Binti

Binti felt like a story that Octavia Butler might have written. Which is high praise for Nnendi Okorafor who writes just as widely and deeply as Butler did, exploring themes of of power and communication and always centering her books on black protagonists, which causes her themes to resonate on multiple levels.

As with Butler's work, I struggled a bit with Okorafor's style in this story. It's straight-forward and stark, whereas I prefer my prose to be at least a little bit purple. The lack of embellishing language makes it harder for me to get invested in the tale. And while I can usually find my feet near the beginning of a 300 page novel, it was a bit harder with a 90 page novella. I felt like I was still acclimating to this world when the story ended.

That said, the story itself was interesting and challenging. Binti is on her way to a galactic university when her ship is attacked by an alien species that's at war with another faction of humans - a faction Binti's own people have never gotten along with particularly well. Despite the trauma, Binti has to find a way to first communicate with and then work with the hostile aliens in order to save her own life.

The story raises a lot of questions about loyalty and expectations. I wish it had flowed a little better, but I'm still glad I read it, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. With slightly longer books, I'm hoping that I can fall into and enjoy the story a bit more.

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