About the book, from Tor/Macmillan:

“Winner of the Hugo Award! In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling 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?”

About the Author, Becky Chambers:

“Becky Chambers is the bestselling author of the Wayfarers series, the Monk and Robot novellas, and other works of science fiction. She is a two-time Hugo Award winner, a Locus Award winner, and has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Women’s Prize for Fiction, among others. Her latest book is A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, the second installment of Monk and Robot. She is currently working on a new standalone novel.

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, watching bugs, and looking through her telescope. Having hopped around the world a bit, she has settled down (for the moment) in Humboldt County, California, where she lives with her wife. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.”

Why I selected A Psalm for the Wild-Built for the December 2023 Giveaway:

• This gnome loved how cozy and comforting this novella is. While so much science fiction focuses on dystopian futures, this novella (and subsequent book(s) in the Monk & Robot series) share a hopeful future – one where people are generally happy and care for each other. Characters still face challenges, but the disintegration of society is not one of them.
• Considered “solarpunk” this book visualizes a collectivist, ecological utopia where nature and technology have grown in harmony. This book imagines a future where robots become sentient, demand rights to their own freedom, and get them. They go off to experience the world beyond humanity, and it is beautiful to imagine a future where we live and let live (and don’t react to differences with war).
• This book’s momentum is largely driven by conversations between the two main characters. Although philosophical, the conversations are quiet, gentle, and engaging, with both characters having such well-developed personalities. Monk and Robot discuss everything from differences between robot and human societies, history and ecology, desire, and the purpose of life.
• This book asks the question: “What is enough for a meaningful life?” This gnome thinks that is a beautiful thing to ponder as we look ahead to a fresh new year.

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