Becky Chambers

“Tender and healing... I’m prescribing a preorder to anyone who has ever felt lost. Stunning, kind, necessary.” —Sarah Gailey on book 1: A Psalm for the Wild-Built After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home. They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe. Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Minnie Mazuera

Mosscap was instantly distracted, turning its head straight toward the sound. "Is that a dog?" it asked, ex- citement entering its voice. "A domesticated dog?" "Yeah," Dex said. They kept their attention on Ms. Waverly. "Thanks so much for the welcome, we-“ The dog continued to bark. “Is it all right?" Mosscap asked. "It's just a little scared of you," Dex said. "It doesn't understand what you are." The dog kept barking, and its accompanying people tried and failed to make it quiet down. "Gods around, I told you we shouldn't bring him, one said. "Biscuit, hush," said the other. Biscuit did not hush. Biscuit did not like this. 

"And don't think of yourself as a problem," Dex said. a protective edge entering their voice. "If they have an issue with you, that's on them. And it's not even about you, personally. They just ... don't understand what you are. or maybe they can't fit you into their beliefs, and that scares them. The unknown makes us stupid sometimes. “

Mosscap considered this seriously. “Like elk," it said. "Sorry?" Dex said.

 "Elk don't understand robots, either. We confuse them, and that makes them afraid, and then they can get... well, disagreeable."

Naomi J.

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.

“Nobody should be barred from necessities or comforts just because they don’t have the right number next to their name.”

The robot thought quietly. “You’re saying your bodily components do not affect the essence of who you are.” 

“Of course they do,” Dex said. “Why else would we decorate our bodies or change them altogether?” 

Mosscap was perplexed. “So, which is it? Are you your body, or are you not your body?” 

Finding the ocean was as simple a matter as letting a river lead you in the direction it wanted to go most.

“And don’t think of yourself as a problem,” Dex said, a protective edge entering their voice. “If they have an issue with you, that’s on them. And it’s not even about you, personally. They just … don’t understand what you are. Or maybe they can’t fit you into their beliefs, and that scares them. The unknown makes us stupid sometimes.”

Katy Watkins

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place. Houses were invented for excellent reasons, as were shoes, plumbing, pillows, heaters, washing machines, paint, lamps, soap, refrigeration, and all the other countless trappings humans struggle to imagine life without.

Emiley Jones

 simply by watching things move through the Cycle. I don't need an object to facilitate that feeling."

"Neither do we, if we remember to stop and look," Dex said.

They leaned back in their chair with their hands folded over their belly, savoring the indescribable satisfaction of having eaten wild things while trading breath with the trees.

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