Author: Becky Chambers
Genre: Sci-fi of a gentle bent? Solarpunk, Science Fiction Fantasy
Series: yes, a duology
Brief Summary (copied from Wikipedia):
Review: Sibling Dex wants to hear the crickets. Such a bizarre statement, but it's the oddball desire that sets off the tale. But really, the crickets are a stand in for that Dex is wanting a change to his life. The society that he's in, while not perfect, is actively pursuing a better enviroment after the Uprising of the Robots and the end of the industrial era. And for the first third of the novel, we see him leaving the sort of hermitage that he was residing with other monks and pursue being a tea monk, where he essentially offers a listening ear and a special blend for his customers. But even this isn't enough to settle the longing that he has, that he attributes to wanting to hear crickets out in the wild. So he ventures off the path metaphorically and actually.On a moon called Panga where AI and robots are a distant myth, Dex is an adventurous and friendly tea monk who travels the human-populated areas of their moon meeting villagers and townsfolk. Dex custom-blends tea fit to the folks' needs and personalities, and they confide their misgivings to the monk. One day Dex, seeking a change in their routine, travels into the wild and meets a robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap and they are thrown into a road-trip with a question on their minds: "What do people need?"
Now, the uprising of the robots? Kind of a myth at the time period the novel takes place in. Essentially, the robots with AI developed an actual consciousness. But instead of conquering the humans or anything of that sort, they choose to leave and never mix with the humans. They say in so many words, 'don't call us, we'll call you' But this was easily a few centuries before and no one in living history has seen a robot.
So imagine our dear friend's reaction to meeting one in the metallic flesh while setting up camp one night. What follows is a mix of odd friends' road trip meets a philosophical discussion, as the robot, Speckled Mosscap, has a very simple question: "What do humans want?" The problem being? Not only does Dex not know what humans as a whole could want, he's not even sure what he wants beyond the crickets.
Honestly, I read this because I saw it talked about quite a bit on social media as being a sort of 'icon' of the newly termed cozy fantasy. Being someone who likes the aesthetics of Solarpunk, I was intrigued by the setting. And I'm not sure how I would rate this. I probably say in the 3-4 star range. I did really love the descriptions, there were a lot of fun moments with Dex and Mosscap. It really is an odd friendship and if that's a trope you enjoy, I suggest reading it just for that.
However, it is definitely a slower-paced book, with a lot of focus on a particular philosophical bent. Not bad, not bad at all, I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't love it, and I think it was because of the slower plot and more introspective bent. I'll read the sequel "a Prayer for the Crown Shy" at some point because I'm very curious how Mosscap will react to human communities and they to him, but I'm not running out and buying it now.
Trigger Warnings: Not really any. Some vague adult topics are mentioned but not explored, and a bit of nudity is talked about but in a "walked in on someone changing" variety not "rose petals and silk sheets" variety. It's not counted as a young adult, but it's safe for someone who is at that reading level. Also, some definitely cursing.
