A Prayer for the Crown-Shy mostly lives up to the hype, and you should definitely check it out if you’re already read the first book in the Monk and Robot series.

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Also on a purely personal note—because I am obsessed with robots—I was kind of hoping to meet more robots, or at least learn a little more about them … but ultimately, like all books about robots, these are books about people, and it wouldn’t ultimately make sense for the narrative and emotional arcs of the story to introduce more robots to us. Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author. A joyful experience and, as with all of Chambers’s books, I was left with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. This book is the type of reading experience I'd recommend to anyone having a hard time, which might be a lot of people at this point. Of course I don’t have to,” Mosscap scoffed, clearly finding Dex’s reluctance on this front ridiculous.

Chambers succeeds in building a warm, welcoming world for our characters, where Mosscap’s guiding question of “What do humans need? Instead, there was cream-colored paving, smooth as butter and just as warm, lined with signs people made to let other people know which way to go if they wanted to rest and eat and not be alone. I really loved the first book in the duology, but A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a favorite in a whole different way. I think it's worse in A Prayer for the Crown-Shy than it was in the first book because this one is much more people-y, with more time spent in Chambers's ecotopia civilization than in the adjacent wild places. This book picks up pretty much where the first one left off, with Dex and Mosscap heading to civilization.For example, in this novella everyone is caring, there are no free riders, no people with mental abnormalities (incl. However there was still plenty to enjoy while reading more about this world, so straight down the middle 3 stars from me. Whereas with A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Dex was the student and Mosscap was the teacher, those roles get reversed here as Dex introduces Mosscap to elements of human culture.

I suppose this is just another way of saying that A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a companion book about two companions, and it has an alternate tone.Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. Chambers does her magic, of putting her gentle touch right on a raw spot and making it feel better, but I don’t need to know the mechanics, I just enjoy the process.

I think you’ll bring a lot of perspective to the people we meet, even if all they do is see you walk by. I can’t explain but the exploration of the relationships in this beautiful book just help me to know it’s ok to slow down and look listen and feel.If someone told me I would enjoy reading a book about two non-binary characters discussing various aspects of philosophy I would have laughed. Secondly, I only publish reviews of books in the subgenre where I’m best known (queer romcom) if they’re glowing. Written with all of Chambers' characteristic nuance and careful thought, this is a cozy, wholesome meditation on the nature of consciousness and its place in the natural world.