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Start giftingA Psalm for the Wild-Built
Monk & Robot: Book #1
Bookseller recommendation
“This is a great audiobook if you feel a little burned out and just need a rest. It's short, the narrator is soothing, and now I want to become a tea monk and go off-roading with a kindly robot. ”
— Erin • The Last Word
Bookseller recommendation
“It’s far into the future on an unnamed moon. Humanity has learned to live in harmony without fossil fuels and, generations before, the robots were set free to pursue their own existence. A charming meditation on the meaning of life.”
— Georgia • Bookstore1Sarasota
Bookseller recommendation
“Never have we needed Becky Chambers' "hopepunk," sci-fi self-care visions of the future more than now. Part hilarious odd-couple road-trip, part soulful parable for a lost and battered world, A Psalm for the Wild-Built brings all the warmth, comfort, and elusive wisdom of a steaming mug of tea poured by someone who loves you. Take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, and drink it all in.”
— Megan • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Dex is a monk who dedicates their life to helping and being present for others. But something is missing, and they can't help but answer the call when the voice inside them screams for purpose. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the perfect example of Becky Chambers' mastery of character creation and development. The emotional responses of her characters, relatable in every respect, demands an equal emotional response from her readers. Becky Chambers is one of those authors whose optimism weaves expertly through stories of hardship and loss. I will never pass by an opportunity visit her incredible worlds. ”
— Sophie • Cavalier House Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Imagine a world with many, many cups of tea. Doesn’t this world sound amazing? Doesn’t it calm you just to think of it? Sibling Dex makes people tea as a way of life, but they are still struggling to find meaning in the world. Just when they think they’re about to figure it out by seeking out the supposedly-extinct cricket song, they stumble upon a wild-built robot, Mosscap. Mosscap exudes childlike wonder and an untainted way of seeing the world. Together, Dex and Mosscap exchange thoughtful commentary about humans, other animals, robots, and the role of social constructs in our lives. Reminiscent of the Alchemist set far in another world; it’s a timeless philosophy lesson driven home with dry wit that only a robot can bring to teatime.”
— Leah • Bright Side Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“What do you do when you have everything you could ever need or want, but still aren't satisfied with what your life is? A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a short and sweet odd-couple road trip set in a beautiful world that could be our world — if we wanted it to be.”
— Joey Puente • DIESEL, A Bookstore
"Narrator Emmett Grosland conjures the essence of a troubled soul in search of peace in this gentle audio."—AudioFile Magazine
In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and Robot series gives us hope for the future.
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 honor 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.
Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
A Macmillan Audio production from Tordotcom
Becky Chambers is a science fiction author based in Northern California. She is best known for her Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series. Her books have also been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Locus Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others.
Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. She spends her free time playing video and tabletop games, keeping bees, and looking through her telescope. Having hopped around the world a bit, she’s now back in her home state, where she lives with her wife. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.
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