A Psalm For The Wild-Built - Becky Chambers

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Rating: 8/10

It’s been said that the science fiction works of Becky Chambers are not only considered gentle, heartwarming stories that seek to sooth our troubled souls, they also aim to blow up the entire genre. 

She in fact has defined a new subcategory, hopepunk.  Defined by decency, triumph, and kinship.  If I had to pick one thing that I loved the most about her books, is that her characters don’t have to explain themselves, they simply are.  And they are accepted and respected as such.

The diverse creatures and beings that populate many of Chamber’s stories have at least one thing in common, they embrace the joy of a good cup of tea. And none more so than the narrator of her latest. As a lifelong lover of the leaf myself, I can attest to the fact that a cup of tea can change your whole mood.

Our narrator, Dex, is a young monk who assists far-future humans by brewing them the just-right hot beverage from his mobile tea shop as they offload their psychic baggage. Set in a world populated partly by humans and partly by unchartered wilderness, which many believe is where the sentient robots are choosing to reside, it’s an utterly unique world.  

Then one day one of the robots emerges from the woods to ask of Dex, “What do you need?”.  And so begins the journey to the heart of this story.

An achingly beautiful story, one not to be missed.

Book Pairing(s): Long Way To A Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers, All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki