The Monk and Robot series
by Becky Chambers
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted June 19, 2021
Edits & Addendum on August 20, 2022
1. A Psalm for the Wild-Built / 2. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
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I received an advance e-book of Becky Chambers' new novella from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. A Psalm for the Wild-Built will be published in about three weeks, July 13. It's on the high end of the word count for novellas, still a quick read, but very rich in world-building details and character introspection. It is the beginning of series with the collective title of "Monk and Robot." I don't know if future stories will also be novellas, or shorter or longer works, but whatever they are I will want to read them. The main monk in this story is Sibling (their title) Dex, an acolyte of the order of Allalae, one of the Child Gods worshipped on the moon Panga, which orbits the planet Motan. Allalae is the God of Small Comforts, represented by the icon of the great summer bear. Dex's main job is as gardener at the Meadow Den Monastery. All of their needs are met, the work is pleasant, they have many friends, and occasional lovers, yet Dex comes to realize that they are not truly content. Something feels off, they are unfulfilled, and even after a full night's sleep they do not feel rested.
They may have been thinking about it a while, but to the other monks at the monastery Dex's plan to leave them and become a wandering tea monk seemed sudden and unexpected. Dex had the choice of apprenticing with another tea monk, but chose instead to go it on their own. After all, they had visited tea monks themselves on many occasions. How hard could it be to brew tea and listen to other people, hopefully to comfort and encourage them? Panga had just one large continent, with the City where Dex lived at the monastery the only city, although there are many smaller villages outside it's walls, with farms and forests, agriculture, fisheries, and hunting. Dex had been born and raised in one of the villages, Haydale, where most of their family still lived, and they visited them regularly. On this new venture, when they had the opportunity to visit Haydale again, they chose instead the left fork of the road toward another village where they had never been before. Not only is there just one continent, that land mass had been divided into two parts, one for humans, the other for the robots who became self-aware about two hundred years prior to the beginning of this story. Humans accepted the robots' wish to walk away from the factories, into the wilderness, in hopes they could discover their own purpose and destiny. People had to transform their own way of life, eschewing higher functioning machinery, substituting them with simple tools and manual labor.
Even though their first attempts were disappointing, Dex persevered, and soon they were welcomed into villages on their regular schedule, becoming a popular tea monk. This continued for a couple of years, and while Dex enjoyed the work, and the camaraderie of people who were always happy to see them, the uncertainty of purpose they had felt at the monastery returned. One thing that had prompted their change of livelihood was the sameness to every day at the monastery. There were many insects that lived in the gardens, but one Dex longed to hear was the cricket, and they assumed they would find them among the villages and farms outside the City. They later learned that crickets were near extinct, although one place they might still be found would be within the wilderness. Did they dare leave the safety of the maintained roads between villages? What would they find there? Wild animals? Dangerous pitfalls? Dangerous robots? As much on a whim as when they left the City, Dex decides to travel to an old monk retreat, the Harts Brow Hermitage, high in the Antler Mountains, deep in the robot's wilderness. One evening while camping they are approached by a seven-foot-tall robot that asks Dex what it is they need.
The robot says its name is Splendid Speckled Mosscap, which Dex realizes is a type of mushroom. Mosscap said that each robot named themselves after the first thing they saw upon their Awakening. At first that didn't make sense, since where would a factory robot have seen a mushroom? Except Mosscap is not one of the original robots from the Factory Age. Most of them had broken down and ceased functioning long ago, but others repurposed salvageable parts to create other robots. Thus, current robots had been wild-built. The robots wandered the wilderness, observing plant and animal life, and each gravitated toward a specific study, but Mosscap was more of a renaissance robot. They didn't limit themselves in any way, learning as much about as wide a variety of things as possible. The robots also had regular meetings, and communicated with each other through message caches. At a recent meeting, they had discussed whether they should try to contact people again. They retained some memories from their repurposed ancestors, knowing they had once served humanity. Not that they wanted to return to the Factory Age, but they still felt a kinship with humans, especially since humanity had allowed them to seek their own path. Was there some way in which they could help humainity again, but as equals this time? Mosscap was the first to volunteer, and Dex was the first human they had encountered.
Together they travel to the hermitage, although the way is not easy, and on several occasions Dex's uncertainty as to their purpose resurfaces. Mosscap wants to know what people need, Dex tells it that would be unique for each individual. How can they tell Mosscap what they need when they don't know themselves? On more than one occasion Dex becomes so frustrated they almost decide to retrace their steps and return to the safety of the human section of the land. It seemed the only commonality between Dex and Mosscap was their curiosity, their need to understand things, even if they would never be able to understand themselves, or each other. Dex was at first fearful of Mosscap, but later became grateful for their companionship. At the end, at the hermitage, after Mosscap brews tea for Dex, it is apparent they both have decided what they want, whether or not it is what they need. Dex wants to introduce Mosscap to the human world, and the robot is very eager to embark on that adventure. I'm anxious to follow them on that journey, and hope it's not too long before a continuation. Highly recommended.
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Posted August 20, 2022:
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy was published about five weeks ago. I purchased the e-book shortly after, finally finding time for it in between ARCs and other books. Another novella of about the same length as the first, a quick and very satisfying read. It picks up a few weeks after Dex and Mosscap leave the hermitage, as they are on their way to the nearest village. Dex has a personal computer tablet, solar powered, and had made reports to their family and many others that they were bringing a wild-built robot to meet them and learn more about humanity. Mosscap later obtains a computer of its own, discovering the wonder of downloading and reading books, as well as searching for information about the towns they will visit. Mosscap had expected Dex to resume their tea-making service, instead Dex is content with aiding Mosscap learn as much as possible, learning more themselves along the way.
At one point Mosscap begins losing its sense of balance, and it is determined one of its parts is broken. They are near a village Dex thinks will have someone who can fix the problem. They meet Leroy, who has a wide variety of 3D printers and other tools. He first scans the broken part, then following Mosscap's preference he melts it down and uses the original material to print its replacement. Mosscap had shied away from other alternatives, which would have used different types of materials derived from organic sources; casein, pectin, etc. Leroy and Dex are attracted to each other, and have a romantic interlude, which delights Mosscap since it had been reading a lot about human interaction, including sex. You will note that Dex is non-binary, using they/them pronouns. There is never any description of them that could give the reader a notion as to gender. Each reader is free to visualize Dex the way they want, the way that seems right for them. In that sense Dex is an every-person, a stand-in for all of us still seeking our place in the world, our purpose. They had an itinerary for their village visits, including a return to Dex's family farm, so everywhere they go people are expecting them, greeting them with enthusiasm. The last stop on the tour that was scheduled was the City, the place Dex had lived for years at the monastery. In one way Dex was anxious to see old friends, in another they were wary of it. Turns out Mosscap shared their uncertainty. Mosscap fears it will be the end of its travels with Dex, that it might be trapped at the University unable to extricate itself from researchers probing its memory of what the robots had been doing, and what memories they might have of the Factory Age. By mutual agreement, Dex and Mosscap decide not to go to the City, at least not yet.
The title refers to a stand of trees they encounter along their travels. In many of the forests, including the wild lands where Dex met Mosscap, the trees grew so close together their branches intermingled, creating an almost impenetrable canopy that blocked out light. This other stand of trees, which Dex realized they had passed many times before, was different. No tree was that close to its neighbor, allowing lots of light to reach each tree's roots, no tree stifling growth of another tree. An apt description of the human world of Panga post-Factory Age. People had to adapt to a world free of robotic machinery, making do with manual labor and cooperation among like-minded others. A digital exchange system was established, not quite currency, not quite bartering. "Pebs" was short for digital pebbles, which harked back to the original Panga colonists using small pebbles as currency. If you did something for someone, a chore or providing material or service, they paid you in pebs, managed on your computer, which you could use to pay for food, lodging, or other services. Panga had been on the verge of environmental collapse, but was bouncing back as people were allowed to farm or fish, create or teach, or brew tea for others, whatever they felt was best for them to give back to the community. Industry and work for work's sake was a thing of the past. To allow others room to grow and flourish, as that grove of trees did for each other. That was all Dex had been looking for, to find a place, an endeavor, that helped them flourish without infringing on anyone else. They are not sure they will ever learn what that is, but at the moment the best they can do is continue traveling with Mosscap, who is also searching for its purpose. I hope there are many more stories with these two remarkable characters. Another book to get my highest of recommendations.
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