A Psalm for the Wild-Built

I think fiction like this will probably become more important in the coming years, but I also think we have no idea what stories we should be telling about AI. These days, I'm much more interested in what artists and writers have to say about AI than what engineers have to say about it. This book eventually arrives at a discussion that feels like a debate between religion and secularism: a robot that insists that it contains multitudes in conversation with a human who insists that they are in search of their one "purpose." The human character feels, at times, flatter and more cliche than the robot, but I wonder if my reading of these characters is too shaped by my own resistance to the idea that one needs a single purpose in life.

A Psalm for the Wild Built is the absolute best that solarpunk literature can offer.

Chambers dedicated the book to "...anybody who could use a break". If you need a peaceful read, this book is for you. It was exactly what I needed, giving my mind a break for the first time in a long while.

Tässäpä hämmentävä kirja. En tiedä tapahtuiko tässä paljoa mitään, ja samaan aikaa siinä tapahtui vaikka mitä, rivien välissä. Asioita kuvailtiin niin viehkeästi ja osuvasti, että useassa kohtaa tuli sellainen "wow, just tämmöseltä se tuntuu" -olo. Nyt odotan kovasti jatko-osaa saapumista luettavaksi!

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.

An uplifting read, reminiscent of the alchemist. Filled to the brim with solarpunk optimism. You'll enjoy reading this one.

as per title. more stories without the usual american conflicts and cartoony villains. more utopias and less dystopias. more writing that challenges our belief and makes us think, even if shortly, about the possibility of a different world. the relationship between the two characters is beautifully narrated.

sweet, beautiful, simple and short. this story came to me on the heels of a hard year, which itself was following a couple more hard years. sibling dex and mosscap were precisely the guides i needed to recenter at the end of this year and think about how to bring a little bit of tea monk energy into the next chapters of my life. i'll be rereading this one.

It's easy to find dystopian science fiction. It's harder to find science fiction that provides a positive image of the future. It's not a blueprint, but you get the sense of a robust society that has overcome its most self-destructive tendencies. Very on-brand (in a good way!) for the author; if you've enjoyed her other books you will enjoy this one as well.