The Night Masquerade

In the first volume, Binti describes her people, saying we Himba dont travel. We stay put. Our ancestral land is life; move away from it and you diminish. By this third installment, it becomes evident how much Binti has grown from her experience at Oomza Uni, rather than diminished. First she connects with the Meduse, and we see how that changes her, helping her to understand anger, and realize how difficult it is to contend with. She grapples with her fathers roots among the Enyi Zinariya, learning to see them as they see themselves, rather than as the savage Desert People she has been taught to regard them as. And she makes other, new connections in The Night Masquerade. Her journey has been an expansive one that grapples with identity and belonging on many levels.

Nnedi Okorafor concludes the Binti trilogy in “Binti: The Night Masquerade”. The story begins almost exactly where the previous novella left off, with Binti caught in a fresh conflict between the Khoush and Meduse while her home burns and her awakened Enyi Zinariya abilities disorient her. Okorafor perfectly captures this disorientation and chaos at the beginning, setting the tone for the revelations of latter half of the novella. “The Night Masquerade” continues to develop the world that Okorafor established in the first novella, offering a middle path to conflict and a magical way of seeing the harmony in nature. Additionally, Okwu and Mwinyi are delightful in their interactions with each other and add more charm to that world. Okorafor writes, “Binti was change, she was revolution, she was heroism” (pg. 137). In this, she perfectly summarizes the themes of all three books. While this book addresses some heavy issues, Okorafor also includes some humorous scenes that recall the anarchic style of Douglas Adams. Oomza Uni is a limitless source of characters and possibilities and, though Okorafor may have finished Binti’s story, I hope she returns to this wonderful world in future stories.

Binti is an essential character to read about, period. I am so impressed, grateful, and humbled. Please, please read this book. It needs to be read by so many, for so many reasons. This book was beyond a great read, it was both a journey of reading, and a journey of self. I am beyond thrilled to have read this brilliantly conceived series. It has so much to offer. It is a tale that I will keep with me, for all of time. When you read this series, you will understand.

For me, Binti is that in us which seeks to learn, to understand the truths that are at the core of life, to truly know herself. For me, she is a beautiful representation of our higher self. That which is attainable for all of us. Yet like all things worthy of striving for, there is a cost. It is pushing oneself beyond that which we have been taught, using prior teachings to seek for ourselves. Opening, shedding a portion of self to make way for that which we deem worthy to add to ourselves. This is beauty of growth.

Thus, the real wisdom we can attain through the gain and true, untainted understanding of this sought knowledge is both a comfort, yet a journey that is life-long. Binti, as most, fights for her wisdom through her insecurities, those who will try to doubt, and feed fears. Her unwavering faith in love is an excellent testament to the power of both faith and love. Giving these things to others, teaching faith, love, and hard-earned knowledge that includes all is a blessing to all.

I, with great respect, wish to thank Nnedi Okorafor for all that she’s inspired in me through my interpretation of this book, series, and her other works. I feel truly humbled by her wisdom, and await the coming of her future works with gratitude.

As Always, I Wish Happy Reads to All from the Unapologetic Book Junkie !

Now this is the way to close a gorgeous trilogy! As with the first two in the series, the prose in this was just utterly gorgeous and I almost want to read the whole series again now that I know how it ends. There were tons of twists and turns in this one, and I swear I devoured it this afternoon – even risking motion sickness to sneak pages while my husband drove us home from work. It really was that hard to put down!

Anyway, I loved this book and all of the myriad characters and cultures therein. Not sure what it says about me that Third Fish and New Fish were probably my fave side characters, but who cares – they were darling LOL

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. The world is very rich, and there were so many threads that I was excited to see resolved…

… And there was no resolution. There was a giant twist in the middle, and everything got really, really RANDOM after that. None of the threads got resolved, and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for the things happening to the main character.

Unfortunately, a very unsatisfying ending.

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