Solarpunk discussion
This topic is about
Binti
Previous Group Reads
>
Binti (October 2021)
date
newest »
newest »
Sounds quite interesting. I’m looking forwards to reading it.
Mod
Even in the moments before leaving Earth, proportionally not very much of the book, there's so many things here to be interested in - solar panels and bioluminescent lamps, the Himba themselves, and of course the ship Binti finds herself on.
It's not all positives, but once she gets into space it was just as quick for her to find commonalities overcome the differences between her and the other students. I left off shortly after the events in the cafeteria - I think they'd have had more impact if we'd had a bit more time getting to know everyone, but still - terrifying.
I’ve just begun reading it, but it’s so short that it shouldn’t take long to finish.
I liked the giant prawn spaceship too …
Mod
Love the idea - not sure how much that love would transfer if it were to be offered in the real world :D How about you - would you embark?
Hákon wrote: "I’ve just begun reading it, but it’s so short that it shouldn’t take long to finish."
Absolutely - a little room to breath this month, too ^^
The first book I read dedicated to a jellyfish :)I too would like to know more about the Himbas, especially after what happened in the cafeteria. Their technology is amazing: I imagine the astrolabe as a mix of an astrolabe and a smartphone, but the edan is even more mysterious.
I like the idea of a living spaceship too, I had seen it too at the TV show Farscape.
I would embark in that spaceship--well not particularly in that one with all the Meduse in it--if it were some kind of lifeboats on board in case something goes wrong.
What a great little book.I would absolutely get on the prawn spaceship.
Mod
Mod
Why are they are blocking links? Have they given some reason for this?
Mod
Thank you for your email with your request. Unfortunately, we would not be able to allow you to post external links on the Goodreads site as this feature has been disabled to deter spam from the site for all members.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know! I can also recommend visiting Goodreads Help, where you can find answers to many commonly asked questions.
Best,
Tiana
--
Tiana C.
Goodreads Expert
Goodreads.com
Well, I’ve finished. It’s a good novella. I think this is the first African sci fi I’ve read, and I thought it was interesting to get that point of view. I haven’t been reading solarpunk for long, but I was wondering if this fits under that term. There are some descriptions that I would say are very solarpunk, but for most parts it is set in space in this quite interesting spaceship. I somehow got the impression that solarpunk was more earth centered.
Apparently I got something wrong. I thought I remembered it correctly that Nnedi Okorafor was Nigerian, but she's not. Her parents are. My mistake. :-)
It’s true solarpunk is usually set at the bottom of the gravity well, and the aliens in Binti are also rare in the subgenre. I think there are some deep connections elsewhere, though. You mentioned the biotech spaceship. The community that Binti is from, which is comfortable with high tech and sophisticated mathematics, but deeply connected to their environment, with a long tradition of practice for living in that ecosystem, is very much a solarpunk aspiration. Centring on a main character from a culture or identity that doesn’t usually get much genre airtime is also a very solarpunk thing to do. The way she solves problems of conflict also seems pretty seems on theme. There’s also some precedent for solarpunk being off-world, if you count Ursula Le Guin’s pregenitor novel The Dispossessed, which happens on a moon and its planet. I think with the size of the subgenre, there was also a bit of appetite in the group for reading things in the orbit, too.
Okay, that's interesting. I hadn't really thought about the novella on that deep a level, but yes, I get the connection now. It's that connection between nature, and high tech that is very solarpunk. I see it now that you've pointed it out, that it actually runs right through the whole story. Thanks for the explanation Adam. :-)
Mod
I think Adam's pretty much nailed it on what I see in here that works for the group, and there's definitely a bit of reading around the edges of the genre going on, too. We do look to keep it hopeful, but otherwise we're usually pretty open to Solarpunk-adjacent group reads :)
It's been a fun month, thanks so much for the thoughts and discussion again!
Mod
I have mixed feelings about the otjize. As a panspermian I am all for bringing dirt to space, and it sounds like a highly effective sustainable SPF for a desert environment. But out of that environment? It’s one thing to say you’re supportive of cultural eccentricities it another to be trapped on a long haul flight next to someone covered in greasy mud that smears on everything and has a strong smell. I would change seats if possible, if not, hopefully I would have access to Vicks, let the scent war begin!, and lots of let-me-pass-out booze.
That the otjize had medicinal value is a good reminder that the natural world has healing properties. It’s also a juxtaposition against Elizabethan skin painting practice which turned out to be poisonous. But if this was trying for a black-dirt-good white-dirt-bad, well, that’s just mean spirited because they both came from the same place. Look, this dirt is pretty and I think I look pretty with that dirt on my skin. For every lion’s mane there is a death cap, it’s a jungle out there!
SPF 6000 otjize suncream coming to your local pharmacist soon … protects and moisturizes. You’ll feel naked without it!
Adam wrote: "SPF 6000 otjize suncream coming to your local pharmacist soon … protects and moisturizes. You’ll feel naked without it!"Good one!
Finished!https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Do you want to read the second part in a forthcoming Solarpunk BOM? I would like to read it with you :)
Mod
Mod
Solarpunk
Books mentioned in this topic
American Elsewhere (other topics)The Rook (other topics)
Binti: The Complete Trilogy (other topics)
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself -- but first she has to make it there, alive.