The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Jan 17, 2018 Robyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

Things I love about the Binti series that are fully brought home in this satisfying conclusion:

1) The creation of a future that is genuinely DIFFERENT. Not just medieval Spain but in space! Or contemporary geopolitics, but in space! Or aliens, but with our exact same Western social structure. I get confused, I have to reread, because things are WEIRD in the world of Binti. Wonderfully so. (And yes, of course there are recognisable aspects of current societies, but it just feels like one thing Ok ...more

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Jul 03, 2017 Lindsay rated it really liked it

At the end of Home, Binti had connected with her father's people, the Enyi Zinariya but while with them received news that both her family and her friend Okwu were under attack by the Khoush, another human tribe.

We pick up with Binti and Mwinyi heading back to Osemba and fearing the worst. The peace between the Meduse (Okwu's people, giant floating blue jellyfish) and the Khoush appears to be shattered and they will need a master harmonizer to restore it. But Binti may now be too different from ...more

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May 12, 2019 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: worldbuilding-sf, 2019-shelf, sci-fi

I think I liked this third Binti book better than the prior two novellas... but why?

For one, I think I liked the theme about going home, having conflicts WITH home, and in this third novella, Binti coming to grips with herself and her place in the universe.

It helps that she had to go through a ton of tragedy to get there. But that's the nature of storytelling. Conflict is everything.

Culturally, these books make up some of the strangest pieces of worldbuilding I've read. We've got an isolated A I think I liked this third Binti book better than the prior two novellas... but why?

For one, I think I liked the theme about going home, having conflicts WITH home, and in this third novella, Binti coming to grips with herself and her place in the universe.

It helps that she had to go through a ton of tragedy to get there. But that's the nature of storytelling. Conflict is everything.

Culturally, these books make up some of the strangest pieces of worldbuilding I've read. We've got an isolated African community intermixed with high-tech and alien-tech additions. There's also the greater galactic community full of inclusive aliens and the whole theme of excluding and including is rife throughout these stories.

How can the community be so closed-minded in one way while LIVING with an invasive alien for who knows how long? But that's the core of it, reaching right into Binti herself and everyone she knows.

And then there's the thing happens to her.

I really like the worldbuilding and the direction this one took. I mean, I REALLY like how it comes together. The SF in this SF satisfied the SF geek in me. :)

So why didn't I give it a 5 star? It's possible that while I appreciated the cultural weirdness on one level, I had a really hard time ENJOYING it. The alien and the Alien just kept coming back at me in a way that kinda clashed. Hard. I like how it explained itself, later, but I getting there took an uncomfortably long time.

That's on me.

Maybe I just have a hard time with the low-tech and downright strange customs -- read, superstitions -- STILL remaining as an OVERWHELMINGLY large part of this well-educated and smart girl's life. Look, maybe it's realistic to paint all your skin while doing tensor math in your head, getting on the WWW with your implants while putting up with your misogynic tribe members. Maybe it isn't. Maybe having gone to a galactic college and meeting tons of aliens and cultures should have LESSENED some of those old acceptances and traditions.

But then, maybe it's just Binti. She has a really open mind in so many ways but she doesn't apply the logic to herself well at all. A Master Harmonizer? Is this what it means? To be finding full harmony between her old life and her new? Helping others do the same? Sure. I LIKE this idea. But it gets very complicated very quickly. Because by being a person of two worlds, you often become part of none.
--The point of the novellas, I'm sure. -- ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 Lata rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bipoc-actor, auth-f, sf-f-h, x2018-read, bipoc-author

3.5 stars.

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Jun 27, 2018 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-read, audiobook

3.5 stars

While I didn't like this one quite as much as the previous two, it was still very good, and packed a real emotional punch in parts. I just generally love Okorafor's flowing and visual prose; her complex characters; and her imaginative worldbuilding.

Robin Miles does such an excellent job with the narration of the audio and is a joy to listen to. ...more

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Jun 03, 2021 Alexis rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

3.5/5

Like both of the other books in this series, the Night Masquerade covers a lot of ground in very few pages.

That's both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you have some really, really fascinating ideas and the sheer imagination that got put into this makes it hard not to rate it high on that alone. I had never, in a million years, imagined a story like this before I was introduced to Binti.

I think one of my favourite parts about this is how Okorafor approaches math. Math is one of those su ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

In this final book in the series, Binti has to intervene in the war between her biological family, her found family and her nation family. She can connect all three in a way unlike any other. We see Binti become more comfortable with who she is and her powers, and her relationship grows deeper with several other characters in the series.

This book was faster paced than the previous book, and I found myself caught up in the conflict and rooting for Binti. I enjoyed the way this novella ended and ...more

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