March is a time of change, a transitional period from the heavy gray of winter into the bright cheer of spring. Monk and Robot is a novella duology all about these same ideas. Set in a world where AI and robots have gained sentience and left society for independence in the wilderness we follow Sibling Dex who in their own quest for independence becomes a tea monk, a sort of therapist who leaves to travel the cities helping where they can. On their journey they encounter a robot, not seen for years who introduces themself as Mosscap and comes bearing one simple question for humanity. “What do people need?”
Monk and Robot is something you could call post-apocalyptic but at the same time it’s something more akin to a cozy fantasy, a ‘Hopepunk’ novel to use a newer term coined in the last decade. It’s the type of story Becky Chambers excels at, no major urgent world ending plot, just a fascinating world and interesting multi-layered characters who live in it. Becky Chamber’s stories revolve more around personal conflict and the inner turmoil or characters, hitting you with relatable individual level motivations and character studies instead of grand narratives and Monk and Robot continues that trend with personal and societal themes like identity, sentience, human behavior and cultural exchange. It’s about societal shifts and finding your place in the world during them.
You may have read previous works by Becky Chamber, the Wayfarer series and her debut The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet are on numerous recommendation lists and for good reason. But full discretion and warning as I said above this is not a space opera, this is not a grand adventure. This is a story about two people finding their ways together and what that means. It is a grounded character study set in a larger than life world but it is still at its core almost a slice of life and that might not be for everyone. Other series I’d compare it to in terms of vibes may be the Japanese manga and anime series Girls’ Last Tour and Mushishi. Both also being low to the ground personal stories of a small main cast and their transformation journeys that ask existential questions and leave you walking away not necessarily feeling good, but more so feeling fulfilled and with lots to chew on.
“I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on it’s way out” -Becky Chambers, A Psalm For The Wild-Built(Monk and Robot Book 1)
Originally released as two hardcover novellas, the series has recently been re-released as a complete paperback omnibus. I’ve heard some people say the first novella is the stronger of the two and while I’d agree I definitely still think the second is worth reading and since you can now get them two in one I don’t think there’s any reason not to. If it does sound interesting to you either because you know you enjoy those types of novels or just because you want to try something new we’ll have copies of the omnibus in-store on the shelf for sale. If we sell out or if you’d rather get the hardcover individual novellas we can also order those in and we’ll honor the 20% Book of the Month deal whenever they arrive, even if they arrive late and past March. Just so long as the order was placed in March.
