A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers

eBook, 160 pages

English language

Published July 2, 2021 by Tom Doherty Associates.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-23622-7

(42 reviews)

It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They're going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

6 editions

Sean Randall reviewed A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot, #1)

Review of 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Short but sweet, I positively luxuriated in every sentence. Becky’s writing is so compellingly beautiful, somehow real yet fantastic at the same time, with a seemingly endless ability to latch on to ones Humanity and tug it in unexpected and thought-provoking directions. For all that I’m really going to miss the wayfarers, this peek into a new world with so much history, kindness and love was positively enthralling.

Frank Burns reviewed A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot, #1)

Review of 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Astonishing.
On a human settled moon, one day, the robots woke up and walked off. The humans learned to exist better with their environment without their mechanical indentured labour.
This is a story set some time after that event. It is about a tea monk whose restlessness leads him to a friendship with one of the robots. And that's it. Doesn't sound like much, no? There's no great battles or moments of grand scale drama here. Just a totally enthralling tale about a person's journey. On a moon. Where the robots have woken up.
It is a short book, hence me finishing it about 2 hours after starting it, but a very good one.
After the triumph of the Wayfarers books, Becky Chambers has created something very different but equally as compelling.
A delight to recommend and I can't wait for the continuation of this.