A review by moonytoast
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Monk and Robot is cozy, philosophical science fiction series that has quickly become a favorite of mine. Imagine engaging with questions about the nature of consciousness, humanity, and human needs… but with the company of a tea monk going through a crisis of purpose and an overexcitable robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap. 

Mosscap gave Dex a reproachful look. "All parasites have value, Sibling Dex. Not to their hosts, perhaps, but you could say the same about a predator and a prey animal. They all give back—not to the individual but to the ecosystem at large. Wasps are tremendously important pollinators. Birds and fish eat bloodsucks."

The world Chambers creates is one I would actually kill to live inside. Everything about this story—the prose, the themes, the characters—feels like a warm hug and a soft, earnest assurance that you can exist and be uncertain about the answer to big existential questions or even questions about yourself.