I'm only giving this 4 stars because I'm not 100% sure I loved it. I found myself confused at times, but utterly fascinated.
Binti is from a very private/isolated tribe on Earth called the Himba. She is extremely intelligent and talented and has been accepted into the best University in the galaxy. Her tribe rarely even leaves their city let alone the planet. Excited by the opportunity, Binti goes against tradition and the wishes of her family and leaves for the university in secret.
During the trip she experiences the prejudices of non-Himba people, which she expected; she also makes friends with fellow first-year uni students. During the trip their ship is attacked by a race called the Meduse. They slaughter everyone on the ship except Binti and the pilot. Binti carries an old, unidentified object with her for good luck, it also happens to be deadly to the Meduse, and it also helps her communicate with them, which is something that hasn't happened in a very, very long time.
Binti manages to broker a grudging peace with the Meduse on the ship, and offeres to act as an ambassador for them. Members of the University stole something very important from the Meduse in the name of research, and Binti arranges to take part in a peace talk. The summit is successful; the sacred object returned to the Meduse, it also rejuvenates the peace treaty between the races and sees the first Meduse student admitted to the university. Binti goes through many changes and is scared about what this means for her future as well as her past.
The story was confusing in that the protagonist spoke of things that made perfect sense to them, but without explanation of what it was or what it meant, left the reader wondering. Also, pet peeve, this is in first person--which is like the 10-millionth book for me this year. Somehow it fit the story though. I was fascinated by the different races and technology and am definitely looking forward to the second book. Perhaps then I will up the rating to 5 stars.
Binti is from a very private/isolated tribe on Earth called the Himba. She is extremely intelligent and talented and has been accepted into the best University in the galaxy. Her tribe rarely even leaves their city let alone the planet. Excited by the opportunity, Binti goes against tradition and the wishes of her family and leaves for the university in secret.
During the trip she experiences the prejudices of non-Himba people, which she expected; she also makes friends with fellow first-year uni students. During the trip their ship is attacked by a race called the Meduse. They slaughter everyone on the ship except Binti and the pilot. Binti carries an old, unidentified object with her for good luck, it also happens to be deadly to the Meduse, and it also helps her communicate with them, which is something that hasn't happened in a very, very long time.
Binti manages to broker a grudging peace with the Meduse on the ship, and offeres to act as an ambassador for them. Members of the University stole something very important from the Meduse in the name of research, and Binti arranges to take part in a peace talk. The summit is successful; the sacred object returned to the Meduse, it also rejuvenates the peace treaty between the races and sees the first Meduse student admitted to the university. Binti goes through many changes and is scared about what this means for her future as well as her past.
The story was confusing in that the protagonist spoke of things that made perfect sense to them, but without explanation of what it was or what it meant, left the reader wondering. Also, pet peeve, this is in first person--which is like the 10-millionth book for me this year. Somehow it fit the story though. I was fascinated by the different races and technology and am definitely looking forward to the second book. Perhaps then I will up the rating to 5 stars.
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