MARION HILL

Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 61: Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

by | Oct 31, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column | 0 comments

How do you as reader feel after reading the last book in a trilogy?

Do you wish you can continue in that fictional world?  Are you glad it’s over?  Or are you still trying to process what you read?

I will admit that last question in the previous paragraph is where I’m at with the Binti Trilogy. I just finished Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor.  It is the final book in this novella trilogy.  I’m not sure if I totally understood what I read.

Binti returns to her home planet and believes her family has been killed in an ongoing conflict between several warring factions.  Also, she has seen this mysterious figure called The Night Masquerade and wonders if there’s a connection to the ongoing conflict on her home planet.

Okorafor writes a readable novella.  However, I always felt as a reader a distance from the main character. I don’t write that as a criticism.  Just as a reader observation.  I read for character (as well as setting) and their journey to overcome the obstacles their story presents.  I could never totally embrace Binti’s journey as a main character.  As a reader, I felt that I was behind a plexiglass watching a character go through the story instead me of participating alongside the protagonist.

I’m glad that I read the entire trilogy and I believe it is a good coming-of-age, space opera trilogy. Science Fiction fans should definitely read these books and Binti: The Night Masquerade does bring the series to a solid conclusion.

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