People who come from a land with centuries of culture and various traditions will surely appreciate Binti. A culture that is not western, American or European. What makes this story special is that this is a different kind of sci-fi, evolved from a different line of ancestors, and seeped in the culture that birthed it. And at the core of it all is its questioning of what truly constitutes ‘home’, of belonging, of being, and of culture. Not just between peoples, but between science and spirituality, the ancient and modern, nature and technology. Understanding that each has their own place in the world, and of making peaceful connections. Image via: Wikipedia/Creative Commons.īinti is all about synthesis and harmony. Nnedi Okorafor, author of the acclaimed Binti Trilogy. Binti must now draw upon the strength of her people and culture, her own wisdom and skill, to bring harmony, if she has any hope of ever studying at the Uni. Because her interstellar travel is interrupted, most traumatically, by the Meduse, a violent jellyfish-like alien race that is at war with humanity, and most specifically with the Khoush, the same community that has long oppressed her people. As she boards the living starship – shrimp-class, which gets pregnant later – little does she know what awaits her. Not just is the outside world unfamiliar to her, she is just as unfamiliar to the world outside – an oddity, both on earth and off-planet. Torn, she decides to leave, carrying her land proudly on her skin in the form of otjize, taking along her astrolabe (a multi-functional device that also stores all information about a person, including possible futures), her edan (a mysterious and ancient artefact of alien technology) – and most importantly, her culture and her home. But going to Oomza Uni means having to leave her world behind, and by that I mean her family, her people, her home, at a time when she has been chosen to be her father’s successor – for her prodigious mathematical prowess, and skill as a ‘harmoniser’. No mean feat considering that none amongst her people has stepped out of their village, let alone the planet. So who is Binti, and what makes her tale so special?Ī young African girl living in the very far future, Binti is the first person of the Himba people to be offered an opportunity to be a student at the most prestigious – and picky – educational institute in the galaxy, Oomza University. That’s the total length of one of the most lauded and recommended sci-fi novellas of our times, the Hugo and Nebula-winning, Binti by Naijamerican author, Nnedi Okorafor who’s been hailed as one of the freshest, most original voices in contemporary SF.
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