Nnedi Okorafor's Binti is the winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novella!Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself — but first she has to make it there, alive.The Binti SeriesBook 1: BintiBook 2: Binti: HomeBook 3: Binti: The Night MasqueradePRAISE FOR BINTI"Binti is a supreme read about a sexy, edgy Afropolitan in space! It's a wondrous combination of extra-terrestrial adventure and age-old African diplomacy. Unforgettable!" — Wanuri Kahiu, award-winning Kenyan film director of Punzi and From a WhisperAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
A quick, satisfying sci-fi tale that successfully blends the fantastical and the familiar.
An enormous living spaceship, a member of an isolationist society exploring beyond it for the first time, and copious non-human entities are just some of the things you'll find packed into "Binti."
As a Hugo and Nebula award winner, "Binti" may already be on your radar if you're a speculative-fiction fan as it was for me. Fortunately, this was a case were I largely found the hype justified. Being on the short side, the story isn't particularly complex or innovative; however, it is delivered in a very deft and compelling way, and offers a unique cultural perspective that, for me, made everything feel a lot more interesting and engaging than it otherwise would have.
There are a few things about this one that didn't quite work in my case but they're all fairly minor and nit-picky, and didn't meaningfully interfere with my overall enjoyment of the story, which I found to be fun and worthwhile.
In short, if you're looking for a fast speculative-fiction read that provides a glimpse into a future that's a bit different from what's typically seen in such works, give "Binti" a try.