Book Review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, tea monk Sibling Dex went into the wilderness on a journey of discovery, and was introduced to the robot Mosscap. (See my previous review.) This sequel volume picks up not too long after the conclusion of that one, as the unlikely pair comes out of the wild lands.
Mosscap has a question for the humans of this inhabited moon, “What do you need?” and now it’s time to meet humans other than Dex and ask them.
The story dips into a few incidents as Mosscap and Sibling Dex slowly make their way towards the City, stopping many times along the way. As before, this is a gentle, restful story. Perhaps the most “exciting” bit is when one of Mosscap’s parts break and the characters discuss robot and human attitudes towards prosthetics and mortality. There’s a lot of philosophy going on here.
Even though the humans of Dex’s world have agreed on having sustainable technology and lifestyles, there’s still room for differences of opinion on how to best achieve that, and we get a glimpse of the “even less technology” part of their society.
There’s less explanation of the technology and theology in this book, as it’s assumed you’ve read the previous one–skipping straight to this one is likely to leave the reader very confused.
With very little “action”, interpersonal relationships are key, and the crisis point here is a visit with Sibling Dex’s family, and Dex telling a lie, which concerns Mosscap greatly. This requires Mosscap and Dex to take a detour to talk it out.
“Crown-shy” is, as it turns out, a botanical term that may or may not have anything to do with the main characters or the society they’re moving through. The author may want us to just sit and think about that for a while.
I suspect there is a sequel in the works; certainly there is room prepared for it.
Content note: Sibling Dex has sex offscreen; it’s not clear that “extramarital” has any meaning in their culture. Dex is agender, and their birth sex, if any, is undiscussed. Some folks may find that unsettling. A bit of rough language.
This isn’t as ground-breaking as the first book in the series, and I don’t think a steady diet of “quiet” fiction would suit me, but it was a nice break in a restful world. Recommended for folks who need a vacation. (Come to think of it, since both volumes are short and easy reading, they would make excellent choices for vacation reading.)
