Binti: Sacred Fire

Binti #1.5

by Nnedi Okorafor

This short story, set between the events of Binti and Binti: Home, tells of Binti's experiences at Oomza University. It is included as a bonus story in Binti: The Complete Trilogy.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Novella, Space, Africa

36 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com and follow Nnedi on twitter (as @Nnedi), Facebook and Instagram.

Reviews

[Olivia-Savannah]

I liked this short story. I feel like it could have been absorbed into and included in the first Binti book, but I am glad it is an extra we get. It looks at Binti processing some of the mental trauma from the happenings in book one, which felt very realistic. Especially when it came to her and Okwu.

It also looks a bit more at the displacement she feels about being so far from here. I liked that. And I liked seeing the development of some friendships.

Okorafor does a great job of writing alien creatures and having them seem alien in their appearance, mannerisms, expressions and dialogue. Sometimes authors write aliens and they are so humanlike it is easy to forget they are alien.

The writing is still sparse, simple and straightforward though, which is the only thing I would want more from.

[Mitticus]

Relato corto, que más parece uno de esos capítulos que quedan volando y después se publican. Aquí Binti en Oomza después del viaje en Pez Tercero, tratando de sobrepasar su trauma y hasta pstd de ese viaje, tratando de encontrar sentido a muerte y su cambio físico sin hallarlas, pero esperando encontrar un equilibrio a todos esos cambios tan lejos de su casa , familia y todo lo conocido.

«Tenía que ir allí. Alejarme de mis recuerdos, alejarme de mi dolor, alejarme de las preguntas, marchaos marchaos marchaos marchaos marchaos. Solo me había sentido así antes, el día en que encontré el edan, cuando sentí que todo lo demás controlaba mi vida menos yo. Había querido bailar y, en vez de eso, el resto de gente decidió que no podía.
—Voy a ir al desierto —dije, con más lágrimas en los ojos. Suplicaba—. Tengo que ir al desierto. Tengo que ir. Tengo que ir.»

[Becky]

This is a story about what to do when you are the only survivor on a ship-wide massacre and then you end up inescapably tied to one of the murderers.
Like grief and pain, I find myself unsure what to do with this story. It's one of those stories that, yes, you can go through it and break it down and find lots going on (I think I said about book 1 that I would love to teach it) but at the same time I think this is a lesson in just letting a story be. Just let it move through you. It's not a riddle to be solved or a suitcase to be unpacked, it just is, and its value is that it exists.

[Mangrii]

Leído del tirón «Binti: Fuego sagrado», un complemento a la trilogía “Binti” de Nnedi Okorafor publicada por Crononauta con otra traducción estupendástica de Carla Bataller y que funciona como capítulo intermedio y/o complementario entre la primera y la segunda entrega.

Un relato largo que nos lleva hasta los primeros días de Binti por la Universidad Oomza Uni y explora un poco más las consecuencias traumáticas, emocionales y personales sobre Binti con el final de la primera entrega, dando más contexto sobre el inicio de la segunda.

[Trisha]

I fail to understand the hype about this series. 😏

[aria ✧]

binti is going through some serious ptsd

[Ceri 🍉]

2.75*
This wasn't really for me. I understand that Binti is struggling with PTSD but it doesn't mean I had to like her very much in this

[Grace]

This series just isn't working for me. I appreciated the trauma response, finally, but it made for a frustrating read. A few continuity issues, and a lack of rich, grounded world-building.

[☀︎El In Oz☀︎]

2/5

Did not care at all for this unfortunately

[Abigail Archer]

Hmm... nothing much to say except I am having second thoughts on continuing the series

[Nadine Keels]

The preceding story ultimately left me thinking: Stockholm syndrome.

This interlude, if you will, begins to address some of what I feel iffy about, but I'm still feeling iffy.

And I suspect there must be something about this series so far that I don't understand, as I'm not really connecting with the journey or the characters. It all feels pretty dry and underdeveloped to me.

Nevertheless, I'm still curious to see where all of this might be going. So I'll read on to the next story...

[Maryam]

I think it's an important one to read before Binti: Home because it gives a lot of context to it. I have to say that for now this short story has done more for me than the novellas.

[La Nave Invisible]

Binti: Fuego sagrado de Nnedi Okorafor. Publicado por Editorial Crononauta y con traducción de Carla Bataller Estruch.
Esta historia nos sitúa poco después de la llegada de Binti a Oomza Uni. En un lugar extraño y lejos de casa, Binti tiene frescos los recuerdos de lo acontecido a bordo de Pez Tercero. En un relato cercano al slice of life conoceremos un poco más de la universidad y los habitantes de la zona y como Binti debe acostumbrarse a toda la nueva situación.

Reseña por Darkor_LF

[Annie thebooksengine]

ha sido un breve y agradable regreso a Oomza Uni, ojalá volver a leerme la trilogía por primera vez

[Kinley]

For everything able to be understood and related to (despair, grief, desire to escape, challenges of relationships) Okorafor has created a universe that is unique, dynamic, and challenging to understand. Everything at once in this short story. It felt like much clicked into place while also realizing how masterfully Okorafor has crafted this new world.

[mnemonide]

I guess this is simply not for me.

The descriptions are... bleak. The characters are not interesting and somehow Binti's attitude is just not comprehensible.

[Maria]

"Mi fuego sagrado será este desierto"

Podrían haber añadido este relato al primer libro con lo cortito que es.
Empatizo mucho con Binti por sus sentimientos, por cómo echa de menos su hogar, sus raíces y quien es tras todo lo que ha pasado

[Yuna]

This short story showed the aftermath of what Binti had to go through in the first book.
All her grief, PTSD and struggles from being so far from home.
I don't have a lot to say, just that it was beautiful and heartbreaking.

[Bibliotecario De Arbelon]

Relato que conecta los dos primeros libros y nos permite conocer brevemente el paso de Binti por la Universidad.

Corto pero reflexivo. Un viaje de autodescubrimiento de Binti para encontrar su lugar y aceptar quien es.

[Maria Teresa]

La reseña completa en https://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/...

«Veréis, cuando una niña de la tierra abandona su tierra, le pasa una cosa. Se muere. Se muere y, luego, renace con dolor… Pero antes debe ir por el mundo en forma de fantasma. Yo era un fantasma en Oomza Uni. Desplazada pero en el lugar que debía estar. El lugar en el que quería estar».

Nada mejor que descubrir una nueva historia ambientada en el mismo mundo de una trilogía de novelas cortas que has amado. Una narración que nos permite conocer aún más a una protagonista a la que has visto crecer y evolucionar, mientras que nos descubre una parte hasta ahora desconocida de su viaje. Por eso hoy quiero recomendarles Binti: Fuego Sagrado, de Nnedi Okorafor. Un relato largo ubicado entre los acontecimientos narrados en el primer y segundo libro: Binti y Binti: Hogar. Una obra finalista del premio Locus en 2020 y que ahora podemos disfrutar en español gracias a Crononauta y a la excelente traducción de Carla Bataller Estruch.

[Emmy (BiblioEmmy)]

Similar to the first entry in the Binti series, this had the potential for cool world-building but the writing just didn't do it any justice. I'll try out some of Nnedi Okorafor's other work though.

[Las lecturas de Hanshichi]

Fuego sagrado me ha gustado. Es una historia breve, pero creo que tiene mucho más sentido si la entendemos como una pieza de transición dentro del viaje de Binti. Okorafor se detiene aquí para enseñarnos cómo está viviendo la joven su adaptación a Oomza Uni después de todo lo ocurrido.

Binti sigue creciendo, aprendiendo y demostrando que sus conocimientos matemáticos pueden aportar mucho, pero adaptarse no resulta sencillo. Los profesores reconocen su talento, mientras que muchos de sus compañeros siguen viéndola como una extraña y rechazan incluso su relación con Okwu. Ese rechazo, lejos de separarlas, hace que entre ambas aparezca una complicidad cada vez mayor.

Lo que más me ha interesado es comprobar que Binti sigue intentando descubrir quién es ahora. Ya no es la muchacha que salió de su hogar: ha vivido una experiencia traumática, se ha convertido en una heroína para muchos y ha conseguido algo que parecía imposible, acercar a dos especies enfrentadas. Pero sus raíces siguen ahí. Añora su tierra, la imagina, recuerda su hogar y hasta se pregunta cómo será recibida cuando regrese. Todavía no sabe dónde está realmente su lugar.

También sigue muy presente el trauma de la nave y la pérdida de aquellos a quienes había empezado a considerar amigos. Creo que ese pasado pesa mucho más de lo que Binti deja ver.

Para mí, Fuego sagrado es precisamente eso: una pausa necesaria para conocer mejor a Binti, verla crecer y entender sus dudas, sus heridas y sus nuevas relaciones. Un pequeño relato que, además, me deja con la sensación de que todo esto tendrá consecuencias importantes en Hogar. Y ahora tengo ganas de comprobarlo.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight]

I read/listened to the first Binti book almost exactly a year ago, and given both that my library didn’t have the rest of the series and I wasn’t overly intrigued by book 1, I didn’t know I’d bother to continue. But I’m currently visiting a friend who has the complete trilogy, so here I am.

Even scanning book 1 again and rereading my original review, I’m still utterly confused as to why the Meduse killing a shipful of teenagers doesn’t freaking matter. Okay, the humans stole the main guy’s stinger in the past, so the Meduse are in the right for attacking innocents over it?? And why are people at this school fluctuating between “wow, there’s a Meduse here, so cool, let’s throw a party!” and “this murdering creature shouldn’t be in our classes!” Like, Binti is having active nightmares over all her friends dying in book 1, and she’s still all buddy-buddy with one of the active participants of said murder party! There’s a scene where some other students are bullying Binti and this one girl yells at Okwu that her sister’s best friend was killed in the attack. Binti says that the finger she points “shook so badly it was almost comical” which is an insane observation, and then Okwu is all “well, it wasn’t me, but we’re a hive mine, so it wasn’t sort of me,” the girl runs off, and Binti doesn’t care about any of this. Can we stop acting like “anti-Meduse” is a bad position to have?

Ugh. I liked Haifa and the Bear and their friendship with Binti fine, and Binti’s self-discoveries and mathematics and trauma aren’t the worst. But when she’s still BFFs with one of the causes of said trauma, it’s hard to take it seriously.

2/5 stars.

[Kathryn]

An interesting exploration of grief/processing trauma following the events of the first novella but ultimately this didn’t really give me much.

I’m still really unsure if Okorafor’s style of writing is something my brain likes or not but I’ll continue with the Binti series if nothing else since the first novella was a hell of a story even if the writing wasn’t entirely to my taste.

[Will]

This was a good short story and makes me excited to continue to the remaining two novellas. I thought this was a well-done depiction of grief and PTSD and homesickness all tied together with a theme of found family.

Again, the worldbuilding is the weak point here, but hopefully it improves as the series progresses.

[Sarah Taylor]

short addition, but i would say necessary to the plot. im glad okorafor added this as i believe it allows us to understand binti further!

[Lowardy]

Oh how I wish this was somehow woven into the first book in the series.

[Erin]

(3.5) I enjoyed this quite a bit more than the first novella. Finally getting some relationships and understanding of who Binti is as a person. Solid.

[Xiazki]

3.5*

[Jhamdol]

It was okay. It was better than binti: night masquerade. I was like who the heck is the bear and I got my answer. It was really interesting to find out like the trauma that binti had and her trying to open the edan with “mind force” not like mind-bending. She got bullied