I enjoyed the wrap-up of the novella, but man, it was a slog to get there. As I try to pick apart what I didn't like, I think it's maybe a point-of-view issue? Binti keeps telling the reader things that she believes are true but we never see them in action. She talks about how close she is to her family but they belittle her constantly on page until she literally dies, she talks about how much she loves Oomza Uni but we never see her have a good time there — to the contrary, we see her being harassed there instead. Which is more an artifact of the novella format than anything, but when all the important moments that have to be on-page instead of just alluded to are traumatic, it just kind of adds up to a trauma parade. I wish I liked the series more, because I know so many people who love it! It's definitely very cinematic; maybe it would make more sense to me on a screen.

This series just wasn't for me. I wanted to love it, and reading the two before I hoped that the ending would be enough to sell me on it, but alas no.
Sad because I really like the writing but the story just didn't stick with me. I feel like I'm one of very few that hasn't liked this though.

Binti: The Night Masquerade concludes the saga of one of the more memorable, compelling characters in recent speculative fiction, Binti Ekeopara Zuzu Dambu Kaipka of Namib. The length (200 pages) allows author Nnedi Okorafor to resolve the multiple plot lines of the first two shorter volumes in the trilogy. This volume is especially satisfying in that it fills out some of the plot devices from the first two books, giving a richer context to the events that some early reviews derided as deus ex machina. I enjoyed the first two books, accepting the plot shortcuts as part of the package in a novella. Now that the series is completed, it feels more like a serialized novel than three different novellas. Taken together, they (it?) tell of a talented young person's struggle to come to terms with surviving an episode of genocidal violence. Binti: The Night Masquerade also shows the protagonist overcoming the social limits of her own nonviolent, but patriarchal culture.

In this concluding novella, Okorafor continues to incorporate the traditions of the real Himba people of Namibia to great effect. She does not romanticize the Himba, but frankly shows Binti pushing at the limits imposed by a culture that sees women's roles as fixed and not to be questioned by even a gifted "master harmonizer." Binti also discovers the human actions that lie behind what she had perceived as supernatural.

Okarafor treats interplanetary difference with the same complexity as she does the Himba culture. Fans of complex world-building will marvel at Binti's multi-layered galaxy, which includes deep intercultural misunderstandings and long-lasting hostility that are not erased by its technological marvels. The conflict between the Meduse and Khoush is not easily resolved, nor is Binti able to simply forget about the former's mass slaughter of the latter on board Third Fish in the first novella. She works with a therapist to control her panic attacks triggered by the scent of blood or even the color red, and this self-care helps her cope with the further challenges she faces in the series' conclusion. Through all her transformations, Binti is a hero for our times.

I loved this to bits! This conclusion made me cry, cheer and gave me the ending that these characters deserved. The author really uses traditional african customs and futuristic technology in a way that suits this story perfectly. I adored the characters and Binti is in my mind a great heroine that is very complex. She acts in a manner that both seems natural, but also seems like irrational at times. But in my mind, that makes her more interesting. I would gladly recommend this novella series to everyone and if you love technology, aliens, but still like the traditional from african culture mixed in, then this is for you! Thank you so much to the publisher and net galley for the opportunity to read this before its release.

I thoroughly enjoyed this finale to Binti. I will admit that it is not the ending I expected, or really wanted it - but it felt right none the less. Beautifully written and such an adventure. Highly recommend for sci-readers who are teen and/or up!

Binti night masquerade is a thrilling end to the binti trilogy. In this book we see binti come to terms with who she is and become stronger than she imagined as she tries to stop a war between two species. We learn more about the himba culture and there is more worldbuilding. I loved this book but it was a little disappointing. I loved the other two books more.

The Night Masquerade wraps up the Binti series in a satisfying conclusion. This series deserves a wide audience and is an excellent entry point for readers looking for a fresh angle on the genre.

Binti: The Night Masquerade was a bit disappointing for me.. I was waiting for several story lines to resolve, but they didn't. And those that did resolve were just too neatly tied up -- really too good to be true, if you can say that about fantasy/scifi. The first two books were very strong and I still love the character of Binti, but I finished the trilogy feeling very meh.

Okorafor makes her own place in the world of science fiction, standing on the shoulders of singular authors and bringing us higher towards the stars. Her Binti novellas are ones I will come back to time and time again to find hope for our future and goalposts for human behavior.

Binti: The Night Masquerade is the conclusion to Nnedi Okorafor's spellbinding series of novellas. It follows directly on from Binti: Home, which may come as a relief to readers anxious about the cliffhanger ending.

There's a lot packed into this novella, which is reflective of the many identities with which Binti is coming to terms. It's a story that put me in mind of the lines from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself": Do I contradict myself?/ Very well, I contradict myself;/ (I am large, I contain multitudes.) Like the poem, Binti contains many identities, with each book adding more. These identities don't always sit easily together; in The Night Masquerade, we see more of how the angry, warlike Meduse part of Binti conflicts with her identity as a harmonizer. We also see Binti exploring her heritage as one of the Desert People, a minority she has been taught to look down on. These conflicting identities make Binti a complex and interesting character. One of my favourite things about this book was the way Binti isn't above reproach. She has flaws, makes assumptions and mistakes. However, she learns from these and strives to do better and treat others with respect.

This internal exploration is balanced with external conflict, as fighting between the Khoush and the Meduse breaks out once more. This aspect of the book touches on themes of good faith and the impact large warring forces have on the individuals around them (and vice versa). It's a violent story, but this is in keeping with the series--particularly the first book.

The settings throughout the book were evocative, forming characters in their own right. The desert in particular has a wonderful presence, conveying the sense of home Binti feels.

There were a number of twists in the last third of the book. Not all of them worked for me, though I did find them thought-provoking.

Overall, Binti: The Night Masquerade was a satisfying conclusion to what has been a fascinating trilogy.

I wish I had read all of the Binti books before reading this one. Why? Not because I needed the back story (although it would have been easier to get into) but because this one is so beautiful, deep, and rich that I'm sad I've been missing out. I honestly don't know exactly how to describe this book. It's original and the imagery that is made is quite enthralling. I honestly didn't want it to end. You can bet that I'm going back to read the first two in the series and that I'll be following it from here. There's really not sex or language but there is violence in this one. Luckily the author isn't graphic in her descriptions so this is actually one that is safe for younger teens to read. Personally I think mid-teens and up would be perfect to be able to really enjoy the richness of the story. Just make sure you have time to savour!

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third in the Binti series, and what a closer! The extra space the author gave herself here (this one is considerably longer than the previous two, and could really be considered a book rather than a novella, I think) really pays off, and now I almost wish she'd stretched the first two. Binti herself is a really wonderful character; it feels cliched to use terms like 'well rounded and yet deeply flawed' but she IS, and it's so exciting to see a woman like that in fiction, let alone a person of colour. I'm going to rave about her now so just hold my beer.

She's powerful, and aware of that, but also aware of how much she has to learn; I loved that she was able to revel in her abilities even though she was frightened of the change they caused. She's also a bit arrogant, prejudiced in some ways, prone to crippling self-doubt; she just grows and grows as a person throughout these narratives and it's wonderful to watch. She has unconventional relationships, she loves her family but still knows when to put herself first, she challenges the patriarchy - I just LOVE her.

If speculative/science fiction are your bag, I can't recommend these highly enough, and even if they're not I think there's a lot of worth here for anyone.

This is a great conclusion to one of the most original and interesting trilogies I have read. It tells the continuing story of Binti as she attempts to prevent a war between the Khoush and the Meduse, all while trying to come to terms with her remembered heritage and attempting to unlock the secrets of her edan. As I have come to expect from this series, the narrative moves at a great pace and features many wild and wonderful elements that are just mind-blowing. Okorafor writes with real emotional depth and this final instalment deals with some really difficult issues with grace and clarity of purpose. Once again, Binti is struggling with the need to belong versus her desire to travel in space and become educated, and the manner in which she walks this balance is honest and heart-warming. The resolutions here are not earth shattering in terms of climax, but they feel real and earned and refreshing in their simplicity and overall, I thought this was such a great trilogy from an author that I will definitely look for in the future.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

That was a satisfying end to the series. I really loved how the series explored the connections and perceived connections between home and identity. I loved watching Binti's understanding and abilities develop, and I'm glad Okorafor didn't shy away from some of the grittier events that took place. While nothing felt terribly shocking about the course of action in the book, it was gratifying to watch the events as they unfolded. I am going to miss Binti and her friends as they embark on a new chapter of their lives, with a new, ever-evolving understanding of self.

Many thanks to Tor and Net Galley for the e-galley of The Night Masquerade.

I would not read this without reading the previous Binti books, Binti and Home. So much of the detail in this story comes from the world-building in the first two, and reading the third is a much richer experience with that knowledge under your belt.

That said, this is an interesting exploration of a different type of conflict with species who can hardly communicate. Binti has a role to play although it is one she does not even understand entirely. She returns back to school, to a place that has demonstrated that people of all possible modes of communication and lifestyle can live in peace with a few simple accommodations and not only does it serve as a sharp contrast to her home planet, but to our world as well.

I don't want to say much more about it but this is a great conclusion to this imaginative trilogy. Don't forget your otjize on the journey.

I started the Binti series just a few weeks ago after having it sit on my digital bookshelf for a few months. Once I picked up Binti, I immediately moved on to Binti: Home. After finishing that book the same day, I went to Net Galley to see if the third and final installment was available. Lo and behold, I requested The Night Masquerade and received it just after the new year.

The Night Masquerade was a superb ending to a riveting and often heart-wrenching story. Nnedi Okorafur is a spectacular world builder, especially making this epic universe in so few pages. Her style explains just enough to you that you know what the world and characters look like but it never holds your hand or drones on with detail (even though this world Okorafur has created is beautiful, vast, and very detailed).

I don't want to spoil any of the events in the book, but I grew to love Binti even more as a character and Mwinyi and Okwu became almost as near and dear to my heart as she was. The Night Masquerade was definitely the most emotionally gripping of the three, and it took me the longest to read, even though it wasn't very much longer than the other two. Dealing with the despair, the desperation and the disappointment that Binti feels through a lot of this book was tiring (in the best of ways).

The Binti series is a touching yet fun romp through space and cultures, and Okorafur deftly maneuvers difficult life decisions, grief, and sadness while maintaining a thread of hope, confidence, and pride in oneself throughout the book. I'd recommend this book to everyone who likes science fiction, especially girls from about 13 years old and up because Binti is a strong, relatable protagonist who struggles throughout each book but her independence and strength of character pulls her through even the darkest of days.

Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Night Masquerade (available on January 16 – I was lucky to get to read a pre-publication copy) is the third (and at least for the moment, final) installment in the series that began with Binti (2015) and continued with Binti: Home (2017). The three books individually are of novella length; though the third installment is almost as long as the previous two combined. Indeed, the three together can be regarded as a single novel, both in terms of word length and in terms of imaginative scope.

The Binti series is Afrofuturist science fiction. The eponymous protagonist and narrator is a young woman from the Himba people of Namibia. This group is known today for the way that they strongly maintain their traditional practices and ways of life, while at the same time engaging fully with social and technological modernity, and the other peoples with whom they interact. This is still the case in the future world of the novellas: the Himba rarely leave their desert territory, and they keep to something like their traditional ways of life; but at the same time they are known for their cutting edge technology, which they sell to other peoples on Earth, and even to beings from other planets.

Binti herself is a mathematical genius, who comes from a family who make their living by manufacturing astrolabes – handheld electronic computing and communications devices which are small enough to fit into a pocket, but at the same time evidently far more powerful than our present-day phones and other computing devices. Binti is proud of her Himba heritage; the traditions with which she has grown up are an essential part of her. But at the same time, she has outward ambitions and desires that go beyond what these traditions can accomodate. Her mathematical skill and passion is something universal, rather than particular. She often goes into a trance — she calls this process “treeing” — while envisioning mathematical equations, such as the formula for the Mandelbrot Set (which produces infinitely ramifying fractals). Treeing is all at once psychological (she often enters into the state in order to calm herself, when she is feeling stressed or anxious), imaginative (it allows to to contemplate extended possibilities that she would not be able to see otherwise), and powerful (through envisioning the mathematical structures she is able to call up electrical currents that she can direct so as to manipulate aspects of her body and her environment). Mathematics is finally Binti’s mode of access to the universal, or to order of the universe (an intuition that has often been expressed by mathematicians and physicists; it exists at the point of union of the mystical, the scientific, and the real). (Though Binti insists that, while mathematics is her route to something like the ultimate, other people may well have other routes to the same asymptotic goal).

In any case, one could say that the conflict between the particular and the universal is what drives and underlies the narrative of the whole series. Though I should add that I am unhappy with the Hegelian tone of this formulation, which is not Okorafor’s but just mine; I’d like to figure out a way to say it less grandiosely, and less totalizingly — which would be more in tune with the way the novellas actually work themselves out. Binti’s Himba identity is very important to her, at the same time that she has desires that point beyond it. The first book begins with Binti doing what she cannot help thinking of as a transgressive act: she leaves her family and community behind — indeed she leaves the Earth itself behind — by getting on a spaceship and travelling to Oomza Uni, on a distant planet. It’s the best university in the galaxy; and Binti has been admitted thanks to her mathematical genius. But leaving her family and her homeland goes against her heritage; the Himba don’t like to travel, and they strongly value staying together. Binti leaves early in the morning, when everybody else is asleep, and without her family even knowing that she plans to go.

So the first Binti novella begins as a coming-of-age story: a feminist and Africa-centered version of the “myth of the hero’s journey” we’ve heard about so many times. (In interviews, Okorafor has made no secret of her love for the Star Wars series, probably the best-known work explicitly modeled on that so called universal myth). Personally, I hate Joseph Campbell and all the hero’s myth stuff – there is nothing more boring and oppressive than being told that there can be nothing new under the sun (or even in the whole galaxy), just recapitulations of the same fucking story. So I love the ways that Okorafor departs from the myth, and pushes her story in new directions that change things radically. Of course, it still remains possible for a reader to subsume everything that happens in the three books under the “monomyth” after all — that is part of what I hate about the theory: it can take anything whatsoever and subsume it into itself. But if you read the Binti series in such a way, you lose what is most rich and exciting about it. The novellas continually surprise us because, behind the story of the plucky young woman discovering her true potential and becoming a hero, there are all kinds of swerves and deviations, which turn the story into something else.

For the Binti series is not just about the universal, but equally about particularities, and all the ways that – for both good and ill – they resist being subsumed into the universal. Mathematics gives Binti a universal structure; its abstractions mean that she can use it to comprehend just about anything. But she also continually has experiences that push her beyond her limits (to the point where the only use she has for her beloved mathematics is to calm herself). In the first novella, when Binti defies her family, leaves town, and gets on a spaceship, her trials are only beginning. All the other human beings heading to Oomza Uni are Khoush — a lighter-skinned ethnic group that control most of the Earth, and who are mostly racist, looking down condescendingly at the Himba. The Khoush really are Hegelians (though Okorafor never designates them as such); they cannot accept the stubborn refusal of the Himba to be subsumed within the “higher” universality that they represent. But as soon as we think Binti has gotten a handle on this problem — she has made friends with many of the Khoush students, gotten them to accept her, and found common terrain with them — something else happens. Another intelligent species, the Meduse — their bodies are sort of like giant jellyfish — invades the ship, commandeers it, and kills all the Khoush — Binti is the only human being left alive, aside from the pilot. It turns out the Meduse have grievances against the Khoush, who have behaved towards the Meduse in the same arrogant, colonialist fashion as they have towards the Himba. The Meduse at first try to kill Binti as well, but they fail — it turns out she has both technologies that repel them and are dangerous to them, and technologies that can soothe them and cure their ailments.

I won’t discuss all the turns and twists of the plot in the three novellas (I justify what I said above about the first volume because it was published long enough ago that nobody has the right to object to spoilers; but I will avoid any spoilers regarding the new volume). Suffice it to say that the Meduse invasion of the ship is only the first of many situations, throughout the three novellas, in which the Star Wars heroic paradigm simply fails to work. Not just in the early part of the first volume, but through all three novellas, Binti is continually faced with problems that cannot be resolved either by antagonism, or by cooperation towards some higher cause. She has to find (or better, to improvise) oblique solutions, which involve the contingencies of particular cases and particular histories as much as they involve the universality that can be (to some extent) realized through mathematics.

These oblique solutions are also always partial and temporary. There is no repose and no completion: no sublation into the universal, and no self-reflexivity to close the circle. Even though all three volumes have happy endings, there is never a real sense of closure. Binti always remains afflicted by anxiety and by a violent ambivalence. There are always dissonant notes in her harmonies. I use the word “harmonies” here advisedly; Binti’s vocation, according not only to the Himba but also to others, is to be a harmonizer. This means that she is able to pull things together and allow them to coexist; when faced with an intractable opposition, she is able to perform “a shift of meaning which converts the opposition into a contrast” (to use Whitehead’s great phrase). Her harmonizing conversions are not reconciliations, however; tensions and inequalities always remain. Okorafor’s future Earth, and indeed her galaxy, remain subject to colonialism and racism, and other forms of oppression just as the actual Earth does today. Harmonization is less than revolutionary transformation; what it is about, ultimately, is finding a way for oppressed or subordinated groups to not only survive, but even flourish, in spite of the (continuing) state of oppression. Binti harmonizes by improvising, finding the best solution she can in situations that remain unsatisfactory.

Binti’s harmonizing improvisations are characterized by two things: diplomacy and hybridity. I mean diplomacy here in the strong sense that has been developed by Isabelle Stengers (in the final volume of Cosmopolitics, as well as elsewhere):

What is difficult and interesting about the practice of diplomats is that it frequently exposes them to the accusation of betrayal. The suspicion of those whom the diplomat represents is one of the risks and constraints of the profession and constitutes its true grandeur. For what is demanded of the diplomat is characterized by an irreducible tension. On the one hand, diplomats are supposed to belong to the people, to the group, to the country they represent; they are supposed to share their hopes and doubts, their fears and dreams. But a diplomat also interacts with other diplomats and must be a reliable partner for them, accepting as they do the rules of the diplomatic game. Therefore, the diplomat cannot be one with those she represents.

Binti faces this problem, mediating between the Meduse and the Khoush — who have been bitter enemies for a long time — as well as between both and the Himba (and also among other groups of humans and sentient extraterrestrials whom we meet throughout the three novellas). Binti’s Himba heritage is what allows her to be a harmonizer, or a diplomat in Stengers’ sense; but her assuming this role means that she also finds herself apart from the Himba, and can no longer unproblematically belong to them or be one of them. This logic is alreadyat work from the very beginning of the first novella, when Binti violates her heritage while clinging to it at the same time. The paradox of diplomacy is not only the displacement of the diplomat, but also the fact that, on the one hand, without diplomacy we are doomed to the horrors of continual unabated conflict; while at the same time, there is never any guarantee that diplomacy will work: it is always susceptible to failure, and even at best its improvisations are fragile and ephemeral. We experience all of this — the failures as well as the partial successes — throughout the course of the three novellas.

Binti’s activity as a harmonizer is also an adventure of hybridity. She is no more able to just exist, rootedly and unproblematically, as a Himba, than she is able to cast off her Himba-ness and dissolve (as it were) into the universal. Over the course of the three novellas, she enters into several symbioses — at once cultural and biological — first with the Meduse, and later with other groups both human and nonhuman. Hybridity does not mean merging, or entering into a “melting pot.” Binti remains, or increasingly becomes, an assemblage of identities, or characteristics, from different sources, that do not coalesce but must learn to coexist. Her vocation as a harmonizer or diplomat must first, and most importantly, be exercised for, and upon, herself. Her emotional ups and downs in the course of the story are aspects of this process. It’s a trajectory that never comes to a definitive ending point, but needs to be renewed and maintained throughout, and this is still the case at the end of The Night Masquerade.

I will stop here. Saying more would involve getting into the details of the new volume, and I promised not to introduce spoilers. I am also leaving for a later time questions about how Binti relates to the rest of Okorafor’s fiction, and to Afrofuturism more generally. Here I can only testify to how compelling and impassioning a read the Binti saga is, how absorbing it is on a page-by-page and line-by-line basis, as well as all the deeper questions it raises.

The continuation of Nnedi Okorafor's "Binti" series is a welcome addition to the sci fi genre. Binti and Mwinyi are compelling and solid characters, and Okurafor's story is as original and urgent as the previous installments.

Okorafor’s conclusion to the Binti Trilogy feels like saying goodbye to an old friend. These novellas, contained truly trenchant adventures, taking readers off planet for transformative explorations, and back home for reconciliation.

Binti: The Night Masquerade explores themes related to belonging, heritage, friendship, self-discovery and self acceptance. Binti’s character development is on full display in The Night Masquerade. Struggling with PTSD, Binti becomes sure of herself and her role, which is quite a change from the uncertainty she displayed during Binti (Book 1). Though Binti grows, she remains hesitant to explore the full potential of her power, brushing arrogance aside in favour of finding herself; making her extremely relatable and likeable. I continue to adore Binti’s friendship with Okuow. As literary foils for the other, their characterisation is extremely well handled and a relationship that readers will continue to find engaging; rooting and cussing as the need arises.

Nnedi's strength as a writer is on full display here, her prose quickly drawing readers in. However, the pacing was slightly, ever so slightly uneven, with some parts a bit repetitive. In addition, there was one narrative that seemed extremely anticlimactic given then buildup in Binti: Home. The story also falls down a little bit not he strong world-building for which Nnedi is known, there are elements of the story that are never explained, and are quite difficult to infer the elements driving them.

Despite these small flaws, readers will find that they continue to fall in love with the heroine and her story. Binti is definitely one of the best fictional characters of the decade. Thank you to the author for creating her.

A great finale to the series. I really loved the diversity and the worldbuilding.