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Binti is a sci-fi novel written by Nnedi Okrafor. The book starts off with Binti leaving her home to travel to a university against her parents will. While on the ship, it is hijacked and massacured by space creatures called meduse. Binti’s edan, which she had never been able to activate, protected her from the meduse. They kill all the people on the ship besides Binti and the pilot. Binti eventually becomes friends with one of the meduse and they try to make peach with humans and meduse. Once Binti finally arrives at the university, they retrieve the stinger that was taken from the meduse.

The ship transporting Binti to the university is where most of the story takes place. The ship is where the Meduse kill over 300 people and is also where Binti and the Chief meduse come up with a plan to make peace with the humans and get the stinger back.

The Meduse’s stinger was taken by humans for weaponry research before the book takes place. This created tension between the Meduse and Humans because the meduse see humans as people who resort to violence and take what doesn’t belong to them. Because of this, the meduse hijack Binti’s ship and kill everyone but the pilot and Binti. On of the Meduse eventually convinces his chief to hear Binti’s proposal for peace. This allows Binti to create peace between the humans and meduse.

In the begining of the story Binti wasn’t able to access her edan but as the story moves further she learns how to use it. Binti’s edan allowed her to communicate with the meduse when she was on the ship. When Binti prays to the edan it saves her, even though praying to inanimate objects is unaccepted in Binti‘s culture. The edan protects Binti for most of the time she is on the ship because it produces a strong current which hurts the meduse when they try to attack her.

Ojitze, is a mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment used to protect Himba people from the harsh climate of their desert home. Binti apply’s the Ojitze to her skin and her hair. Every time a piece of Ojitze flakes off, it removes dirt and dead skin so it is used for hygienic purposes. The Ojitze also heals the meduse when Binti’s edan hurts their tenticals.

Binti‘s culture is known for producing astrolabes. Astrolabes allow people to track the stars and other planets. Although Binti’s people are discriminated against all humans rely on the astrolabes to function in society.