Audiobook Review- Binti: The Night Maquerade (Binti, Book 3) by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Robin Miles (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 6 hours and 11 minutes
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Release Date: April 17, 2018
ASIN: B07C5R18TP
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Binti series
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse.
Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment have already claimed the lives of many close to her. Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend Mwinyi, to intervene – though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives – and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people once and for all.”
Series Info/Source: This is the third (and final) book in the Binti series. I borrowed this on audiobook from my library.
Thoughts: I thought this was a perfect conclusion to this novella series. I love how much change Binti goes through and how much happens in this last installment. It does feel like it ends a bit abruptly but it fits with the rest of the tone of the story.
This book picks up right where the second book left off. Binti is hurrying back to her home with her new friend Mwinyi in hopes that she can intervene in the conflict between the Khoush and the Meduse. She quickly realizes she is too late, but takes her status as a Master Harmonizer very seriously and is determined to drive towards some sort of peace between the two people.
I thought this was definitely the best of the three books in this series. The characters in here are amazing and the world-building is very well done. Binti changes so much throughout the story and brings whole new meaning to what a Master Harmonizer does. I love how supportive her friends are, they are from a number of alien races but end up sharing a common goal. It was intriguing to see how Binti both embraced her change and new status but also felt completely overwhelmed with it at times.
I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed Miles’ narration. My only complaint would be that sometimes Miles’ was a bit tough to understand because of the heavy accent this was narrated in; especially if I was listening to this with a lot of background noise (like when driving). Aside from that Miles’ did an absolutely stunning job with the narration and I really enjoyed it.
My Summary (5/5): I really enjoyed this sci-fi novella series a lot, this book was the perfect ending to it. It was much better than I was expecting and I adored it. The world-building is great and Binti is amazing. I love the adventures she has, the new friends she makes along the way, and the way she embraces all of the changes in her life. I definitely plan on checking out more books by Okorafor. I would love to see more books featuring Binti in the future. I would recommend if you enjoy space opera type sci-fi with themes of afro-futurism.