Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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.

“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.”

“You and I -- we're just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?” 

“Sometimes a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city”

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital arc, this is an honest review. 

(I also bought myself a hard copy as soon as I could because this book is just so lovely ^-^).