On the HahaFiction shelf
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Monk & Robot · Book 1 · 2021
Sibling Dex leaves monastery gardening to travel through Panga, listening to people’s troubles over tea. The work helps others, yet Dex still feels restless. A trip into the wilderness brings them face to face with Mosscap, a robot whose people left human society centuries ago. It wants Dex’s help answering a question Dex can hardly answer for themself: what do humans need?
From the author’s blurb
“A story for seekers of small comforts.”Read the full description at Becky Chambers, official book page
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What makes it funny?
Mosscap treats onions, chairs and Dex’s morning hair as subjects worthy of serious investigation. Dex, meanwhile, feels the urge to share food with a companion who cannot eat. Familiar habits look stranger when someone keeps asking why you do them.
The comedy at work
The narration is already gently irreverent before Mosscap arrives. Monks generate more theological answers than there are monks in the discussion, and Dex judges the city’s insects inadequate because none provide cricket song. The journey adds repeated misunderstandings as human and robot discover how much they have assumed about each other.
Try this if…
The pleasures are conversation, a patient friendship and a hopeful future where kindness has practical value. Readers drawn to questions about work and purpose can spend time with those questions in a story with little conflict and plenty of ordinary comforts.
Good to know
Expect strong profanity, including in the opening paragraph. The novella has an open ending that leaves room for Dex and Mosscap to continue traveling together.
More funny science fiction
Sources & further reading
- Dear Author review
Review
- Author
Author commentary
- Pixelated Geek review
Review
- Publisher excerpt
Publisher
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