Hsinju Chen's Reviews > A Psalm for the Wild-Built

This is so cute and it makes me so happy! Sibling Dex (29, agender, they/them) and Splendid Speckled Mosscap (agender, it/its) are the only travel duo I need, aka the burnt-out cleric and the impossibly inquisitive robot.

This novella reads like a prequel as we are introduced to the world Panga, a moon of planet Motan, as well as the human religion Sacred Six (Parent Gods: Bosh, God of the Cycle, Grylon, God of the Inanimate, Trikilli, God of the Threads; Child Gods: Samafar, Chal, Allalae). Chambers’ writing is very descriptive, and the world comes to life as Sibling Dex starts out as a garden monk, switches vocation to a tea monk, and decides to take a break altogether and embark on a journey to Hart’s Brow Mountain outside of human settlement.

Set after Transition, which was when people redivided the land use of the moon, the robots were given freedom to leave the humans, and since the signing of the Parting Promise, there were no contact between the two. Until Mosscap finds Dex in the middle of nowhere in their wagon.

Both Dex and Mosscap are incredibly relatable. Dex, a cleric who drinks, has sex, curses, and consumes meat, is trying to find the meaning of life, and Mosscap, a seven-foot-tall robot with a boxy head, wants to learn everything about humans, finding every tiny detail fascinating. The two started off as opposites, one dispassionate and the other passionate about life, and kept each other company during the trek in the wilderness while learning about their different world views. I adore Mosscap; it oozes curiosity and energy in every sentence, and I imagine it as a giant, perpetually wide-eyed metallic robot. I especially love that Mosscap signs, isn’t all logic, and loves the wonders in the world.

Chambers’ dedication line, “For anybody who could use a break,” ties to the story. A Psalm for the Wild-Built made me happy and satisfied, and even though there weren’t a lot of things going on, I am excited to see how the rest of the series go.

Both Chambers’ A Closed and Common Orbit, one of my favorite books I read in 2020, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built are focused on the interaction between human and robot/AI. I love seeing the conversations that brings us out of the human experience to see things from the outside; maybe the interest stems from me being an electrical engineer. This book is joyous and fun, without the intense sci-fi world building in the Wayfarer series. It is a short and light read that put a smile on my face, along with several chuckles along the way. This will be a go-to reread for me the next time I feel as unmotivated as Dex did.

content warnings: insects, blood, discussion of death

I received an e-ARC from Tordotcom via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.