Nnedi Okorafor recounts Binti’s journey to the most prestigious university in the galaxy. But the encounters along the way will turn the trip into a nightmare… and into an initiatory quest for the heroin. An excellent space opera, which comes out in your pocket.
Binti was destined to take over her father’s astrolabe shop, as is the custom among the Himba people. But, the teenager will defy all traditions, leave Africa, to go to the most prestigious university in the galaxy.
It is this grandiose initiatory quest that Nnedi Okorafor tells us about: after an initial publication by ActuSF, the work is now available in the Pocket Book. Always under the translation of Hermine Hémon. You no longer have any excuse not to read Nnedi Okorafor.
Although binti is often presented as a young adult work, because of the age of the character, it does not do justice to the universality of the pen of the author. Nnedi Okorafor has built a well-written space opera, which is easily devoured, while being fragmented with quite intelligent reflections. binti therefore has its place in a library, regardless of reading age. The author made a name for herself with the post-apo novel Who is afraid of death?and, without finding the violence, the depth is always there.
The heroine of the book, Binti
If Nnedi Okorafor’s book bears the name of his heroine, it is not trivial: they are, in a way, his memoirs. The author excels in the psychology of her main character, described with such love that one is deeply sensitive to each strength and each fragility that characterizes her. Binti is luminous in its complexity: it always seems more real with each page. His mathematical genius, of course, is certainly admirable. She is, however, more than that. Curious, courageous, she is not without limits, but manages to overcome them to survive and, above all, to understand what is happening to her.
If you have to read bintiit is therefore above all to meet an outstanding heroine of SF literature.
The initiatory quest at the edge of the galaxy
In a good space opera, binti takes us far away from Earth. When the heroine boards the gigantic living vessel, the journey promises to be marvellous. But, an attack upsets the journey: the people of the Medusas attack the ship and its passengers. This is where the initiatory quest begins for Binti and where, via the inter-species relationship, Nnedi Okorafor puts the question of otherness at the heart of the story. A captivating exploration – the novel is devoured in a short time, because the fate of Binti matters to us.
The Africanfuturism of Nnedi Okorafor
The author of Binti, Nnedi Okorafor, does not claim Afrofuturist literature, but rather africanfuturist. The nuance is in particular in the anchoring of the story: binti starts in Africa and these are the roots of the heroine, which she carries with her throughout her adventure. Africa is not only present in aesthetic and thematic terms: it is the default point of view of the narrative.
Nnedi Okorafor had explained this choice of word with a need to regain control over the definition of her art – Afrofuturism had initially been attached to her without her being able to give her opinion. ” Africanfuturism is specifically and more directly rooted in the culture, history, mythology and point of view of Africa “, she said on her blog, in 2019.
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