This novella was sent to me by the publisher at no cost. It will be out on 31 January 2017.

What does it mean to go home?

What does home mean?

What does it mean to belong?

If others don’t accept you, can you belong?

Do genetics equal identity?

If you change, are you still yourself?

What makes people family?

Binti featured Binti leaving home and changing in some fairly drastic ways. Here, Binti goes home, for a bunch of complicated reasons, and is forced to confront the sorts of questions I’ve asked above. She’s forced to confront aspects of herself that have changed – and been changed – and, perhaps more difficult, how her family react to this. She’s also confronted with some unpleasant truths about home and family, all in (in my e-version) about 90 pages.

It’s a bold and striking story of humanity and tradition in the context of an alien-rich galaxy. It’s beautifully written (of course) and there’s a huge amount of tantalising detail that Okorafor just… doesn’t explain much. This in no way impacts on the story; it’s an indicator of rich Okorafor’s writing is. Binti is a wonderful character and I’m so glad to have another part of her story told. I suspect there may be at least one more story coming… .

Also, look at that cover! How awesome is that!

Highly recommended, likely to be on award ballots next year.