Binti: Home

The second Binti lacks the excitement of the first - it's basically the middle part of a longer novel. You know the characters, know the setting, now it's time for things to get complicated.

Basically, in this part Binti returns home after a semester at an alien university. She's first of her people to ever leave her homeland, and does so against the wishes of, essentially, everybody. So, it's not much of a surprise that when she returns home, with an alien in tow as a best friend, she's given the cold shoulder from her people, and, painfully, from her own family.

By the end of the novella, the plot thickens, as we (and she) learn that she is also connected to the Desert People, who are in turn connected to some mysterious aliens. And just as she's about to confront everyone and everything, the novella drops off.

This will be a great middle part when, later in the year, the complete Binti will be published, but, to be honest, has no strength to stand on its own.