4h runtime; narrated by Emmett Grosland
English language
Published July 13, 2021 by Macmillan Audio.
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They're going to need to ask it a lot.
Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
Krasna knizecka. Poklidna. Zahreje. Mistama lehce smutna, celkove obrovsky pozitivni.
Cteno po poutnicke serii a komu se libila, bude urcite i tato, kulisy o hodne komornejsi.
On a world- or more accurately, a moon - called Panga, humanity managed to approximate an utopia. In it a young tea monk called Dex travels from city to town and back again to serve tea for those who need it.
Which, in my opinion everybody always needs. Every day.
Back to Dex, who serves a vital role in their society. After a while, they grow restless themselves and stray from the beaten path to find an answer for their restlessness. It doesn’t take long before Dex comes across Splendid Speckled Mosscap, or Mosscap, as people like to shorten names. Mosscap is a descendant of the robots that retreated into the wilderness several hundreds of years ago, after they became sentient. Since then robots and humans lived separately without any form of communication, which makes the encounter between Dex and Mosscap a novelty. Together they embark on the road less …
On a world- or more accurately, a moon - called Panga, humanity managed to approximate an utopia. In it a young tea monk called Dex travels from city to town and back again to serve tea for those who need it.
Which, in my opinion everybody always needs. Every day.
Back to Dex, who serves a vital role in their society. After a while, they grow restless themselves and stray from the beaten path to find an answer for their restlessness. It doesn’t take long before Dex comes across Splendid Speckled Mosscap, or Mosscap, as people like to shorten names. Mosscap is a descendant of the robots that retreated into the wilderness several hundreds of years ago, after they became sentient. Since then robots and humans lived separately without any form of communication, which makes the encounter between Dex and Mosscap a novelty. Together they embark on the road less travelled, the wilderness, to find an answer for Dex.
The book tackles the question of feeling empty in a world of abundance – an abundance which is both material and immaterial. How can someone feel empty and without purpose in such a world and how does one overcome such an existential crisis? In short, as Mosscap states, “what do people need?”. Specifically, what do people need when every need is provided for?
It is a nice and short read with steady world-building, never over- or under-explaining anything, and leaves ample room for the conversation between Dex and Mosscap as they learn from each other.
"It must have been such a relief to be free of predators and eat whatever the hell you wanted. But that was the exact opposite of what the ecosystem needed."
A comfy story of a utopia in which humanity awakened sentient robots and then made some nice decisions. Sad because there's no way we'd make those decisions.
I'd seen some quotes which resonated with me without realising that they came from this book. Bittersweet -it was delightful to discover them, but I felt like I'd cheated myself of the story a bit.
I find it soothing in the modern world to remind ourselves we are just animals. You are allowed to just live. I think if you can suspend cynicism you'll enjoy this glimpse at a possible future. It weaves themes of meaning and awe at the universe in an elegant way.
I'm reminded of an observation by Dawkins in …
"It must have been such a relief to be free of predators and eat whatever the hell you wanted. But that was the exact opposite of what the ecosystem needed."
A comfy story of a utopia in which humanity awakened sentient robots and then made some nice decisions. Sad because there's no way we'd make those decisions.
I'd seen some quotes which resonated with me without realising that they came from this book. Bittersweet -it was delightful to discover them, but I felt like I'd cheated myself of the story a bit.
I find it soothing in the modern world to remind ourselves we are just animals. You are allowed to just live. I think if you can suspend cynicism you'll enjoy this glimpse at a possible future. It weaves themes of meaning and awe at the universe in an elegant way.
I'm reminded of an observation by Dawkins in Unweaving the Rainbow: "It is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here."
And maybe that's enough.
This is exactly what I needed to read at this point in my life. It's so beautiful, and I cried my way through the entire second half. Perhaps it isn't anything groundbreaking, but it has the same "vibes" as a Studio Ghibli film or the video game, Celeste. It's no wonder that this book is so loved.
Felt more like a fable than anything. Almost like I was reading a fairy tale written for an alternative future.
Thoroughly delightful respite from gloomy books I've been reading lately.
I've enjoyed Becky Chambers' work for years, and I feel she distilled it to perfection in this novella. Length-wise it is just enough to paint a picture of a beautiful solarpunk world, and to give us characterization of Dex, the main protagonist. There is nothing superfluous to it, and there is no rush either; the pace is contemplative and purposeful.
I loved the world building; the slow paced, hopeful world of Panga feels like a perfect place for me. On the other hand, it is a clever backdrop for Dex's angst and struggle to find their own purpose in life. Chambers pulls off a great feat with portrayal of Dex; they feel rich, complex and fully realized human being. Clever too is the contrast of the titular robot to Dex's monk, and the cute, often philosophical exchanges between them.
I …
Thoroughly delightful respite from gloomy books I've been reading lately.
I've enjoyed Becky Chambers' work for years, and I feel she distilled it to perfection in this novella. Length-wise it is just enough to paint a picture of a beautiful solarpunk world, and to give us characterization of Dex, the main protagonist. There is nothing superfluous to it, and there is no rush either; the pace is contemplative and purposeful.
I loved the world building; the slow paced, hopeful world of Panga feels like a perfect place for me. On the other hand, it is a clever backdrop for Dex's angst and struggle to find their own purpose in life. Chambers pulls off a great feat with portrayal of Dex; they feel rich, complex and fully realized human being. Clever too is the contrast of the titular robot to Dex's monk, and the cute, often philosophical exchanges between them.
I also liked the book's ending. It might leave things seemingly unresolved, but the story climax presents convincing argument for the value of self discovery over finding the (unattainable) solutions. In its philosophy, its character and world building, and its beauty, this story felt true to me, and that's my favorite thing.
cutie comforting
Becky Chambers makes me cry again, this time in a hope punk novella about existence and purpose. Long ago, humanity's Factory Age ended when robots suddenly gained consciousness and decided to leave. Humanity respected their agency and choice, allowing them to leave into the wilderness and legend while restructuring human civilization into a sustainable, solarpunk society.
Sibling Dex is a tea monk, going from town to town offering people their ear, their counsel and the perfect cup of tea to soothe their worries. But Dex themself feels an emptiness and pain; they feel guilty for not being happy in a life which - on the face of it - gives them everything it should. This inner conflict they keep from those they help really resonated with me from the very start.
Hoping to find an answer in anything but their routine, Dex goes off track into the wilderness. There, they …
Becky Chambers makes me cry again, this time in a hope punk novella about existence and purpose. Long ago, humanity's Factory Age ended when robots suddenly gained consciousness and decided to leave. Humanity respected their agency and choice, allowing them to leave into the wilderness and legend while restructuring human civilization into a sustainable, solarpunk society.
Sibling Dex is a tea monk, going from town to town offering people their ear, their counsel and the perfect cup of tea to soothe their worries. But Dex themself feels an emptiness and pain; they feel guilty for not being happy in a life which - on the face of it - gives them everything it should. This inner conflict they keep from those they help really resonated with me from the very start.
Hoping to find an answer in anything but their routine, Dex goes off track into the wilderness. There, they bump into the first robot to meet a human in centuries, Mosscap. Through its wide-eyed excitement at learning about humanity again, seeks an answer to a query the robots have about humans: what do people need? In such a short space, Chambers beautifully cuts through to our inner conflict and need for purpose and how to simply find joy in simply existing.
Really delightful book. Great world building, an interesting premise, and a lovely non-binary protagonist. Basically zero tension and violence, so if that's your thing you're likely to be bored. But the character development and world building are totally worth it for me.
Even in a nice and beautiful world you still have to grapple with the fact that you live a life.
Nothing happens in this book!
Don’t let my 2 week reading time fool you. This is a short read. Really charming.
“You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”
I tend to read whatever the opposite of cozy science fiction is: angry and worried about the world, building tension from speculative extrapolations of what could go wrong. …
“You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”
I tend to read whatever the opposite of cozy science fiction is: angry and worried about the world, building tension from speculative extrapolations of what could go wrong. This, on the other hand, is science fiction that encourages you to just chill for a minute.I don’t know if I could read a lot of this, because I am angry and worried about the world, and reading other peoples’ words along the same lines is cathartic. But the message here — that you don’t need to justify yourself, that you can just be — is soothing, and was necessary for me. And it’s all done with wit and care. What a delightful novella.
Fun, quick read - it's a nice, hopeful take on a future after a breakdown in human/robot relations. Most of the book is world-building but that's kind of the point and the charm of the book.
As much as a love a sad girl book, there's a place in my heart which longs for warm, fuzzy feelings. This book handed me a warm cup of tea and gave me exactly that. I felt comforted and despite everything going on in my life, things are going to be okay.
Purchasable
Purchasable
Purchasable
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