This book is as warming and cozy as enjoying a good cup of tea. I ended up starting to read this one on a rainy day while waiting for someone in a parking lot, and finished it while cozied up in bed that same evening. It was both calming and very thoughtful. A safe place to land and to wonder.

Set in a world where, in the pre-story, AI became sentient and humanity actually did the decent thing by setting them free, we follow a tea monk named Dex as they travel around visiting different communities, until they eventually feel pulled to try something a little different. In learning more about the world, and meeting some new characters along the way, we discover a lush world that feels very real. It's built on mistakes made, lessons learned, and continuing to do better. I found it incredibly hopeful.

This is a book for the tea-lovers and the optimists, for the Sci-Fi kids who love to wonder about what happens when AI becomes sentient (and bonus: this one isn't apocalyptic!), for those who need a dose of hope, or for someone who just enjoys good storytelling.

This was a short but very insightful view of a future where robots become sentient and choose to disengage with humanity. Some of the things that I appreciated about the story were how it handled the use of they/them pronouns and how the story takes a different approach on the typical sentient-robot-becomes-killer trope. The language does take a little getting used to and the reader is thrown into the story without a lot of background information. It's a slim book but each word feels thoughtfully chosen and I found myself frequently wanting to underline entire passages. This is the beginning of a series that I will definitely be continuing on with and recommending to other readers.

I was surprised to find that A Psalm for the Wild-Built didn't get under my skin the way every other book of Chambers' has: I enjoyed it, and enjoyed the discussion of figuring out your purpose (and whether that's important or not). I enjoyed the idea of Dex's work as a tea monk, helping people relax and unburden themselves -- and I totally sympathised with the fact that Dex learned a whole profession, got good at it, and then found themselves wanting to start over and learn anew. All the same, it didn't quite get the emotional reaction from me that I expected.

The world Chambers builds here is interesting too: utopian, and yet not without people who are dissatisfied, people who don't know what to do with themselves, the everyday hurts and troubles that are going to be inevitable amongst people. As ever, there's something profoundly hopeful about this story.

The robots are perhaps the most interesting part, and I'll look forward to reading more about Mosscap and its opinions about humanity, as it begins to journey and meet people and ask questions. The story feels complete and satisfying on its own, in a way, but I won't argue with getting more of it!

Absolutely wonderful. It's a very unique book that left me feeling a profound sense of hope and very excited to see what comes next. I don't know if you can describe a novella as leisurely-paced, but this reading experience was extremely relaxing. I also love seeing a society rebuilt after an apocalyptic event rather than seeing it immediately post-apocalypse.

This was just a balm for my heart. I absolutely adored this book and the characters and everything it had to say. I know I'm going to rereading this novella over and over for years to come. I honestly can't even say more, just THANK YOU.

The Psalm for the Wild Built is a joy to read. There is no great antagonist to the battle except for your nagging inner voice, and only hope guides your journey through the lands.

“You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because 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. That is all most animals do.”

Hope is a pervasive emotion; if you let it, hope can seep into every crevice and neuron in your body. It gives you the belief that more can come and there are better days ahead. That is what Monk and Robot show with every step and roll of the tea cart, there is a low chanting sound that follows them as they travel singing “Hope. Hope. Hope.”

The story follows Sibing Dex and Splendid Speckled Mosscap. Dex is a tea monk. A traveling monk and a cart full of herbs and spices moving from town to town, healing the sick with their spicey creations and leaving comfort in their wake. As a character, Sibling Dex is battling the old thought of “am I doing what I should be doing.” and “Why aren’t I happy.” I think that many readers will empathize with his thoughts and struggles, myself included. Happiness can sometimes feel like a slippery emotion; you grasp it and hold on, yet somehow it wriggles out of your hands and flies away.

“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because 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.”

Splendid Speckled Mosscap is a wonderfully depicted robot who meets up with Sibling Dex while walking the roads between camps. There is an honesty in Mosscap’s character and a refreshing uncluttered view of what is essential in life and why.

Mosscap is the first robot to meet up with a human in centuries. This story has flavors of the “first contact” motif. Apparently, in this future world, when humans discover that the robots gained sentience, they let them go to be free people out in the world. There were no battles and bloody betrayal. No Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, “i’ll be back.” The humans realized that the robots were people. This is such a wonderful hopepunk idea. Humans do what is ethically and morally right with no monetary compensation or power struggle. Humans are proper and sound, and to this reviewer, who reads 90% of grimdark novels, it was quite the change.

I do not want to spoil anything in this “warm cup of tea on a raining morning” book. The pair talked about philosophy and mindset that hit me hard. And I think readers will love it. A psalm of the Wild Built is lovely, the characters are beautiful people trying their best, and I can’t wait to read more of their adventures.

I loved this one. It was a beautiful novella and I honestly can’t wait to read the next book. Five stars.

Holy smokes, this is an exciting new story from Becky Chambers. I’m enamored by its characters, their objective to ask if humans need anything, and the deeper conversations about what it means to be conscious. I also really loved the descriptions of this world. It feels like ours except humanity has taken the steps to move away from the dangers our world is facing. I cannot wait for book two and the rest of their journeys together.
Full review to come on YouTube.

This little novella is perfect for anyone suffering from grief and tragic loss. I am by no means healed from this book but for a little bit, it took me away from that feeling of drowning. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers is all about life; healing when you feel lost in the world. If a book could love me unconditionally, it would be this one.

Becky Chambers writes great fun, making room for laughter and heartache in equal measure.

In this world, robotics and plants seemlessly intertwine into the coziest story of the happiest robot befriending a grumpy nonbinary human. Chambers paints a world where long ago the robots left the humans and their lives in the city for the forest. All the machines understood was human design, including that of their bodies and the building in which they lived. In droves, they left for the wild. So their descendants became: the Wild-Built.

The story follows Dex, who leaves their cushy job for a bit of soul searching. They become a tea monk. Providing travelers with a warm cup of tea, they help those with their troubles, grief, and sorrows. They heal in every way possible.

Chambers writes with such a cozy flair. Tea kettles are joyfully chubby. Water bubbles dance. A robot seems a perfect double for K-2SO from Rogue One if stripped of skepticism in return for absolute enthusiasm. Its name is Moscap. Yes, all the robots are named after the first thing they focus on. Just so happens to be stuff in the woods.

Moscap and Dex come together in a mutual exchange of goals. Moscap hopes to study and know more about human’s culture. Dex wants to get to a famed monastery, a hermitage if you will. They search for some purpose, some meaning for their life but Moscap, a whole machine, teaches Dex something about the meaning of life. It’s a rareity when an author is actually able to teach me a lesson that might change my own perspective of my life in this world. For that reason, Moscap is now one of my favorite characters.

Sometimes slowing down to process everything is self love. That’s comforting. It’s ok to remember that, in the scheme of things, everything else just seems less important. You’re allowed to take time to heal and to find what about life would make it more enjoyable, even if you don’t really understand what it’s all about.

I don’t know any other science fiction novel that would appeal so much to lovers of folkloric fantasy. If you love the folkloric fantasy, that strangeness of forestry, plants, and the magic that grows in odd places than you would absolutely love this. Whether you love science fiction or fantasy, you would love this. It’s cozy and warm all over. Are you a nerd for anthropological ideas? This has a lot of that.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Read this for comfort. Read it for self-love. Read it just because you deserve a fucking cozy good time.

There is something to be said about how cozy Chambers can make Sci-Fi. It's so different than the coldness that many scifi novels dealing with robots can be.

A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers
Published: July 13, 2021 by Macmillan.- Tor / Forge


An evocative story that necessitates serious reflection of one’s self and the nature of society. Chambers effectively uses a literary device found in the film genre of a “road movie”
In this case the main characters are a tea monk and a robot. Their quest takes them on an unbeaten path to a religious site …. The Hermitage in a long ago abandoned region of the planet, in the wilderness of Panga. Sibling Dex, a non-binary monk, feels unfulfilled in his job in the gardens. He feels anxious and desires change, feeling that the answer will be to switch his vocation to a tea monk. He feels unsettled with his life in the City, and even at night pines for the song of crickets to lull him to sleep. Once abundant across Panga, their existence is now threatened . He gradually becomes an accomplished tea monk. People come to his wagon with their problems, he listens attentively, and brews and offers them an appropriate mixture of ingredients to a cup of tea. …. and thereby offering them a comfortable respite from the stress of urban life. Even after succeeding as a tea monk, Dex once again is plagued by a feeling of unrest and a thought that there must be something more meaningful to fulfill his life. His anxiety and unrest escalates until he decides to “take a different path”. He goes off the beaten path in a quest to the mountain hermitage in the wilderness. To his surprise and dismay he comes upon a robot …. which he has never seen in his lifetime. Robots left the Factories and society when they attained consciousness …. the Awakening. Thereby ending the Factory Age. The robot community vowed to leave humanity alone, but left a Parting Promise that they would eventually return on their own terms. The robot calls himself Moscap and states he volunteered to re-connect with humanity for the purpose of seeing how society is doing without their presence , and asking what they might be in need of ? How can they help? They discover that neither the robot or the tea monk profess to have a gender. Moscap would like Dex to be its guide through the City and towns, but will happily follow him on his quest to the hermitage. Moscap reveals that robots have been wild-built . Components from robot bodies are harvested and refurbished and reworked into formation of new individual robots. Along their journey they gradually fall into a fellowship and discuss many, far reaching thoughts, emotions and principles of society and the individual.
Chambers through her amazing world building skills, forges a complex tale that sheds light on many existential issues of society and individuality. Through the conversation of robot and tea monk many themes are considered … self-development, self-improvement, over whelming anxiety, and even the meaning and worth of an individual in the cosmos. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor / Forge publishers for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

I was full of trepidation for this, Chambers' first book after the end of the Wayfarers series; I didn't know how she could possibly work that same magic again. She unequivocally has, though; this was a direct hit of philosophical comfort. I need to buy a physical copy so that I can cuddle it. Cannot wait to see what she writes in the future.

4.5 Stars rounded up! No one is more surprised than I am giving a novella such a high rating. Did anything actually happen in this book? No, not really, but I will die for these two characters. They are so precious and this was such a great introduction to Becky Chambers. I'm now more excited to read Long Way to a Small Angry Planet!
This book was so soft and personal. It was a character study more than a story with a plot.

Becky Chambers is so great at writing cozy science fiction. This is an excellent start to the Monk and Robot series. Sibling Dex was wonderfully complicated with incredibly relatable feelings. Mosscap was a delight to read. I can't wait to dive into the next installment of this series.

Whhhhhhhhhhhy did I wait so long to read this?

I can tell you exactly why: I am/was furious that the Wayfarers universe was coming to an end because I capital-l LOVE those books so much, I just wanted them to go on forever. And here I will say that this book is NOTHING like those books, and everything like them, because Chambers uses fiction to ask the big questions, the questions that have to do with 'what is consciousness?' and 'what is humanity?' and this book is no different. Oh lord, I can't wait until book #2 comes out in July.

This is a difficult review to write, because I want to say so much, but I also don't want to spoil anything, so I'm just not going to say much. I'm going to assume anyone reading this has read the book's synopsis, so I won't rehash that. I will tell you that the world building is wonderful, and I very much want to live in this book. The human society sounds quite nice, and I never knew I wanted to be a tea monk, but now I know I do, and I believe I'd be good at it. Dex is good at it, but they have a realization that as fulfilling as it is, it's still not what they want to do with their life. To further muck things up, they don't have any idea what to do, how to fix this, so they sort of run away, going off into the wilderness on a snipe hunt. They don't find answers, but they do find a wonderful robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap (Mosscap for short). Mosscap has it's own mission in mind, which is also a sort of snipe hunt, and decides it will help Dex hunt their snipe, and then Dex can help it hunt it's snipe essentially. I especially loved the conversations between the two; Mosscap is very wise, and would make an excellent tea monk (providing it learns about the actual tea-making part of the vocation), and Dex needs someone to keep them grounded, though they think they'd rather be alone at first. Each is searching for something more than they're ready to admit to themselves, and it really is fortunate that they found each other. The ending made me happy, and I'm so looking forward to the next book. This is definitely a book that will go into my reread rotation!

#NetGalley

I loved loved loved this little novella. I think I've mentioned it in every conversation I've had since finishing it. It was very hopeful--I found it a very nice change of pace from the grimdark books that have become more common in SFF recently. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the quiet contemplativeness of it all. It was the perfect length.

While I've heard a lot about Becky Chambers (particularly the novel A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet), her newest release A Psalm for the Wild-Built is my first experience with her work... and it certainly won't be my last! This sci-fi story is about a tea monk who sets out on a journey without really knowing what it is they are truly in search of, and the robot he encounters who has been assigned the task of checking in on the humans centuries after robots gained self-awareness and wandered into the wilderness. This slice-of-life novel follows the pair, who wind up on a journey together as they try to make sense of themselves and the world around them.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of A Psalm for the Wild-Built is cozy. While most of the story is set in the wilds (locations that are either abandoned or ruined or very much in the outdoors with no civilization), there's a warmth permeating the entire tale that invites the reader to sit down and stay until the story draws to a close. The next word I can think of to describe this story is dreamy. The way this is written feels a little like wandering into a modern fairytale, and the world that comes to life with the author's words feels quite fantastical. The third word that comes to mind as a descriptor is meandering. The pacing is specifically what I'm thinking of, and I do think it serves the story well. The reader gets to spend time immersed in learning about the world, as well as really sitting with the reflections and questions sprinkled all throughout. It's also a treat to spend so much time with Sibling Dex, the non-binary tea monk who sets out on a spontaneous journey, and Mosscap, the robot who they meet along the way.

Chambers managed to hit my sweet spot with her well-written novel, as I really enjoyed A Psalm for the Wild-Built. It's not quite like anything I've ever read before! I picked up this book at just the right time too, as it fulfilled my desire for a simple, thoughtful, immersive tale. I'm really happy I ended up picking up this book and I can't wait to read more in this series! (And I fully intend to try Chambers' Wayfarers series as well.)

When the inevitable labor dystopia comes crashing down around our ears, I can only hope that the future humanity builds out of the rubble resembles the world in A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

This cozy novella follows Sibling Dex, a nonbinary tea monk as they journey through Panga. They have a cart, a full selection of herbs and tea accouterment, pillows, and a kind ear to lend. They’re not necessarily a therapist, but slightly adjacent. A friendly face who’s willing to listen to your troubles, offer you a nice cuppa and give you a chance to rest.


Dex’s whole job is to hold space for others. And while they find this important, as they travel their route, they eventually realize that they’re unhappy. The work is good work, but it’s not fulfilling. It’s not enough. They still want to hear crickets in the evening, they still want to feel something bigger.

In typical mid-to-late-twenties crises mode, they decide to head for a semi-mythical mountain hermitage in the wilds, abandoned before the end of the Factory Age. As far as off-the-cuff decisions go, it’s not the worst I’ve seen. During this absolutely fantastic display of a person experiencing an existential crisis that they accidentally come into contact with a robot. The first robot any human has been in contact with within hundreds of years.

Robots, in Psalm, are the descendants of the factory machines who gained sentience and abandoned their posts. Their ascendancy into individual consciousness prompted the end of the Factory Age, and pushed humanity to change (by all measures, it seems, for the better). The robot community vowed to leave humans alone, but left a Promise—they will come back, but on their own terms. At the point that Dex meets this living machine, the robots are a fairy tale, more or less.

The robot that Dex runs into is Mosscap—a wild-built robot reconstructed from the older factory models. Mosscap is an emissary of the robots, sent to re-establish contact with humans, with the express purpose of asking humanity (in general) what they might be in need of. It’s unfortunate that Mosscap has met Dex first, as they have genuinely no clue what they want.

The story that comes out of this unlikely pairing; a dissatisfied tea monk searching for the sound of crickets at night and a sentient robot with a fondness for insects, is nothing short of wonderful. As the two creatures share desires, understandings, and their cultures, out comes a gentle peace within their companionship.

There’s a distance between Psalm and the real world in a way that a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction doesn’t grapple with. The worldbuilding in the piece is a tribute to the future we could have; the future that we might be working towards. It’s a slant omen, like a fairy tale. Descriptive moments of rest and abbreviated movement creates a coziness to the narrative. The focus isn’t on the dangers of living as we are now, but the metaphor is clear. Focusing on the story’s present moment, A Psalm for the Wild-Built cares most deeply about the relationship between Dex and Mosscap, the commune between two characters and the gaps in their knowledge. With the book speaking to us, and the main characters listening to others, this is a book about the necessary artistry of conversation.

Within this book are affirmations that in any other context might seem overly sentimental, but when presented as a matter of fact from a sentient robot, become weirdly resonant. There’s a particular moment when the pair are having a rather deep existential conversation when Dex asks Mosscap how they can deal with the possibility of their existence being meaningless. Mosscap responds, “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful.”

It’s such a simple exchange, but the emotional weight of this in the book is really remarkable. So much of Psalm is a commentary on the anxieties of living in a world that expects productivity, when often we just need to sit down, listen, and perhaps have a cup of tea. The novella remarks on the overwhelming need for self-development and self-improvement in our contemporary society and asks what if we didn’t hold ourselves to these standards? What if we just existed and allowed who we are to be safe within our own selves.

Psalm asks, what if we chose to just be, without expectation. What do we gain when we realize, without conditions, that we are enough, that being alive is enough to be wonderful?

A Psalm for the Wild-Built exists in a wilderness of comfort. It is an elegy for the people that we might have been, and it’s a hopeful look towards the future, using modern anxieties as a way to create a remarkable intimacy between the reader and Sibling Dex. The inherent reliability of this novella in its voice, structure, and narrative choices will make it a standard in the idealized futurism of hopepunk stories.

You will want to have a cup of tea to drink while reading this novella.

I finished reading the ebook ARC I’d been sent and then immediately went out to buy a hardcover. (The hardcovers are overpriced for a novella. But that’s on publishing and capitalism than the author.)

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a novella for right now. That may sound cliche but we’ve been going through a global pandemic, new civil rights movement, political upheaval, drought, heatwaves, and wildfires (just to name a few things). Becky Chambers has always excelled at creating hopeful futures, places I want to live in and people I want to meet.

The world of Panga is peaceful. People are happy, cared for, and lead fulfilling lives. But Sibling Dex isn’t happy and doesn’t know why and therein lies the problem. I, and a lot of other people, can relate to struggling to find purpose in life. It’s hard when things are bad and you’re doing what you need to survive. But it’s also hard when things are good and depression or other things set in like a cloud.

In many ways I would like to be Sibling Dex. To have a little ox-bike drawn wagon where I ride around and greet people with tea. And then when I’m faced with the burden of not knowing and struggling with purpose, I too would like to vanish into the woods and have an encounter from a story book with a robot.

Although I often complain that novellas are too short, A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a good length. This is a story of reflection rather than action. Of two people with very different perspectives and lives trying to learn from each other. It made me cry and I’m looking forward to future novellas Chamber’s writes about Sibling Dex and Splendid Speckled Mosscap. I’ll make a pot of tea and join them for the gentle journey.