I’m not going to lie. A Psalm For the Wild-Built is not going to appeal to some of my usual readers.
It’s not a romance, and there’s very little action. Still, I found myself intrigued by this little novella, and I was drawn through it pretty quickly, just because I wanted to figure out whether the main character would attain their goal. I’ll have to be in an exceptionally cozy or philosophical mood to pick up the next one, but I don’t regret reading it. And for those of you who have more enlightened tastes than me and sometimes like to venture outside the realm of kissing and explosions, this one’s for you!
Dex, the main character of this novella, lives a comfortable life as a tea-serving monk in the Utopian world of Panga. Their society has moved on from consumerism and dependence on AI, and instead lives in happy cooperation with the planet. Yet, when Dex hits their thirties, they find themselves feeling unsatisfied.
They set out into the wilderness in their e-bike powered tiny home, in search of a lost monastery that, to Dex, represents that indefinable something that’s missing from their life.
On the way, they’re joined by Mosscap, a robot built in the wild by other free-roaming robots who have lived apart from humans for hundreds of years. Together, the two trek the wild in search of the monastery while contemplating the meaning of life.
Spoiler alert, here’s the meaning I got out of the book:
There’s no great purpose in life, and that’s okay. So you might as well sit back and enjoy a cup of tea.
It’s kind of like a cozy, hippie, sci-fi novel version of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Though I have my disagreements with the philosophical perspective presented in the conclusion, it didn’t feel anticlimactic. The ending fit with the vibe of the rest of the story. And honestly, I’m curious enough to see where Dex and Mosscap go next in their chasing after the wind that I’ll probably end up reading the next book at some point.
In fitting with the vibe of the story, though, it doesn’t feel urgent.
The thing I enjoyed most about this story was Becky Chambers’s unique take on robots. Mosscap isn’t at all the typical stiff, logical robot character, but it also isn’t just a stand-in for a human character either. My favourite image was when a worm crawled through mosscaps innards, and mosscap was just like, “Yeah. The worm doesn’t bug me. Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if I could coax something bigger to nest in my chest cavity?”
Chambers’ vision of robot culture is super intriguing, too. Each individual robot pursues a passion project, spending their time studying and observing a unique aspect of nature. One robot, for example, spent decades in a cave watching stalactites form.
This book is also just all-around really well written. Reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built feels like a meditation, which I think is the exact vibe Chambers was going for.
You have to be in the mood for something low-stakes and a little philosophical to enjoy this one. But if you’re not dead set on action and romance, A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a fun little sci-fi palette cleanser that brings up a lot of interesting questions about life and humanity while also feeling like a cozy road trip through a picturesque world. If you like tea and tiny homes, give this one a shot!
Have you read the Monk and Robot series? I was reading with one eye laying in bed late and night when I came to my conclusion about the meaning of life, so let me know if you got something else out of this book! Leave a comment and let me know your take!
