A Prayer for the Crown-Shy: A Monk and Robot Book (Monk & Robot 2)

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The dedication for the first book states, “ For anybody who could use a break,” and for this book it reads, “ For anybody who doesn’t know where they’re going. That's really all I can say right now without a re-read, but I hope there are more books in this series, at least one more but I hope more than that.

What would it be like to have boundaries and to respect the boundaries of others, where it is expected?They pursed their lips, realizing they’d forgotten to fetch their towel before getting in the shower. These lessons are often explored through dialogue between Mosscap and Dex, as the inquisitive robot experiences the world with the patient monk by its side. Sibling Dex, in his capacity as a renowned tea monk, would undoubtedly say that a key requirement of perfect tea is allowing it to steep; letting it soak in the water long enough to be powerful.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter? They shed their dirty, sweat-soaked, forest-flecked clothes, set up the camp shower, turned the water on, and stepped into the spray.We ask all users help us create a welcoming environment by reporting posts/comments that do not follow the subreddit rules. The defining characteristic of Panga is the optimism of Chambers’ humanity: these are folks who are kind, helpful, unselfish, and largely want for nothing. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy’ picks up immediately after the conclusion of Book 1 with Dex and Mosscap leaving the wilderness and beginning their journey across the human occupied places of Panga. The following is not an original thought and I’m plagiarizing something I saw on Goodreads, but it holds true and is worth repeating: Becky Chambers’ A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is one of those books that when the Advance Readers Copy lands in your inbox, you drop everything and immediately read it for review purposes, forgetting that we’re still three-ish months away from its release date and there are other books I have on my plate that are coming up sooner than that.

It's kind of like a commune manifesto plus a couple hours spent on the Treehugger blog, and the earnest optimism made me a bit cranky. it's a comforting story about comfort and care, as soothing to read as it is to think about, and so full of hope and wonder and potential discovery. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. They left their role working in the gardens of a monastery in Book 1, ‘A Psalm for the Wild Built’ and started a new vocation as a travelling Tea Monk.There are no significant advancements in the plot, there is just a journey, which can end in the next book or continue for a dozen more. A large part of my impatience/skepticism here comes from the fact that I fundamentally disagree with Chambers's thesis that humans who have all their needs met (and are freed from the rat race of capitalism) are capable, on a species-wide level, of making sustainable, wise, and kind choices even when they have the option to do otherwise. Lovely sci if set in a mysterious post something (yet to be explained hoping for more information in future books) Earth. There was no reason beyond impatience to continue pressing on in the dark, and though Dex was looking forward to being in a proper town again, stillness and rest sounded preferable in the moment.

Their heavily laden double-decker wagon no longer shuddered as they willed it across chaotic surfaces rent by the march of roots and the meandering of soil. There were no creeping branches catching their clothing, no fallen trees posing problems, no unlabeled forks that made them stop and stare with dread.

Dex is experiencing burnout and must learn to accept it's okay for them to rest and that their value isn't derived from their production. They leaned their head back, letting the water run through their hair as they stared at the sky above the trees. These are the best parts of the book, and there are a few instances where the world and the characters align and say something profound about the human condition. I absolutely love this series, such a refreshing take on the “robots gaining autonomy and awareness” trope. Small ribbons had been tied to it by countless passersby, their colors faded and fraying in the open air.