Reviewer: Omar Sayed
Book: Binti
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
I could only brush this off for so long. Since its launch, be it in bookstores, reviews or award ceremonies, Binti has garnered people’s attention with the attraction of a black hole, and I can think of no other work justifiably claiming itself the highest profile science fiction novella of recent years.
The story follows the titular character, Binti, a member of a traditional African tribe and the first of her people to be accepted into a galactic university (populated by beings both human and alien), as she leaves her homeland for the stars.
In less than a hundred pages, Okorafor’s prose defies predictability and leaves the reader with a fresh, warm and lasting impression of an alluringly described world. It’s telling that on the lazy Sunday I chose to commence this, I grasped for Binti whenever I had minutes to spare, which is about as much as you could ever hope for in a book.
This is a neat introduction to Afrofuturism, a branch of sci-fi seeing a rise in popularity (no doubt catalysed by this year’s release of Black Panther on the silver screen), and if you reach the end wanting, you’ll be pleased to know that Okorafor has since added two books to the saga.
Binti is a science fiction novella written by Nnedi Okorafor, published in 2015.