Change was constant. Change was my destiny. Growth.

After all the events of the first story, Binti’s finally at Uni, learning about the magical sort of math that’s mostly been hinted at up until then–and dealing with more than a touch of PTSD. So of course she decides to return home to her people for a pilgrimage–and Okwu the Meduse will come along.

Nothing was asked of Okwu and Okwu was pleased, preferring to menacingly loom in the background behind me. Okwu was happiest around human beings when it was menacingly looming.

What could possibly go wrong?

On the upside, it’s a deeper look into the world of Binti. This time, rather than heading out into the cosmos, we’re exploring the mysteries back home. It’s still scifi, but tending rather more into the magical/fantasy end of that genre.

“You Himba are so inward-looking,” she said. “Cocooned around that pink lake, growing your technology from knowledge harvested from deep within your genius, you girls and women dig up your red clay and hide beneath it. You’re an interesting people who have been on those lands for generations. But you’re a young people. The Enyi Zinariya are old old Africans.”

On another upside, I still really like seeing the world through Binti’s eyes, now several kinds of a stranger, even among (perhaps especially among) her family.

Unfortunately, the ‘unfinished’ feel I thought of Binti is even stronger here. This really feels like the outline of a much larger novel–not at all helped by the fact that this strongly feels like the ‘middle third’ of a trilogy. The ending is not at all satisfying, although I hope the the finale will stick a satisfying landing.

The three days passed, as time always does when you are alive, whether happy or tortured.

Cautiously worth a read, depending on how the third goes. If not, the first really does stand well enough / better alone.

Onward!