Becky Chambers

In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk & Robot series gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Anna Oeltjenbruns

"Then how," Dex said, "how does the idea of maybe being meaningless sit well with you?" Mosscap considered. "Because I know that no matter what, I'm wonderful," it said. There was nothing arrogant about the statement, nothing flippant or brash. It was merely an acknowledgment, a simple truth shared.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

“What am I supposed to do, if not this? What am I, if not this?”

"I have wants and ambitions too, Sibling Dex. But if I fulfill none of them, that’s okay. I wouldn’t-" 

“I wouldn’t beat myself up over it.”

"...I think you are mistaking something learned for something instinctual."

You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.

"...You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is."

jeez why is this everything i've thought and cried myself to sleep over

“You’re here to learn about people.”

“That’s something I’m doing. That’s not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does. Why do you have to have one in order to feel content?”

"I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out.”

“So, you see me as more person than object, even though that’s very, very wrong, but you can’t see me as a friend, even though I’d like to be?”

oh this made me so incredibly fucking sad

“Thanks,” she said, her disappointment loud and clear.

Dex watched her leave. They sat for a few minutes, staring at nothing. Piece by piece, they packed up the table.

give tea, receive tea. a balanced society! i luv it!

pop off monach ! this being the first sentence of chapter one is funny as fuck lol

Sometimes, a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city.

to everyone who uses AI for every single thing. especially the dumb things like asking questions that google so easily could answer lol.

Robots, they’ll remind you, possessed no self-aware tendencies whatsoever when they were first deployed, andwere originally intended as a supplement to the human workforce, not as the full replacement they became.

Sorry to everyone on my socials that didn't enjoy this book, but I'm having a great time. This hits me right in my Studio Ghibli solar plexus. 

Catherine

But a Factory Age building, a metal building---that was of no benefit to anything beyond the small creatures that enjoyed some temporary shelter in its remains. It would corrode until it collapsed. That was the most it would achieve. Its only legacy was to persist where it did not belong.

Amelia Hruby

You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don't need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.

Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers's delightful new series gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

Sashi

"What am I supposed to do, if not this? What am I, if not this?"

“Something is missing. Something is off. So, how fucking spoiled am I, then? How fucking broken? What is wrong with me that I can have everything I could ever want and have ever asked for and still wake up in the morning feeling like every day is a slog?"

l am made of metal and numbers; you are made of water and genes. But we are each something more than that. And we can't define what that something more is simply by our raw components.

erin alise 

We all just want to be comfortable, well-fed, and unafraid. 

I bet you could travel that road for days and never see another person, they thought. The wagon's got all you need.

They pulled out their pocket computer, as was their habit first thing, dimly aware of the hope that always spurred them to do so-that there might be something good there, something exciting or nourishing, something that would replace the weariness.

Clara Schweiger

Before long, Dex was no longer nursing something as simple as an odd fancy for a faraway insect. The itch had spread into every aspect of their life. When they looked up at the skyscrapers, they no longer marveled at their height but despaired at their density-endless stacks of humanity, packed in so close that the vines that covered their engi- neered casein framnes could lock tendrils with one another. The intense feeling of containment within the City became intolerable. Dex wanted to inhabit a place that spread not up but out.

Sometimes, a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city. It doesn't matter if you've spent your entire adult life in a city, as was the case for Sibling Dex. It doesn't matter if the city is a good city, as Panga's only City was. It doesn't ter that your friends are there, as well as every building you love, every park whose best hidden corners you know, ev- ery street your feet instinctively follow without needing to check for directions. The City was beautiful, it really was. A towering architectural celebration of curves and polish and colored light, laced with the connective threads of el- evated rail lines and smooth footpaths, Alocked with leaves that spilled lushly from every balcony and center divider, each inhaled breath perfumed with cooking spice, fresh nectar, laundry drying in the pristine air. The City was a healthy place, a thriving place. A never-ending harmony of making, doing, growing, trying, laughing, running, living.

I’m usually not one to be drawn to “philosophical fiction” but I thoroughly enjoyed and it was very cute

This is like a ghibli movie in a book, cosy and warm and like a hug. I wanted to love it a little more but the last chapter dragged a little for me. 

Hannah Bateman

I have wanted to read this book for ages based off a recommendation I can't remember but it was amazing. 

The story is so human, so warm and comforting, so bleak and tempestuous. You get a real sense of the characters struggle, the internal turmoil but overall the book is full of goodness and empathy. Chambers handles all of this with a delicate hand a gentle wit.

This book also provides a vision of, but not a full fledged roadmap to, a different kind of human society. Something more sustainable and more equal. 

Liam Richardson

I have wanted to read this book for ages based off a recommendation I can't remember but it was amazing. 

The story is so human, so warm and comforting, so bleak and tempestuous. You get a real sense of the characters struggle, the internal turmoil but overall the book is full of goodness and empathy. Chambers handles all of this with a delicate hand a gentle wit.

This book also provides a vision of, but not a full fledged roadmap to, a different kind of human society. Something more sustainable and more equal. 

I needed to read this book now, as many of Dex’s questions are my own. A lovely, hopeful, and inspiring little book. Grateful to have found it. 

Sabrina D. 

An absolute breath of fresh air, at a time where I think many people could really use one.

Matt Soria

I had heard so many good reviews about this book. But in the end, I was disappointed with the final result, it took a long time to get into the story. And once we got to the story, I felt like it was cut short and didn't really give back very much. Everyone said it was a comfy and cozy book. I felt a little bit of that, but mostly I felt like I was just wasting my time. And that the story needed a lot more development and work in order to be something really worthwhile.

BC Hark

This was cozier than I was anticipating and a little more philosophical. I think I’ve determined that I need a balance between plot and character driven to really enjoy a story because I’ve read a few books over the last few years that mainly hinges on these conceptual conversations between the main characters, and each time, I find myself wanting more. Despite the lack of engaging plot, I did really enjoy both of the characters, especially Mosscap. It’s probably the autism, but “fish out of water” trope will always be endearing to me. If you know supernatural, you can compare it to Castiel. Overall, I can see why this is a beloved story, but it didn’t excite me the way I was expecting.

Nik ✨

this was super cozy and cute. i appreciate having two non-binary protagonists who are just so good and lovable. god, i love mosscap so much.  

This is a super cozy eco futuristic adventure tale with lovable characters and delightful world building. I felt the ending was a bit rushed and just stopped abruptly.

jamiee

will definitely read this again if i feel lost in life

“You and I -- we're just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?”

Did not anticipate crying over the robot monk book, but here we are. 

 did the first time I watched it; which is child-like wonder and an awful lot of yearning. Becky Chambers delivered a perfect hug in book form. 

Thoughts about personhood and human purpose set against the backdrop of an enlightened, wildly empathetic world. For tea lovers, peace seekers, and Roomba sympathizers.  

Added bonus of a non-binary main character.

“You and I -- we're just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?”

Did not anticipate crying over the robot monk book, but here we are. 

This gave me the same feeling that Howl's Moving Castle did the first time I watched it; which is child-like wonder and an awful lot of yearning. Becky Chambers delivered a perfect hug in book form. 

Thoughts about personhood and human purpose set against the backdrop of an enlightened, wildly empathetic world. For tea lovers, peace seekers, and Roomba sympathizers.  

Added bonus of a non-binary main character.

This book is something you would not expect. It gives you answers to questions you didn't know you had. It has a familiar feeling that you didn't think anyone in the world could feel but you. It starts out a little slow but give it a chance because it just might be what you are looking for.

Stephanie Boisvert

it was tragic to reach the end and realize that this, in present time and for present me, is a good book, but that if i had read it when i was younger, it would have been great (which is to say, this would’ve been a 5 star read for past me). i still really really enjoyed this book! the characters, the exploration of this cyberpunk world filled with new and old, light and darkness, and the prose were all so lovely. it was such a cozy read that i'm glad i picked up <3

avie

Really loved this solarpunk, utopian adventure. So many moments that had me imagining a better world.

exactly what i needed rn. beautiful, thoughtful, philosophical. 

Ellie Younger

Phenomenal book. Beautiful writing, interesting characters, and the message had me sitting and staring into the sky for hours. Please read this book. It’s one of the first in its genre of solar punk and leaves you feeling hopeful and inspired. 

Vienna Cragin

this book was short sweet delicate and an excellent look into the philosophy of humans.

isabelle

I was expecting a cozy little story about a monk and a robot going on an adventure so I was pleasantly surprised by how this book made me feel and think. Everyone has times where they feel like they've lost their purpose in life and go into a downward spiral struggling to understand what to do next to give their life meaning. And this book answers that question brilliantly, just be. That's it. Go on one adventure at a time even if it's as simple as learning to make a cup of tea.

Cassidy Webb

ren corr

this was such a beautiful imagining of what the future could look like!

Keira

ephe

Omar 

At a time where I am stretched to my utmost limit, I picked up this book and it was like looking into a mirror, pages and pages of myself caught in the reflection, like after line of dialogue that echoed thoughts I’ve had for months. 

I loved this book immensely. My only issue with it is how short it was. It warmed me up, made me cry, gave me a hug. It looked at me, cocked its head, and told me not to worry. That I needn’t know what I was doing, needn’t have a purpose. That everything was fine.

And then it prodded me to have some tea.

Becky chambers has a talent for writing the warmth that other sci-fi and speculative fiction miss out on, and it’s a joy to sit and revel in it. Her characters are very real in the sense that they behave just interestingly enough to be people, but not erratically enough to be made-up ones. Something about that, I think, has to do with how real the main concerns of either of the duo are. Since they are so real, so part of the human experience, that same humanness permeates the characters too. She did not write what she knew, as is the advice, but wrote what we all know. 

Can’t wait for the second book.

Kaylee Ray

i found this book exactly when i needed it and i’m grateful for that

This line perfectly captures the heart of 

. Being in the presence of Mosscap and Sibling Dex feels like coming home; comforting, grounding, and deeply resonant. It’s the kind of story that speaks to the quiet questions we all carry, offering gentle reassurance without ever feeling preachy. If you’ve heard this book recommended with enthusiasm, I’m no exception—it’s a solid 10/10 for me.

🏹

You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.

This line perfectly captures the heart of A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Being in the presence of Mosscap and Sibling Dex feels like coming home; comforting, grounding, and deeply resonant. It’s the kind of story that speaks to the quiet questions we all carry, offering gentle reassurance without ever feeling preachy. If you’ve heard this book recommended with enthusiasm, I’m no exception—it’s a solid 10/10 for me.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

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