The Night Masquerade

Beautiful. Inspiring. Amazing. I loved this third installment of Binti's adventure. What an amazing world and collection of characters Nnedi Okorafor has made.

Throughout reading this book, I'd often forget I was reading a sci-fi novel as I was so utterly consumed by Binti's story, travels, adventure and emotional journey.

This entire series is so fresh and so original it's moved my expectations for all other stories.

Loved it.

Another solid 3.5.

There have been so many mysteries and questions since the beginning of this trilogy and we finally get some answers here.. but mind you, only some. I can understand why the author may have chosen to leave some of them unanswered and it actually goes well with the theme of illogical unending wars between two peoples, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. However, whatever clarity we got was great.

I have definitely fallen in love with Okwu more as the series has gone by. It has grown to be such a loyal and faithful partner to Binti and I wasn't expecting that. Binti has some amazing character development and shows great bravery and commitment to peace which I admired, but she is still fragile and the author leaves the ending on a hopeful note. Mwinyi is a new addition and while the romance came about suddenly, I thought he was a delightful character and just wished we had been able to see more of him.

As with the theme of the previous books, I'm not sure I completely understand what the author was trying to convey here. Maybe it's about self acceptance - Binti accepting all parts of herself to live a happier life. There's also commentary about the futility of endless wars, and that sometimes we don't even know why we are fighting them. And even if the majority want peace, it may not always be possible. I thought this came across as cynical but I guess it's not too far away from reality.

Overall, I thought this was a fascinating trilogy. As someone who doesn't know much of sci-fi, I can't really judge it based on quality but I liked the author's ideas and characterizations. I just think it would have been better in a longer format because so much of it feels too open for interpretation. But I did have fun and that's all that matters.

Me ha encantado, tanto el libro como la trilog??a. En mi opini??n, The Night Masquerade es el m??s profundo de los tres. Me ha gustado mucho la originalidad y la diversidad de los mundos y los personajes de esta saga, pero en este ??ltimo libro, adem??s, es en el que m??s hincapi?? se hace en los conflictos de los personajes y se pone todo en perspectiva.

M??s all?? de la trama en s?? misma, se pueden extraer varias lecturas sobre nuestra sociedad o, mejor dicho, sobre nuestras sociedades, que me han dado mucho sobre lo que reflexionar. Es un canto al respeto, la tolerancia, la diversidad y la paz; pero no desde un enfoque simplista y facil??n, sino elaborado y lleno de aristas.

??Cuando un ??rbol tiene fuertes sus ra??ces, no teme a las tormentas.??

This was a fantastic end to a fantastic trilogy. The Night Masquerade synthesizes the themes raised in the first two novellas, bringing them together in an unexpected and fascinating manner. The Binti series has been a great story about home, identity, and how we can define those things in the prescence of challenges to them.

I'm interested in how this came to be 3 novellas instead of 1 longer novel. From the author's notes I gather that thought she was done and then came back to it? Which: I'm glad she did, because this was a really satisfying conclusion to Binti's story. And I guess I did like the effect of each one standing on its own, with a little room to breathe in the story? I can't imagine anyone only reading one of these, though.

Also I'm marking these as adult–which is how they were published/marketed–but I think they would also have definite teen appeal for an older/nerdier teen.

Short Review: This is conclusion to the short trilogy that starts with Binti. All three together are less than 500 pages, so I think they will likely be packaged together as a single volume eventually. Of the three, I think the first and the last are best in different ways. The first was unique and gave a sense of the different type of scifi book that Okorafor was writing. It was new and fresh. The second had important character development and wasn't bad, but was an extension of the first more than a stand alone story. The third is not stand alone either, but I think is very good in a different way. The exploration of what it means to be a part of a group, or an alien, and how cross cultural communication works and does not work and how your own family and community can at times can be more alien than the aliens is well done.

I am looking forward to reading some of Okorafor's other books.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/night-masquerade/