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A review by nmcannon
The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
We’re here! The finale!
Binti’s back and ready to freaking solve some shit. Picking up immediately after Home, Binti returns to the Himba people distraught and devastated. Radical violence calls for radical love, and Binti draws on her people—all her people—to solve the Meduse-Khoush conflict once and for all.
I don’t want to say more because any more feels like a spoiler. This startling series comes to a startling end. Perfect 5 out of 5 stars. Okorafor’s themes of travel/change, brinksmanship, violence, harmony, and love take center stage and are shown off beautifully. On the speculative end of things, there were even more callbacks to Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler, but even having read those stories, the plot kept twisting in unexpected directions. Every word is deliberate and lovingly crafted. I’m really looking forward to Akata Witch and seeing Okorafor flex her more fantastical muscles, because she about blew sci-fi out of the water.