Monk and Robot

A friend introduced author Becky Chambers to me as “Delightful Hopepunk” with a strong recommendation for Psalm for the Wild-Built, a short novella which lives up to that description – a delightful, hopeful story about Dex, a “Tea Monk” in a postindustrial society where centuries previously, robots had gained self-awareness and retreated to the wilderness. The human society used this to pivot away from industrial production towards one where basic needs are met and that individuals are able to pursue self-fulfillment. Dissatisfied with life, wanting something more, Dex ventures into the wilderness and encounters the “wild- built” robot Mosscap. Their adventure continues into the longer novella Prayer for the Crown Shy.

These books extremely cozy; the conflicts are mainly those of inner turmoil, survival in nature, and navigating awkward social situations; there are no shock surprises, and the story is largely driven by the conversations between Dex and Mosscap discussing the nature of being alive, and the compromises one makes to balance their existence against the larger ecosystem one inhabits.

They’re light, quick reads – profound at times, hilarious at others. While the books are very much the opposite of GrimDark, there are some quite mature (and hilarious!) discussions of sex – such that for example I wouldn’t listen to that part of the audiobook on speakers when my kid was around. I also think you have to be in a certain mindset to receive these books well – the overly pessimistic or doomer-types will probably wonder what the point is. But if you could use a shot of hope right now, these books fill that nicely.

I’ve since started reading Chambers’s Wayfarers series, which is definitely getting a future recommendation here.