A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, 1)

In the world of Panga, many years after factory robots became sentient and took off for the wilderness (leaving humanity in a post-expansion, solar-dependent society), a young tea monk named Dex struggles to find purpose. Perhaps we’ve all been there at one time or another: You look around at all your stuff, your comfortable job, your friends, your supportive family, and you wonder why you feel so unsatisfied. To put it in Dex’s own words, so hollow and tired. For Dex, changing jobs didn’t help. Moving didn’t help. Meeting and helping new people didn’t help. At a loss, and on something of a whim, Dex decides the answer lies in the wilderness.

Dex’s pilgrimage coincides with the reemergence of a single robot, a representative named Mosscap, who aims to check in on the world robots left behind and determine what humanity needs. After getting over the shock of their chance encounter, the two become unlikely friends and travel together to Dex’s destination. Along the way, the pair learn about each other and tackle various misconceptions about both robots and humans.

Author Becky Chambers has crafted an endearing, optimistic, and often humorous world in A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Readers will find a lot to love in this touching buddy dramedy, including its well-developed setting and clever take on robot sentience.