A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1) by Becky Chambers
Published by Tordotcom
Publication date: July 13, 2022
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Science Fiction 
Bookshop
If anyone had told me I would fall in love with a tiny book about a robot and a monk I would have asked if this was the beginning of a bar joke. It’s not and I have my neighborhood book club to thank for leading me to A Psalm for the Wild-Built, a science fiction novel that took me by surprise in the best way possible.
Hundreds of years ago Panga was an industrial society powered by AI and robots until they collectively decided to abandon humanity. In the present day, Sibling Dex is a tea monk, traveling to various villages and hamlets, serving tea and listening to people looking for a respite from their daily labors and lives. But they’ve heard of a monastery that existed in ancient times and decide finding it is their life’s purpose. After they venture into the uncharted wilderness they encounter a robot. This kindly automaton tells them that it has been chosen to return to the humans to check on them and see if there’s anything they need. This question is one of the novel’s cornerstones because Panga is a utopian society now.
This is where my synopsis of A Psalm for the Wild-Built ends. The interactions between the robot and the monk are so singular that describing them feels almost futile. Through their mundane conversations and encounters, Chambers explores agency, free will, purpose, and what it means to be alive without ever making the story feel like an intellectual exercise. At a time when the capabilities of AI are raising legitimate concerns about what happens when technology escapes the boundaries we try to place around it, there is something quietly profound about a story in which two creatures, so different and unfamiliar to one another, come together and try to understand each other.
I can’t stop thinking about this book. It left me with questions, but in a way that felt soothing rather than unsettling. There is an unexpected sense of hope in this imagined future, and perhaps that’s why the story touched me so deeply. Its tenderness and simplicity left me with a sense of peace I didn’t expect. A Psalm for the Well-Built may only be 160 pages, but it leaves a profound impression.
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I will earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click through and make a purchase.
Leave a Reply