4h runtime; narrated by Emmett Grosland
English language
Published July 12, 2022 by Macmillan Audio.
After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.
They hope to find the answers they seek while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.
i liked how the storytelling shifted and adapted with the story change that we have between the two groups. the discovery of the different human settlements and their societies is fascinating, thought-provoking and poetic all at once. i loved the ending, even if i had to read it multiple times to be sure. i will miss Dex and Mosscap. :(((
Content warning General spoilers
When I finished the first book I wondered why, being the two books so short, were they not just a single book. After finishing the second book I understand.
The second part of the Monk and Robot books is a completely different story. The apparition of Mosscap changes everything, and what was a book centered on Dex and their relationship with the world in Panga transforms into an exploration of the relationship between the monk and the robot.
Cozy as the first book, but slow in a good way. Just like the travelers in it, we have no rush to finish it. There's no big buildup to anything, and that amazes me. Like the first book, the author manages to create an engaging story without resorting to common narrative tools. It makes the book someone who's just sitting on your bedside table telling you "I'm here if you want to cuddle". The feel-good transcends the story and permeates into your everyday life, your imagination, and the things you think are possible.
The theme of purpose in this book made me shed a tear, even while on antidepressants. People telling me it's okay to just be me, I don't listen to them. But if a rusty robot says that to a monk and I'm just eavesdropping, you will be certain that I will heed the robot. And believe that it is ok to just be.
Probably even lower on dramatic tension than the first book, but that's just fine -- that's not what's needed here. Instead we have a gentle journey between various human settlements as the background to Dex and Mosscrops' developing relationship and their respective struggles with making sense of life.
The world described in these books is one that I would love to live in, more than that described in any other science fiction book. Forget cyberpunk, give me solarpunk for life! It's a great book to read before bed, as the book is like a warm hug, helping you settle down and relax before going to sleep.
An enjoyable and thoughtful read about the continuing journeys of a tea monk and a robot who wants to know what humans need. Plot-wise, there isn't much; but in terms of musing over the condition of humans, nature and one robot, there is plenty.
Both the monk and the robot have returned to human civilization, with the robot eager to visit and discover more about the human area and various human communities (with one exception) eager to learn more about the robot.
Through their interactions, the robot (and us readers) learn more about the human society that rose after the robots achieve sentience and left the factories, and about how they now live in a more ecological sustainable manner while maintaining some technology.
But would it be enough to answer the question the robot first asked about what humans need and how it can help them?
At first I was low-key disappointed: Mosscap's candid questions slightly annoyed me, and I was dreading the answer. The moment where the story would answer its central question: when all your basic needs are met, what else do you need?
In other stories about the meaning of life (or adjacent themes), I could always relate to the part with the questions, and end up disappointed by the answer that the characters find, because the answer specifically works for them, and not for me. It's probably impossible to answer this kind of question in a way that will satisfy every reader, so why even try in the first place?
And... well, I like the direction that the book took, especially in its last chapter. It made me think of How to do nothing, except that Jenny Odell explains you what Becky Chambers makes you experience.
Also, I just …
At first I was low-key disappointed: Mosscap's candid questions slightly annoyed me, and I was dreading the answer. The moment where the story would answer its central question: when all your basic needs are met, what else do you need?
In other stories about the meaning of life (or adjacent themes), I could always relate to the part with the questions, and end up disappointed by the answer that the characters find, because the answer specifically works for them, and not for me. It's probably impossible to answer this kind of question in a way that will satisfy every reader, so why even try in the first place?
And... well, I like the direction that the book took, especially in its last chapter. It made me think of How to do nothing, except that Jenny Odell explains you what Becky Chambers makes you experience.
Also, I just read it at home, with closed blinds due to the heat, while preparing for the heat wave that will occur during the next two days and reading about fires, drought and our general inability to address climate change fast enough. Even though the utopian aspects of the book's world didn't always work for me, it made me emotional to read a story when things actually improved and the world turned out fine.
What do you need? Well, today specifically, I needed a story like that.
