The previous book in the Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers was one of the first books I read and reviewed in 2023, and I adored it. I immediately put a hold on the second (and so far, last) book in the series, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. I eagerly waited for it to make it through my queue, fully confident that I would love it based on my feelings for the first book as well as my experiences with Chambers’ Wayfarers series.
After initiating the first human-robot cross-cultural exchange in the first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, in book two Sibling Dex the monk and Mosscap the robot leave the wilderness and begin introducing Mosscap to villages and cities of humankind. Mosscap seeks to answer the question, “What do humans need?” and to gather information to report back to other robots, all of whom left humanity to their own devices after the Factory Age ended on Panga, the small moon they live on. As Dex and Mosscap travel across the different ecosystems and villages, they discover that this question haunts them both in ways that neither could expect – but, in true Becky Chambers fashion, ultimately the characters are able to find comfort and joy in simple moments and emotional connections.
There may be a day when I am disappointed by a Becky Chambers book, but today was not that day. Like A Psalm for the Wild-Built, I found A Prayer for the Crown-Shy to be a deeply comforting read. I loved seeing the relationship between Mosscap and Dex continue to develop and learning more about the culture of Panga. I was particularly interested in the few times that we see small discrepancies between how different communities choose to live. For example, in one coastal settlement, nearly all the villagers refuse to meet with Mosscap because they reject all technology, fearing that any small concession could lead to backsliding to humanity’s former ways of the Factory Age.
Again, the feeling I was most struck by while reading was longing – to live in a kind and respectful society, to have the luxury of time and idleness, to approach life with an unerring confidence that everyone is proceeding with the best of intentions. The magical thing about A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is that it makes it seem almost possible that our own planet could someday be more similar to Panga. Usually I include the caveat with Becky Chambers books that there’s not very much tension or fast-paced plot to them, so they’re not for everyone. But this time, I’ve changed my mind – I think everyone should read these books, because we might all learn some lessons or at least find a little bit of hope in these pages. Highly recommend, 5 million stars.
