A Psalm for the Wild-Built
A Monk and Robot book, Book 1
Becky Chambers
Tordotcom
Fiction, Sci-Fi
Themes: Diversity, Robots, Spiritual Themes, Wilderness Stories
****
Description
Centuries ago, the moon world of Panga stood on the brink of total collapse. With the Awakening, the robots of industry gaining
awareness and leaving their endless, pointless toil, society remade itself. Today, Panga thrives, sustainable and ecologically
balanced. But what became of the robots? They have faded to legend, long since disappeared into the re-invigorated wilderness. No
human and robot have stood face to face in generations... until now.
Sibling Dex grows restless with monastic life. Becoming a traveling tea monk, they pedal their wagon around to villages and towns
and the big City, offering brews and comfort and a sympathetic ear to those in need. For a time, that helps, but then the
restlessness returns, a wild and reckless impulse to hear for themselves a sound they've only ever heard on old recordings: a
cricket song. Crickets didn't fare well in the collapse, and only a few populations survive in the most remote of places, like the
long-abandoned Hart's Brow Hermitage. When Dex turns their ox-bike wagon toward the abandoned roads of the wilderness, they become
the first human in ages to encounter a robot when they meet Mosscap. Like Dex, it is on its own journey of discovery. In exchange
for information about humanity, Mosscap acts as guide and companion for the tea monk, who quickly realizes just how far out of
their element, in every way, they have traveled.
Review
Becky Chambers writes hopeful, cozy tales of brighter futures and better societies, a nice break in a genre that tends to skew
darker and heavier and more pessimistic. Sometimes it's good to change perspectives, to see a light at the end of the tunnel that
isn't an oncoming planet-killer asteroid of a train, but sometimes it can feel a little... I don't want to say "preachy", but
mildly self-righteous, as if the only reason people see dark things or feel unsettled or uncertain or end up stuck in bad places
(or living in self-destructing civilizations) is because they simply aren't enlightened enough to do better.
As Dex pushes themselves in new directions, driven by a restlessness even they can't quantify, they make sure the reader
appreciates just how wonderful and utopian Panga has become, how much better everything is now. But even this perfect image of a
sustainable civilization can't satisfy that nameless itch that first drove Dex from the monastery, for all that they still believe
in the lessons of the world's Six Gods (which seem to be less independent anthropomorphic identities than embodiments of ideas and
principles, objects of meditation more than supplication). Mosscap provides a needed new perspective, for all that the meeting
isn't without its bumps and misunderstandings. The robot is endlessly curious about everything, both like and unlike the curious
tea monk, offering its own lessons to enlighten Dex (and, naturally, the reader). There's a definite charm about their
relationship and inevitable partnership and how they relate to their world.
There isn't much of a plot or strong story arc here, more of a series of incidents in Dex's travels and continued search to
satiate an inner yearning even they can't articulate, so the ending isn't so much a satisfactory conclusion or answer as a resting
point along a journey that may well be endless. While there's a certain sense of wonder and gentleness about the book and Panga,
and it is nice to see something unrelentingly positive about the world's ability to recover from even the worst human civilization
can throw at it, at some point I felt less like I was exploring a new world and more like I was being smothered under pillows
while someone tried to convince me that I'd be a better person if I liked tea, enough to keep the story down to four stars in the
ratings even though parts wanted to rise above that. I'm sure that says something dark and cynical and irrevocably broken about
my own inner nature. Or maybe I'm still just more of a cocoa person than a tea drinker...