A Psalm for the Wild-Built: A Monk and Robot Book (Monk & Robot, 1)

Winner of the Hugo Award!

In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and 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?

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160 pages

Average rating: 8.19

327 RATINGS

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16 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

Tamrat
Oct 26, 2024
6/10 stars
A science fiction book of one monk searching for meaning and a robot born in the wild. It gives a feeling of hope in a sometimes hopeless world. It begins years after the world of robots awakening and splitting from mankind. A cozy read but a little harder due to the use of they/them until I figured out it was just one person the author was writing about
phurlz
Oct 23, 2024
7/10 stars
Such a cozy book. Loved the queer/NB representation.
katietopp
Oct 17, 2024
10/10 stars
What a lovely, poignant, beautiful book. Honestly I would give it 10 stars if I could. Sibling Dex, and Mosscap are delightful characters you cannot help but love. The meaning behind the story was so pointed in such a gentle way, and it hit me right in the stomach. I could read this over and over. Sent right to the top of my all time favorites list. Would easily recommend to anyone.
Anonymous
Aug 01, 2024
10/10 stars
A beautiful story and a wonderful nonbinary character!
Rosebud66
Mar 24, 2024
4/10 stars
Decidedly not for me, although I understand the appeal. Psalm of the Wild-Built is a fantasy novel with low ambitions. It is not out to tell a grand story of empires collapsing and friends becoming enemies. It is not out to twist and turn and leave you restlessly turning the next page to see what comes next. Psalm of the Wild-Built is a book where not much happens.

I think that is the appeal. It is supposed to be relaxing. If you vibe with the authorā€™s sense of humor, this will probably be a lax and enjoyable read. I, unfortunately, did not vibe. For most of this book I was wondering just what was supposed to be so funny about each given scene. Thereā€™s lots of ā€œWell, THAT just happened,ā€ style comedy that really doesnā€™t gel with me. When the robot makes its first appearance and it shows up out of nowhere, it's written like a "lol so random xDā€ moment, and I justā€¦ugh. I canā€™t do it with the ā€œlol so random xDā€ stuff.

Anytime this book introduces an idea that could be interesting it quickly speeds past it. Dex hooking up with a random farmer is interesting (what about the farmer attracts them? How did Dex find themself in this relationship? These would have been interesting questions to see explored), but itā€™s brushed past as a throwaway joke and/or observation. Dex throwing away their career as a monk to sell tea, only to realize after a disastrous first customer interaction that they are not very good at tea-selling, is an interesting hook. I think we can all relate to chasing a passion and not being great at it right away. Sounds like the recipe for an enticing, low-key story. But one time-skip later and Dex is suddenly perfect at tea stuff. Oh, and thereā€™s a Dad with kids, and the Dad is attractive, and thatā€™s supposed to be funny for some reason? Like, okay, thereā€™s a hot dad...who cares? How come none of the customers are developed beyond surface-level descriptions and observations? If youā€™re not going to develop a plot, you could at least fill the book with atmosphere and interesting background characters, but thereā€™s none of that. Thereā€™s lore, but itā€™s almost always in the background, out of grasp. It almost feels like the lore is just completely random and the author just threw some scraps in the story whenever things were getting too slow.

I stopped reading when the robot and Dex started talking endlessly about philosophy surrounding robots. I'd prefer a story that expresses these themes through action and events, not just back-and-forth dialogue. I just read Pluto not too long ago, so my expectations are pretty high when it comes to robot philosophy.

I usually never stop halfway through a book, but itā€™s just not working with me at all. I hope I didnā€™t come across too negative: the author is really great at writing in a style natural to their voice, and if you find that voice endearing and/or likable, then this will be a good read. I, however, am too cynical for that. I just read IT and the first two entries in The Blade Itself trilogy: if a book doesnā€™t involve uncomfortable scenes of violence, it isnā€™t for me. Maybe if the tea caused some sort of war to break out, I would have liked it more.

EDIT: I ended up listening to the rest of the audiobook. There were some good moments near the end. I like how Dex reaches a kind of catharsis in their life, and I like Dex's reason for enjoying tea, but overall, I cannot say the destination was worth the journey. I was surprised how much the book consisted of philosophy and how little of it felt enlightening. Not that I have life figured out, but I feel like most of the conclusions reached are obvious. "Animals respond most to fear, despite it being a negative emotion that animals want to avoid," "life has no overarching message and struggling is part of the human experience." Like, sure? The philosophy portions of the book are written in a flowery way, but the conclusions feel so basic. And there is nothing really of substance developed beyond the philosophy for me to be engrossed in. Despite only being 150 pages, it bizarrely feels too long for the ultimate conclusion the characters reached. I have no idea what the purpose of the first 40 or so pages are, since Dex's tea-making and interaction with those community members never comes back into the story. The story, what little there is, only kicks into gear when Dex meets Mosscap, and from there, it is just a string of pedantic conversations. Those who lack direction in life can surely sympathize with Dex, as I did, but it takes more than sympathizing with a character to enjoy a work.

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