A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

The whole world ended… And then: Becky Chamber recognizes that people (and possibly robots) go on. She offers the view that they might go in without losing their souls to malice, greed and violence. I just love knowing that someone sees all of humanity’s little, gut wrenching, heartbreaking, triumphant moments and loves us for it.

“A Prayer for the Crown-Shy� is the second novella in the Monk and Robot Series by Hugo Award winning writer Becky Chambers. It was preceded by the novella “A Psalm for the Wild Built.� The events of the story take place on the habitable moon of what appears to be a gas giant plant orbiting a yellow star. Humans live here, and have had a historical civilization much like that of Earth. It’s power was mostly based on oil, and had manufacturing which eventually was conducted by humanoid robots. The robots suddenly and surprisingly became sentient, and informed the humans that they had collectively decided they would leave and go into the world to observe nature. The humans accepted this decision, and regard it as a significant turning point in their civilization. The humans changed their way of life, beginning to live within nature rather than exploit it. They turned to solar and wind for power. They set aside half of their world for nature. They began to build with natural materials that would biodegrade over time. They adopted a sustainable model of civilization, and regarded this an a major achievement. You can say that this is a solar punk setting. Our protagonist, Dex, is a non-binary Tea Monk. Tea Monks act as counselors and minor therapists for the populace. Dex had traveled about in thier wagon from place to place offering specialized cups of tea and comfort, until they met the robot Mosscap. Robots had not interacted with humans since the Parting. But this one has come as the designated representative of robot-kind, to find out what humans need. This is the continuing story of the monk and the robot who travel together and seek to understand each other, and themselves. In this novella, they travel from the wilderness to the outskirts of the City. Along the way, they visit various communities and meet people who Mosscap questions about their needs. There’s a notable visit with Dex’s large family. Typically for Ms. Chambers, there is not a lot of action or drama in this work. Also typically, there are wonderful characters, and the point of the story is the interaction between them. This is a very philosophical yet touching work. I am looking forward to seeing where this story goes in subsequent volumes!

Mosscap and Dex are like two old friends at this point. The way Becky draws you into a story is mesmerizing. The words simply let you be, and that is such a gift.