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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.
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Community Reviews
Such a cozy, feel-good book. I was instantly enraptured by the world, and the characters felt so raw and real.
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
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 authorās 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. Thereās lots of āWell, THAT just happened,ā style comedy that really doesnāt 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 canāt do it with the ālol 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 itās 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 thereās a Dad with kids, and the Dad is attractive, and thatās supposed to be funny for some reason? Like, okay, thereās a hot dad...who cares? How come none of the customers are developed beyond surface-level descriptions and observations? If youāre not going to develop a plot, you could at least fill the book with atmosphere and interesting background characters, but thereās none of that. Thereās lore, but itās 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 itās just not working with me at all. I hope I didnāt 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 doesnāt involve uncomfortable scenes of violence, it isnāt 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.
I think that is the appeal. It is supposed to be relaxing. If you vibe with the authorās 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. Thereās lots of āWell, THAT just happened,ā style comedy that really doesnāt 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 canāt do it with the ālol 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 itās 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 thereās a Dad with kids, and the Dad is attractive, and thatās supposed to be funny for some reason? Like, okay, thereās a hot dad...who cares? How come none of the customers are developed beyond surface-level descriptions and observations? If youāre not going to develop a plot, you could at least fill the book with atmosphere and interesting background characters, but thereās none of that. Thereās lore, but itās 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 itās just not working with me at all. I hope I didnāt 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 doesnāt involve uncomfortable scenes of violence, it isnāt 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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