The theme of these three books is loosely that they were written by Becky Chambers, who as I stated above I love! I read “To Be Taught if Fortunate” at least twice, and I’d totally read it again. The other theme of these three books though, is different (for me) pronouns. I find it hard to believe (but I think it’s true) that these are the first books I’ve read with either trans or non-binary characters. I’m socially liberal and I believe in rights for everyone, regardless of your gender identity or sexual orientation. I just don’t always know the right words / pronouns to use. I don’t want to offend anyone, and I want to make people feel comfortable, but I need some help. As a 42-year-old who grew up as a bit of a grammar and spelling snob (one of my criteria for a boyfriend is “must be able to spell”), I found myself having trouble with the “they/them” pronouns. They / them is used for one of the main characters (Monk) in the two Monk and Robot books. I found myself reading sentences and thinking “why would the robot do that with Monk?”, but it wasn’t the case, it was just Monk. But because they / them was used, my poor brain pictured multiple people. Does anyone have any advice on how to make that work in my brain? Like I said my intentions are pure and I want to interact with people in the way they’d prefer. I just can’t get my brain to associate they/them with 1 person. I actually had a little less trouble in Wayfarers. There’s a non-binary person in that book who uses “xe” pronouns, which I pronounced (in my head) as “Zee”. I have no associations or prior knowledge of “xe”, so I had literally no trouble with that one. I think my they/them issue is that I already have a visual of what they/them is (multiple people), and it’s not clicking for me. Maybe the real solution is just to continue reading books with trans and non-binary characters! Still though, any suggestions are welcome!!
This book series is set in a fictional world, but not too far off from ours. I guess they built robots with what sounds like AI in our world, and then the robots gained self-awareness. I can’t remember if they were liberated by the humans or if they had a revolution, but they basically just peaced out one day into the woods.
Dex the Monk is having a bit of a crisis. They switched careers and dove headlong into being a tea monk, which is basically like a tea barista / pharmacist / therapist. But then Dex starts to get a little road weary. They feel like they’re not sure what they’re supposed to be doing and if they’re helping anyone. One day Dex wanders into the forest and comes upon a robot. It’s a surprise because nobody has seen a robot in decades. The robot is named Splendid Speckled Mosscap after a particularly cool mushroom, but it goes by Mosscap.
The entirety of this book is basically Dex and Mosscap wandering around the forest and begrudgingly (on Dex’s part) getting to know each other. Mosscap wants to know what people need and wants to go on a walkabout through the towns. I really enjoyed the relationship between these two, because it wasn’t instant. They had to learn about each other, and Dex was a bit of a hard sell. I loved their eating ritual though. Mosscap didn’t eat, but Dex had to, and Dex felt wrong eating along without offering Mosscap anything. So Dex would prepare a meal, then offer half of it to Mosscap, who would decline. Then Dex would happily eat the entire meal with Mosscap there for company. I just thought it was a nice ritual and it felt right.
My Rating: 4
Dex and Mosscap continued their journey around the world talking to people and meeting new friends and having new experiences. Their friendship deepens and fully solidifies in this book. Dex has completely softened to the charm of Mosscap and sees it as an equal. Mosscap clearly says in one of these books that he’s an “it”, but it still feels disrespectful to type!
There are a bunch of times where Dex thinks people are taking advantage of Mosscap or they’re going to make fun of it, or something else negative. Both the people and Mosscap surprise Dex with how they handle the situations. It was just hilarious to see Mosscap painting doors and picking up heavy things and just being super pumped that it was helping people. When Mosscap got its first credits for doing tasks, the joy was just so real and endearing.
At the end of this book I was so scared that we were going to lose Mosscap because it has an integral part go bad. Apparently, the robot philosophy is that they don’t use new materials for their bodies. They can only re-use parts from other robots, or something recycled. I was literally crying about this robot thinking we were going to lose him.
Please read this book series. It’s just so pleasant and lovely.
My Rating: 4
To continue my Becky Chambers journey, I borrowed the first Wayfarers book from my library.
This felt like a different jaunt than the other Becky Chambers books I’ve read. It has the same sci-fi vibe as all the others, but it’s more of a group story. But now that I think about it, To Be Taught if Fortunate was kinda like that too? I don’t know, it felt different. We were introduced to totally new characters, including someone who is keeping a secret.
I just read a review that so beautifully summed up this book. It’s about found families, respect, and representation. There are so many different types of people and aliens and creatures in this book. A portion of the crew is human, but the rest are aliens that Becky Chambers totally made up. It was refreshing that this story occurs in outer space and everyone isn’t a straight white human. Some of the explanations of the crew members cultures and lifestyles were just so interesting and heartwarming.
There’s also a full history of the way the humans grew up, which is different from our current history. You could’ve been born on a ship or on Mars, and that totally shaped the way you thought about the world and others in it. All of that just fascinated me.
This was another of those books where I had all the feelings. There was some suspense, there was a lot of wonder, I laughed out loud a bunch of times, and I totally cried a few times. It was mostly just a really good read though. I want to read the rest of the books in this series because I need to know what these people are doing next!
My Rating: 4
