños que no comparten su forma de ser ni respetan sus costumbres.
Lo que Binti no sabe es que el conocimiento le costará caro. Una sanguinaria raza alienígena, las medusas, amenazan su viaje y, para poder sobrevivir, necesitará la ayuda de su pueblo y de la sabiduría contenida en la Universidad.
Ganadora de un premio Hugo en 2016, un Nébula en 2015 y nominada al Locus, Binti es una historia intensa y condensada. En Binti comprobaremos cómo funcionan los prejuicios con los que crecemos y cómo se desmorona este sistema de creencias cuando se trata de afrontar lo desconocido. Nuevos lugares, …
Su nombre es Binti, y es la primera de los himba a la que se le ha ofrecido una plaza en Oomza Uni: la mejor institución de enseñanza superior de la galaxia. Aceptar esta oferta significará abandonar su casa, su familia y viajar a través de las estrellas entre extraños que no comparten su forma de ser ni respetan sus costumbres.
Lo que Binti no sabe es que el conocimiento le costará caro. Una sanguinaria raza alienígena, las medusas, amenazan su viaje y, para poder sobrevivir, necesitará la ayuda de su pueblo y de la sabiduría contenida en la Universidad.
Ganadora de un premio Hugo en 2016, un Nébula en 2015 y nominada al Locus, Binti es una historia intensa y condensada. En Binti comprobaremos cómo funcionan los prejuicios con los que crecemos y cómo se desmorona este sistema de creencias cuando se trata de afrontar lo desconocido. Nuevos lugares, nuevos modos de comunicarse y el temido y a la vez cautivador contacto con el otro, ya sea una raza alienígena o una cultura africana, tan distante de la nuestra, que podríamos sentir de otro planeta diferente.
Este viaje transformará a quien lo emprende de forma irremediable, sin posibilidad de volver atrás.
Es raro. Interesante, prometedor, diferente y raro. Me gusta el planteamiento de la trama y me ha dejado con ganas de descubrir qué ocurre a continuación. Suerte que cogí un lote con las tres novelas, porque la primera parece ser la introducción.
At 16, Binti is the first of her people to leave the safety of home to study mathematics at the unparalleled Oomza University. When her transport ship is attacked and all her future classmates are killed, Binti alone stands between a war that would span the entire galaxy.
This short novella is sharp, poignant, and intense – with complex world building.
Binti is about restitution and amends, bravery and voyage, halting a cycle of violence and miscommunication...in space. The tech is described with the surety and shorthand of familiarity to say you don't need more, for Binti knows what she's doing.
The pacing was strange and dreamlike. I don't normally read novellas and this one felt far too short of an exploration for such a rich world as was hinted at in the text. Luckily for my satisfaction there are sequels which I will be exploring, as I have been intrigued and want to linger longer here. There is just enough explanation of technology as to be satisfying without being hard sci-fi. I'll have to see how the later books handle it before I can say whether this is due to the brevity of the text or if it's a stylistic choice that will persist in the series. Overall I liked …
Binti is about restitution and amends, bravery and voyage, halting a cycle of violence and miscommunication...in space. The tech is described with the surety and shorthand of familiarity to say you don't need more, for Binti knows what she's doing.
The pacing was strange and dreamlike. I don't normally read novellas and this one felt far too short of an exploration for such a rich world as was hinted at in the text. Luckily for my satisfaction there are sequels which I will be exploring, as I have been intrigued and want to linger longer here. There is just enough explanation of technology as to be satisfying without being hard sci-fi. I'll have to see how the later books handle it before I can say whether this is due to the brevity of the text or if it's a stylistic choice that will persist in the series. Overall I liked it and will be fine with either in the sequels.
I appreciated how it doesn't slow down for my lack of understanding, while also conveying some of the feel of the emotional burden in being alone in a crowd and constantly code-switching to explain one's self to others.
I shouldn’t leave this without mentioning that it has a lot of trauma in close succession with very little after-care, neither for the characters nor the reader. Since it’s very short and it has sequels I’ll be looking there for what this book is missing, and I’m reserving judgement until I see how it all plays out.
I loved that this is a sci-fi/action novel in which the driving conflict is not resolved by force or technology, and I love the picture it paints of the interstellar-cosmopolitan university. I wanted more character development--a bit more of Binti ethnicity and excellence, but mainly a few other fleshed-out characters--but I'm also mindful of how short a book this is. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and wonder if it will scratch that itch.
I loved that this is a sci-fi/action novel in which the driving conflict is not resolved by force or technology, and I love the picture it paints of the interstellar-cosmopolitan university. I wanted more character development--a bit more of Binti ethnicity and excellence, but mainly a few other fleshed-out characters--but I'm also mindful of how short a book this is. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and wonder if it will scratch that itch.
I've been putting off reading this solely because it's a novella. They need to be written in a very specific way, otherwise they end up being not enough. I think that's ultimately what happens with Binti. The story is great, the ideas put forward are unique & interesting, and the writing is nuanced & engaging.
But then what? There are a number of really cool things to explore here, but instead you get precisely one line about them.
- Living ship, designed to have breathing bladders - The concept of harmonisation - The specifics of Himba culture
Are just a few pieces you'd want to know more about, but can't due to this format. Perhaps these things will be explored in the following two novellas - but there in lies my point. Why is this three novellas and not three parts to an actual story? If it's not self contained …
I've been putting off reading this solely because it's a novella. They need to be written in a very specific way, otherwise they end up being not enough. I think that's ultimately what happens with Binti. The story is great, the ideas put forward are unique & interesting, and the writing is nuanced & engaging.
But then what? There are a number of really cool things to explore here, but instead you get precisely one line about them.
- Living ship, designed to have breathing bladders - The concept of harmonisation - The specifics of Himba culture
Are just a few pieces you'd want to know more about, but can't due to this format. Perhaps these things will be explored in the following two novellas - but there in lies my point. Why is this three novellas and not three parts to an actual story? If it's not self contained it's not a novella.
A small novella, told from a unique perspective - a woman from a very African plains sounding place, runs off to go to the university and then becomes an intermediary in an interstellar war. Well told and I loved the voice. Can't wait to try the next one.
Solid new perspective on basic themes of other and violence and gender roles through the space-coming-of-age lens, but maybe story suffers some in held-back simplicity for being a novella serial.
I liked this even more than I liked the Binti. In this sequel, Binti returns home with Okwu and has to deal with familial pressure, and learns about her own heritage. My only complaint was that this book ended on a cliffhanger -- a rather huge one. But before that, it was completely fascinating to learn about the people on Binti's Earth. The world building is, as always with Okorafor, phenomenal.