Becky Chambers. St Martins Press, (304p) ISBN: 9781250386335. Science Fiction, read 28/03/26, Paperback ★★★★★
Monk and Robot
I’ve only read one from Becky Chambers before, To Be Taught If Fortunate, which I loved and have been meaning to read more by her but just not got round to it until now.
As soon as I saw the cover I fell in love and knew I had to have it, a collection of her two novellas; A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy, all in one lovely package.
Still not used to ‘cozy’ sci-fi as a read so I’m never sure what I’m meant to be getting.
But there was no doubt what I got when I had finished this, a cracking read with a fascinating take on the place of humanity within the world.
We are in a post-industrial society that is pretty much utopian (well it’s my idea of utopia), where humans now live in harmony with the planet and do minimal harm. This was accelerated when robots gained consciousness and removed themselves from human society, and we are joining the story centuries after this fact where the society is now mainly agrarian.
We join Dex and Mosscap (Splendid Speckled Mosscap in full) in their search for meaning, growing friendship, and travels around the world of Panga.
This is such a gentle read, with such a hopeful outlook for humanity I hadn’t really realised I was at the end until I finished it.
Beautifully written and oh so warm in tone and outlook, I really enjoyed this as I have the other Becky Chambers book I’ve read and now looking to read her others.
