Heather reviewed A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot, #1)
Review of 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I loved the setting of this book. This is a world where monks travel on bicycles pulling wagons behind them. They come into towns and set up small tea stations. They serve the exact tea blend that a person needs to help with their emotional needs. The service is a mix of therapy and just having a quiet space to sit and think for an hour. It is very peaceful.
Sibling Dex has worked hard to become the best tea monk. However, it isn’t satisfying them in the way that they thought it would. They want to take a side trip out into the wilds to an abandoned monastery they heard about. On the way, they meet a representative sent from the robots. Robots gained autonomy generations ago. They left human areas and haven’t been heard from since. Now one has been sent to see what is going on with …
I loved the setting of this book. This is a world where monks travel on bicycles pulling wagons behind them. They come into towns and set up small tea stations. They serve the exact tea blend that a person needs to help with their emotional needs. The service is a mix of therapy and just having a quiet space to sit and think for an hour. It is very peaceful.
Sibling Dex has worked hard to become the best tea monk. However, it isn’t satisfying them in the way that they thought it would. They want to take a side trip out into the wilds to an abandoned monastery they heard about. On the way, they meet a representative sent from the robots. Robots gained autonomy generations ago. They left human areas and haven’t been heard from since. Now one has been sent to see what is going on with humans since they left.
This is like an alien first contact story. Neither the robot or the human has ever met a representative the other other type. They don’t quite know what to do with themselves.
This book is quiet. There isn’t a huge amount of plot. They travel together for a while. They don’t even meet other humans yet. There is a second book in the series that should cover what happens when Mosscap the robot meets other humans.
Read this one if you want to quiet, small story that is a slice of life on a planet that was once industrialized and has changed its ways.
