A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021) -Becky Chambers

This is a great easy and feel-good read but it is incomplete without reading its sequel

Content Warnings: Mentions of death and injury

Representation: Trans, nonbinary, nblm

Favorite Quote: “It is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.”

        A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a speculative science fiction novel that feels like a drawn-out, contemporary fable. The short novel follows Sibling Dex, a monk who begins the novel serving as a gardener in a monastery for Allalae, the god of small comforts, within the boundaries of an urban center. Dex grows unsatisfied with their role in the city, however, and longs for the soothing sound of crickets that they imagine out in the wilderness. In response to this restlessness in their current position, Dex decides to change vocation and become a tea monk in the villages surrounding the city.

        There, Dex builds a life for themself, serving tea and listening to people’s troubles, but still find themself feeling unsatisfied with the monotony of their new life. In their journey to overcome their dissatisfaction with life, Dex becomes the first human to come into contact with a robot for centuries when the robots gained sentience and left the human world to find themselves in the wilderness. This robot, named Mosscap, comes bearing the question of “What do humans need?” and Dex is not a person equipped to provide an answer.

         This story all takes place in a post-industrial society that came back from the brink of an ecological disaster by dividing all land in half between what can be developed by humans and what should be left to nature. This is paired with the focus on Dex, who is unhappy with their seemingly perfect life, calling on themes that question utopia, human nature, and the concept of “purpose.”

       The writing style and development of the characters in A Psalm for the Wild-Built feels very calming and wholesome. The reading experience for this book is then reminiscent of short fables—easy to read and thought-provoking. Making use of minimal characters and a straightforward, didactic narrative style, this novel achieves its goal of making readers think, even if the messaging itself is debatable, there is great value in the ability to challenge the views of the characters.

4⭐️