bibliotechy@bookwyrm.social reviewed A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot, #1)
Cozy and hopeful
5 stars
This book found me at just the right time and I loved it and really want more
eBook, 160 pages
English language
Published July 2, 2021 by Tom Doherty Associates.
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?
This book found me at just the right time and I loved it and really want more
It's easy to find dystopian science fiction. It's harder to find science fiction that provides a positive image of the future. It's not a blueprint, but you get the sense of a robust society that has overcome its most self-destructive tendencies. Very on-brand (in a good way!) for the author; if you've enjoyed her other books you will enjoy this one as well.
Becky Chamber's works are rare among science fiction stories because instead of action-adventure plots they're about people talking about what it means to be alive.
The first couple of chapters felt like the plot was jumping around a hell of a lot, because they're really just backstory/preamble for the actual story
It's good that there will be a sequel because I do want to know what both Mosscap and Dex will do next
Read this in Teixcalaan recovery mode and loved it. I think I was supposed to find it optimistic and cozy etc etc and I did. But I also found deep sorrows hiding in its slant looks at how we live now. So: it's about stopping to rest but it's also about getting the purpose to do better.
A short work delivered with wit, insight, and a hopeful vision of the future. Sibling Dex and Mosscap are characters that bounce off each other wonderfully, as the book peddles along at an easy clip.
If ever a work felt like a breath of fresh air, this is it.
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.
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.
https://www.ebooks.com/en-nl/searchapp/searchresults.net?term=9781250236227
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