Lost in the Moment and Found: A Review

“It’s easy to go along with a system. It’s harder to create one.”

The first thing Antoinette “Antsy” Ricci ever lost was her father although she was so young it took a while to understand everything she lost along with him.

She lost her mother’s attention after her mother started dating a man named Tyler. She lost the safe, comfortable feeling of being at home when Tyler moved in. When her mom married Tyler she lost her last name. Then came her mother’s trust. And, worse, her own trust in her mother.

Antsy knows she doesn’t like Tyler and she knows–in a way she can’t explain–that something bad is going to happen if she stays in the same house as him.

So she runs.

She finds a door to a shop that looks cozy and safe and out of the rain with a sign that tells her to be sure. Well, Antsy is sure she doesn’t want to stay outside and that’s enough, isn’t it?

But, of course, it’s not an ordinary door and soon Antsy understands that her life isn’t ordinary anymore either.

The Shop of Lost Things is a wondrous place filled with rows upon rows of lost items. Socks and shoes, beloved toys, even pets. Everything that is lost makes its way to the shop. But not everything gets to go back home again. Not even girls like Antsy.

Working in the shop opens any number of magical doors to Antsy leading her to fantastical worlds and a sense that even if this isn’t the life she was meant to have, it could be a life she’ll make the most of.

But nothing comes free in any world–even if no one ever tells you the cost. As Antsy learns more about the price of the magical doors, she realizes that as hard as it is to leave, it might be impossible to stay in Lost in the Moment and Found (2023) by Seanan McGuire.

Find it on Bookshop.

Lost in the Moment and Found is the eighth installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Like most of the novellas in this series, Lost in the Moment and Found does function as standalone. Antsy first appears in Where the Drowned Girls Go (read my review) but this story is more about her backstory. As the content warning at the front of this book notes, Lost in the Moment and Found deals with grooming and adult gaslighting in the first part of the story but Antsy runs before anything happens to her.

The Shop of Lost Things offers a different take on the portal fantasy worlds featured in other volumes while also expanding the magic system behind the Doors themselves. Fans of the series will recognize several Easter Eggs throughout Antsy’s exploration of the shop as she discovers items belonging to other worlds like bone flutes and candy swords.

McGuire continues to expand the Wayward Children universe in fascinating ways as this series builds to what promises to be its next exciting adventure.

Lost in the Moment and Found is another excellent installment in a long-running series that asks readers to explore the world with wonder–so long as they’re sure.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Where the Drowned Girls Go: A Review

“Under enough pressure, the only good that counted was saving yourself.”

You might have heard of Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. But there’s another school for children who fall through doors into magical worlds and back out into a world that no longer feels like home.

The Whitethorn Institute isn’t as friendly as the Home for Wayward Children. It isn’t as safe.

But when you’ve already tried Eleanor’s way, where else is there to go?

After traveling through the Moors to help a classmate, Cora thought she could go back to the way things were while she waited for her door and her chance to go home. But the dark waters haven’t stopped whispering her name and Cora knows she needs to try something else if she wants to live long enough to get home.

Whitethorn isn’t a home. It might not even be enough to save her. Cora knows she is a hero. She knows the monsters chasing her are real. And she knows all too well that there are casualties when monsters and heroes meet in Where the Drowned Girls Go (2022) by Seanan McGuire.

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Where the Drowned Girls Go is the seventh installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series of novellas which begins with Every Heart a Doorway.

This series truly gets better with every installment. Although many of the books in this series can be read alone, Where the Drowned Girls Go builds on everything that came before. This installment in particular will make the most sense if the events from Come Tumbling Down and Across the Green Grass Fields are fresh in your mind.

Cora has always felt most at home in the water–even before she went through her door and became a mermaid–making her new fear of water all the more poignant as she tries to exorcise the nightmares and monsters biting at her heels after traveling through the Moors. McGuire paints a grim picture as Cora comes to the Whitethorn Institute in the hopes that it can save her. Despite leaning into the regimented schedule and strict rules, Cora–like many heroes before her–soon realizes she’ll have to save herself (with some help from familiar faces along the way).

Where the Drowned Girls Go continues to expand the dizzying and dazzling array of worlds in the Wayward Children series with an ending that promises more adventure to come for all of the characters who call Eleanor West’s school home–even if only for a little while.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

A Mirror Mended: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Five years ago Zinnia Gray dodged her unhappy ending when she stepped out of her own version of Sleeping Beauty and found a way to save a different dying girl. Now Aurora and Zinnia’s former best friend Charm are living their happily ever after. Not that Zinnia has seen much of it.

When one strategic spindle prick is all it takes to run away from her problems, Zinnia sees no reason to stick around. Not when her GRM (Generalized Roseville Malady) is still waiting to break her down if she stops hopping across fairy tales long enough to see any of her doctors.

Forty-nine happily ever afters later, Zinnia has the process down pat, complete with stepping out before the annoying happily ever after parties get too saccharine. When Zinnia tries to leave her latest princess to enjoy her latest HEA, Zinnia’s formulaic story-hopping goes very off script.

Instead of jumping into another version of Sleeping Beauty, Zinnia is pulled into a very different tale. And this time it isn’t a princess who needs saving.

An evil queen is asking for help, specifically Snow White’s Evil Queen. Zinnia is quick to agree that the queen is very, very trapped (and very, very hot) but Zinnia isn’t sure that means she should help her when, you know, she’s evil and all.

Every queen was once a princess. But as Zinnia and this queen land in a Grimm-dark horror version of Snow White, does that mean every queen–even an evil one–also deserves a happy ending? in A Mirror Mended (2022) by Alix E. Harrow.

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A Mirror Mended is Zinnia’s second jaunt through the fairytale multiverse introduced in A Spindle Splintered where she traveled through myriad versions of Sleeping Beauty. While Zinnia and the principle cast are white, this installment does feature characters of color in key roles. This expansion of the cast also gives the narrative space to explore the dangers of white savior narratives common to fairytales (especially when Zinnia is decidedly not needed) alongside commentary on the reciprocity of heroism and whether survival has to be a solitary pursuit. This series also features characters across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Zinnia is used to helping all kinds of princesses but even she is unsure how to handle the rescue of a canonical villain–especially one prepared to threaten captivity and bodily harm if Zinnia refuses. As Zinnia learns more about the Evil Queen and her own complicated relationship with her story, Harrow explores themes of agency and empowerment while also highlighting how the framing of a story can entirely change who becomes the protagonist (and the hero).

A Mirror Mended is a fast-paced fairytale adventure filled with Zinnia’s whip-smart observations, snarky banter, and lots of chemistry between Zinnia and the Evil Queen. A must read for fans of the series and a great entry point for anyone with a fondness for fractured (and mended) fairytales.

Possible Pairings: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, Ash by Malinda Lo, Gilded by Marissa Meyer, The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine, Nameless by Lili St. Crow, Into the Spider-Verse

You can also check out my exclusive interview with Alix.

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Comfort Me With Apples: A Review

Sophia was made for him. Her man. Her everything. She knows it in her bones every time she looks at him, every time she goes about her day making sure everything is perfect for him.

Because everything in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. He’s made sure of it–building steps and stools and adjustments so Sophia doesn’t feel dwarfed in their too-large house with their too-large things. And soon, she’ll have her own space; a basement he’s building out just for her.

Her husband is away quite a bit, leaving Sophia alone to get to know her neighbors, to keep up their home. But that’s just how marriage works, isn’t it? How can it be anything else when it’s all so perfect?

But perfection doesn’t mean that Sophia is without questions. It starts with the locked drawer and a strange hairbrush. It keeps going with a shard stuck in the knife block.

Everything is perfect. Surely the neighbors would tell her if they knew otherwise. Surely someone would say something. But there just isn’t any need when it’s all going so very well, right? in Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente.

Find it on Bookshop.

Comfort Me With Apples is a brief novella exploring suspense, horror, and retelling a story you might already know. To say more would be to give away the story’s biggest reveal.

Valente layers in a lot of interesting details from the chapter titles to the creepy excerpts from the Arcadia Gardens Homeowner’s Association agreement sprinkled throughout the story. Each layer expertly adds suspense and builds tension as Sophia–and the story–move toward one final revelation. While the payoff is satisfying, it is also clearly the entire point of this novella leaving little room for what came before or what might follow. Readers wanting more will be served well by Valente’s extensive (and often longer form) backlist of titles as well as The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey–a full length novel that explores similar themes in a more sci-fi setting.

At just over a hundred pages, Comfort With Apples is a quick, atmospheric jaunt perfect to read before bed–preferably with a glass of apple cider and all of the lights on.

Possible Pairings: Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders, And Again by Jessica Chiarella, The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey, Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link, Foe by Iain Reid, Among Others by Jo Walton

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

All Systems Red: A Review

In the Corporate Rim everything has a price. Even scientific research requires Company-mandated safety measures including hired SecUnits. As human-android hybrids, SecUnits are human enough to make you uncomfortable if you see them without their armor. They’re also robotic enough to kill anything that threatens their clients. Who needs strategy when you can brute force your way out of any situation?

SecUnits are very, very dangerous to anyone who is not a client or the Company. But not to worry, every unit is equipped with a governor module to make sure they stay in check. No chance of mishaps when every SecUnit’s governor module is set to fry their processors if they step out of line. It’s the Company so obviously all tech, equipment, and security measures are well-maintained.

Yeah, you’re right.

Everything the Company hires out is junk.

Most SecUnits haven’t been properly updated in years. Armor is out of date. And, with the proper motivation, even one chance to hack a governor module can be enough.

Murderbot could have become a mass murderer after it hacked its governor module, but then it realized it could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. That was about 35,000 hours ago and there has been surprisingly little murdering since. Which is fine by Murderbot as phoning in its job leaves even more time for media.

All of that changes when Murderbot’s latest mission brings it into contact with scientists from a planet outside the Corporate Rim’s influence. When a nearby mission goes wrong, the scientists want to help no matter how often Murderbot tells them it’s a bad idea. Stranger still, the more they learn about Murderbot the more they want to help it–whatever that means in All Systems Red (2017) by Martha Wells.

Find it on Bookshop.

All Systems Red is the first novella in Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series. The series is narrated by Murderbot. If you enjoy audiobooks be sure to check out the audio version narrated aptly by Kevin R. Free.

For a series centering a self-named Murderbot, All Systems Red is pleasantly free of violence. Instead this character-driven novella focuses on Murderbot’s enlightment as it realizes that there could be more to life than media and avoiding humans. High action chases and battles contrast well with Murderbot’s reluctant introspection and growing investment in keeping its clients alive.

All Systems Red is the rare story that is a perfect combination of humor, action, and classic sci-fi worldbuilding. Murderbot may not start as the hero anyone would want, but this rogue SecUnit is definitely the protagonist we all deserve. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: A Psalm For the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, Last Day by Ruta Domenica, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz, Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

A Spindle Splintered: A Review

“Sleeping Beauty is pretty much the worst fairy tale, any way you slice it. It’s aimless and amoral and chauvinist as shit. It’s the fairy tale that feminist scholars cite when they want to talk about women’s passivity in historical narratives. Even among the other nerds who majored in folklore, Sleeping Beauty is nobody’s favorite. Romantic girls like Beauty and the Beast; vanilla girls like Cinderella; goth girls like Snow White. Only dying girls like Sleeping Beauty.”

Zinnia Gray has always known Sleeping Beauty has its problems, even before she read about the medieval version Zelladine (don’t Google that one, you don’t want to know). She also knows that Sleeping Beauty is the one story where a girl like her manages to turn things around and get a happy ending. Of course Zinnia loves Sleeping Beauty.

After years of moving fast and trying to pretend her clock isn’t running out thanks to the rare Generalized Roseville Malady that causes protein to build up in all the places it shouldn’t be in her organs, Zinnia knows she’s almost out of time. She rushed through high school, a degree in folklore at the local college, and she tried to rush away from her parents’ stifling efforts to save her.

Now Zinnia is here at her twenty-first birthday. She knows no one else with GRM has lived to see twenty-two. She knows true love’s kiss isn’t going to save her because she never gave herself permission to fall in love. That doesn’t stop her best friend Charmaine “Charm” Baldwin from loving Zinnia fiercely and giving her the exact kind of Sleeping Beauty themed birthday party she’d want for her last one.

The party is about what you’d expect: Whimsical and ironic until it turns maudlin and sad. Until things go sideways when Zinnia pricks herself on a spindle (she has to try it, okay?) and finds herself in another version of Sleeping Beauty with another dying girl trying to dodge her supposed happy ending–one that Zinnia might actually be able to save–in A Spindle Splintered (2021) by Alix E. Harrow.

Find it on Bookshop.

A Spindle Splintered is a novella inspired by Harrow’s desire to “spiderverse” a fairytale and the start of a new series. The story includes silhouette illustrations by Arthur Rackham that, as the copyright page notes, “were unavoidably harmed, fractures, and splintered during the design process.” These illustrations add an eerie note to the physical book while hinting at the darker origins behind many fairy tales that have become sanitized over time.

Zinnia’s narration is sharp-witted and often bitter–fitting for a character who knows she’s almost out of time–while her unshakeable friendship with Charm provides a grounding force throughout the fast-paced story. On the other side of the portal (or whatever it is that transports her, Zinnia was never big on science) she meets another dying girl. Primrose is the epitome of a fairy tale princess. Except that after she’s saved from her own hundred year sleep, she has no desire to marry her rescuer, Prince Harold, or any other man for that matter.

Part portal fantasy, part retelling, A Spindle Splintered offers a new interpretation of Sleeping Beauty both for Zinnia and the girl she meets after that fateful spindle prick. Recommended for readers looking for a no-nonsense protagonists and a decidedly modern take on a classic fairy tale.

Possible Pairings: Sleepless by Cyn Balog, Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust, Stain by A. G. Howard, Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay, Ash by Malinda Lo, Gilded by Marissa Meyer, A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan, Into the Spider-Verse

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Across the Green Grass Fields: A Review

Regan was seven years old when she learned that the most dangerous thing a girl can be is different. It’s the reason her former best friend, Heather, is a social pariah on the playground. It’s the reason Regan knows to stay on her other best friend Laurel’s good side even if it means keeping herself in a very specific box.

As Regan gets older it becomes more and more obvious that she won’t fit inside that box for much longer. Her love of horses is only barely acceptable to other girls as their interests start to shift to boys. While all of the other girls seem to be maturing, Regan wants everything to stay the same. When her parents tell Regan that she is intersex a lot of things start to make sense. Her friendship with Laurel is not one of those things as she rejects Regan in the cruelest way possible.

Distraught and desperate to get away, Regan runs to the woods and keeps running until she passes through a magical door into the Hooflands. In a world populated by centaurs and other horse-like creatures, every human is unique and no one thinks Regan is too different. Instead, for the first time, Regan feels at home.

But a human in the Hooflands only means one thing. The land needs a hero. Whether Regan is ready to be one or not in Across the Green Grass Fields (2021) by Seanan McGuire.

Find it on Bookshop.

Across the Green Grass Fields is the sixth installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series of novellas which begins with Every Heart a Doorway.

While Regan’s story is similar in tone and style to the other novellas in this series, her story is largely divorced from the rest of the series and functions entirely as a standalone. Regan and the Hooflands are odes to Horse Girls everywhere. Although Regan’s first encounters in the Hooflands are with the centaurs who accept her as part of their herd and the unicorns they tend, the Hooflands have many more horse-adjacent creatures including kelpies, perytons, and kirins like the current Hooflands queen Kagami.

Despite her awe and immediate love for the Hooflands, Regan knows she isn’t truly safe or home. Her centaur friends are quick to warn her that humans only come to the Hooflands when there is a great need bringing about changes that, while mythic in nature, are poorly documented beyond the fact that most humans are never seen again after embaring on their life-changing quest.

Regan’s story walks a fine line between menace and enchantment as readers come to love the Hooflands and her friends as much as Regan does. Even while waiting for the foreshadowed dangers to arrive.  Across the Green Grass Fields is a razor sharp commentary on the dangers of embracing the status quo and a perfect entry point for this long running series which promises more adventures to come.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

Come Tumbling Down: A Review

“The Moors turned us both into monsters. But it did a better job with me.”

Identical twins Jack and Jill found dangers and horrors when they stepped through their magical door into the Moors. They also found themselves for the first time. But in a world where everyone is a villain of some sort, hard choices have to be made–choices that have consequences for both sisters.

Jack left Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children carrying her sister’s body. Jack had to kill Jill before she could murder anyone else in her mad quest to get back to the Moors and her dark master. But death isn’t always permanent in the Moors. Even when it should be.

When Jack herself is carried back to the school in a storm of lightning and chaos, she’ll need to turn to old friends and some new enemies for help to clean up Jill’s latest mess.

In a world where science comes close to magic and monsters can sometimes be heroes, balance must be maintained. And there’s always a cost in Come Tumbling Down (2020) by Seanan McGuire.

Find it on Bookshop.

Come Tumbling Down is the fifth installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series. While most of the novellas in this series function as standalones, Come Tumbling Down is a direct continuation of the plot that begins in Every Heart a Doorway and continues in Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Beneath the Sugar Sky so be sure to read those first.

McGuire introduces readers to a wide variety of alternate worlds in this series. The Moors is, arguably, the worst–a high logic world with clear nods to Dracula and Frankenstein where monsters lurk in every shadow and even the heroes sometimes have to be villains. That might make the world sound like a thin pastiche but McGuire applies her considerable talents to build a world that is nuanced and filled with moral ambiguity.

The interplay between hero and villain–and what it means to be a monster–plays out in Come Tumbling Down as readers begin to understand the choices that led Jack and Jill down their divergent paths. Familiar characters from Eleanor West’s school also play significant roles as they all do their best to try and help Jack and the Moors.

Come Tumbling Down is a grim page turner where actions have consequences and love can heal as easily as it can sour. This installment showcases all of the things McGuire does best in this series as she digs into the world of the Moors with a sharp focus on main character Jack and antagonist Jill. A must-read for fans of the series.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories: A Review

Once upon a time there was a boy with a wicked tongue. Dressed in rags, raised on cat’s milk, he soon discovered that the best way to be seen was to be unkind. Later you might get to know him as a cruel prince and a wicked king. But before that he was a boy trying to make his way in a world that could have destroyed him if he hadn’t come to rule it in How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (2020) by Holly Black, illustrated by Rovina Cai.

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How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is a companion novella to Black’s Folk of the Air trilogy which includes The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing. The novella is largely focused on Cardan’s childhood but a framing story is set after the events of the trilogy so be sure to read all of them first to avoid spoilers.

This novella is really for the fans of the series. What a delight to return to the world of faerie and get another glimpse of my favorite monstrous girl (Jude) and my favorite wicked boy (Cardan). Black balances showcasing what comes after the original series in the framing story with flashbacks to Cardan’s upbringing as a neglected-if-spoiled youth in the royal court.

Questions of inevitability and change play out both for young Cardan and throughout the novella as Cardan encounters the same fairytale multiple times–each with subtle changes. This conceit brings the entire novella together with a dynamic finale while also nodding to the power of story–an element which imbues every book in this series.

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is illustrated throughout with lavish full color artwork that brings Cardan and his world to live. Cai does a beautiful job giving life to these characters who already have so much personality in prose. A lovely return to a world that hints at even more stories to discover.

Possible Pairings: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen, Legendary by Stephanie Garber, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, Winterspell by Claire Legrand, The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf, Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff, Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel

A Psalm for the Wild-Built: A Review

“The human body can adapt to almost anything, but it is deceptively selective about the way it does so.”

Sibling Dex begins to dream of hearing crickets in the wild. Sibling Dex is very good at what they do as a monk in Panga’s city-located monastery. But have they become complacent?

Thinking the answer might be yes, Dex decides to become a tea monk. There’s nothing arcane about it but there is still a learning curve as Dex figures out how to listen to peoples’ problems and offer them a perfectly brewed cup of tea. With a self-sustaining wagon and increasing experience, Dex has everything they need.

But it turns out crickets are extinct in most of Panga.

After years of traveling the same route between Panga’s outermost villages, Dex decides their last chance to hear those crickets is to travel even farther out. Into the wild.

Then Dex meets Splendid Speckled Mosscap in the middle of the forest. Mosscap is one of the many robots on Panga who, after gaining self-awareness a century ago, chose to abandon the city and travel into the wild.

Now, the robots feel it’s time to check in on the humans and see what they need. And Mosscap has decided that Dex is the perfect person to help it figure that out. But as Dex struggles to figure out what they want for themself, the monk doubts that they can help a robot answer such a large question for all of Panga. Maybe there will at least be some crickets along the way in A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021) by Becky Chambers.

Find it on Bookshop.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the first novella in Chambers’ new solarpunk series, Monk & Robot.

Chambers turns her considerable world building talents to imagine a bright future for humanity where society is harmonious, sustainable, and sees robots as little more than the stuff of legend until Mosscap comes along.

The gentle, character-driven narrative gives readers ample time to get to know Dex and understand the nuances of their work as a tea monk (as well as Dex’s restlessness) as Dex travels alone and, later, when Dex and Mosscap begin to talk. Philosophical questions of how robots and humans can (or should) interact as well as discussions of where passions can fit into this future pepper the story as Dex and Mosscap begin to understand what they can accomplish together.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the bright start to a series that promises to be as thought-provoking as it is cozy. Recommended for readers looking for science fiction with a little more tenderness and a lot of tea.

Possible Pairings: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, Last Day by Ruta Domenica, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz, Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, All Systems Red by Martha Wells

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*