layawaydragon
Written on Sep 6, 2022
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 honour 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.
- ISBN10 1250236215
- ISBN13 9781250236210
- Publish Date 1 August 2021
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint St Martin's Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 160
- Language English
- URL http://melia.co.uk/page/detail/?k=9781250236210
Reviews
Hillary
Written on Aug 17, 2022
I have to admit that this is my first Becky Chambers book. I can say it will NOT be the last. For the last few months, I have been in the biggest reading slump in my life. I decided to return to my first love, SCI-FI, with some fantasy thrown in. I saw it at the library, and I had read about other book bloggers with similar tastes to me raving about BeckyChambers’ss books saying how much they love her books, so I bit the bullet and picked up The p slams of the wild built.
This reading slump had gone on for so long that I despaired of every indeed reading again. Thank God I decided to return to my first love, sci-fi, and Becky Chambers is a very skilled storyteller. Robot books can go either way, depending on how professional the author is, but I have to say that Becky Chambers’s book is pure Robot gold!
This is the first in the monk and robot series, so there are few explanations for what is happening. This is a GOOD thing. It means the author is showing you and not info dumping. I HATE when I am reading, and the author decided to write 100 pages of pure info dump. I mean, I want to experience the world the author has created alongside the charter.
As a Sci-Fi fan, I have seen other stories where the author tried to show the human condition by various tropes, but I have to admit that Becky Chambers is a master at showing this. I loved the robot and the questions the robot asked to try an better understand humans.
Guess what?? The main charter is nonbinary! It took me a while to get why Dex was bringing called Sibling instead of brother and sister. Then I figured it out and said, wow, this gives me hope for a diverse Sci-Fi genre. I try my best to read diversly, but no matter how hard I try, all the books I love seem to be written by cis straight white males. The only author that is different in this regard is Octavia Butler. I have read every single one of her books two or three times. I was soo upset when she departed this earthly plane. Now that I have read one of Becky Chambers’s books, I have high hopes that her books will be a new favorite. To soon to tell, but ii do have hope.
The most important part of a sci-fi book is world-building. The way that it is presented can make or break a story. I know I have read a book and would think it was bullshit because the author tried to explain how that would work adequately, and one can only suspend beliefs so far. I feel that Becky Chambers shines in this regard. You thought you were in the story with Singing Dex and the robot.
Quirky Cat
Written on Aug 2, 2021
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, written by Becky Chambers, is a robot book that can easily touch the hearts of any of its readers.
Hundreds of years ago, the robots of Earth gained sentience and stopped working for humans. Unlike what pop culture would like to believe, the humans were willing to let the robots run off and have their own lives – and the robots were willing to leave peacefully.
This is the world that our main characters have always known, where robots and humans lived separately – in peace, but never really knowing how the other was doing. Or what they wanted going forward.
"Sometimes a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city."
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the best of both worlds. It is imaginative and fun while somehow portraying a futuristic world that is simple and comforting. It is not a world that I would have ever considered imagining all one my own, and I love it so much.
The characters are an absolute highlight in this novella, and with good reason. They're so charming and inquisitive, trying to find what they want/need out of life. There's something so refreshing to see this discussion aired so openly.
Speaking of refreshing – I adore how inclusive A Psalm for the Wild-Built is. That is half the reason why I felt this novella was a comforting one, as the characters seem to honestly care – and were always working their ways towards understanding.
I do not know if this will be the first in a series or if this was a standalone novella. I do know that I would love to see anything and everything else that Becky Chambers thinks up, primarily if it stems from this world.
Thanks to Tor.com and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks