Once a month I recommend a novel that I’ve recently read and enjoyed. This time it’s the charming start to a new series by one of my favorite writers.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Tom Doherty Associates,
Libraries | Bookshop | Goodreads

Becky Chambers wrote one of my most beloved series, Wayfarers. So of course I came to this, the first book of her new series, with high hopes. I was so happy with what I found. 

The driving conflict in the book occurs well before the timeline that we’re in, when robots become sentient and humans decided that they weren’t going to try and force them into submission and continued labor. The earth is divided between human and robot territory, and the robots retreat into the wilderness. Centuries later, humans have survived and rebuilt civilization into something that looks much like before technology.

That’s something I’m doing. That’s not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things.

The story follows Dex, who is in search of something more in life and changes their vocation from that of Garden Monk to Tea Monk. As a Tea Monk they travel from place to place, offering comfort and conversation to people, essentially a type of counseling. They enjoy it, but it still isn’t quite enough.

This book is lovely. It’s calm and quiet, philosophical but not in an abstract way. At least one review found some aspects of the worldbuilding a little difficult to believe, but I didn’t find them distracting.

This is a short review because this is a short book, more of a novella, really. If you’re not sure this is for you, I’d encourage you to pick it up anyway. It won’t take you long to read, and you’ll likely enjoy being transported into the world Chambers has built.