My tribe is obsessed with innovation and technology, but it is small, private, and, as I said, we don’t like to leave Earth. We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward. No Himba has ever gone to Oomza Uni. [p. 21]
Binti is 16, a mathematical genius, and the first of her people to leave Earth and go to the prestigious Oomza Uni. As a Himba, she braids her hair in coded patterns, covers her skin in otjize (a mixture of clay and botanical essences) and wears steel anklets to protect her from snakebite. Despite her differences, she begins to make friends among her fellow passengers. Then disaster strikes: the Meduse, aliens with an implacable hatred of humans, kill everyone on board except Binti. She is smart enough and lucky enough (being equipped with a mysterious artifact she found in the desert) to engineer a fragile detente, and to aid in negotiations when the ship finally reaches Oomza Uni.
This novella won several awards after its first publication in 2015: it's splendidly Africa-centric, and Binti is a marvellous heroine. But I found it weirdly imbalanced. Binti leaves home; Binti makes friends; Binti witnesses genocide; Binti helps to broker a peace with the Meduse, whose grievance relates to the restitution of a cultural treasure held by the university. The genocide seems disproportionate, as well as deeply traumatic for Binti, the sole survivor.
Well-written, distinctive and mostly enjoyable (apart from -- obviously -- the genocide): I'll read the sequels, but hope for less wholesale slaughter.
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