A Prayer for the Crown-Shy: A Monk and Robot Book (Monk & Robot 2)

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i still really enjoyed this, and i still love the main characters with every ounce of my being, but it just didn't hit the same as book one did for me, sadly!

Also like Psalm, the book has a light, picaresque quality that makes it a swift, accessible read—though that accessibility should not be taken for simplicity because Prayer builds upon, and is still wrangling with, the same philosophical and existential ideas that gave Psalm such depth and resonance. These are the best parts of the book, and there are a few instances where the world and the characters align and say something profound about the human condition. They left their role working in the gardens of a monastery in Book 1, ‘A Psalm for the Wild Built’ and started a new vocation as a travelling Tea Monk. Frequently they don’t even get a proper goodbye, and it presumably happens offscreen between the chapters. There were no creeping branches catching their clothing, no fallen trees posing problems, no unlabeled forks that made them stop and stare with dread.

Sibling Dex, in his capacity as a renowned tea monk, would undoubtedly say that a key requirement of perfect tea is allowing it to steep; letting it soak in the water long enough to be powerful.

After A Psalm for the Wild-Built comes this tale of hope and acceptance in the second volume of the USA Today bestselling Monk and Robot series. By which I mean, this is a gentle, healing, beautiful book that also doesn’t shy away from the reality of sadness and lostness, or the general complexity of humans and human relations. The dedication for the first book states, “ For anybody who could use a break,” and for this book it reads, “ For anybody who doesn’t know where they’re going. However there was still plenty to enjoy while reading more about this world, so straight down the middle 3 stars from me.The first robot to reach out to humans since the Awakening wasn’t something to be kept secret or left a surprise, Dex felt. The first novel in the series, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, was released in 2021 and won the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novella. The hard climb to Hart’s Brow was more than a week behind them, but Dex’s body was still feeling it, and they had made no secret of this. Also yet another book I should have reviewed much closer to finishing, as my memory of it has grown a little thin.

Be pleased to find a story of community, care and compassion, in a different and imaginative context. The robot behaves like a kid, for almost everything for it is new, stopping at every second tree or anthill to observe it. Anyway, if I had to say something even remotely evaluative about the book, I’d say it suffers mildly—like a mouse’s squeak of mildly, that’s how mildly—from having a less well-defined journey than the first book.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.