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

Product Information

Mosscap nodded. “I feel that way with anything I observe in the wilds. And I suppose that’s why I don’t understand the need for this—no offense, I hope.” In this second instalment of her Monk & Robot series, we follow Sibling Dex and Mosscap out of the wilderness and into villages and settlements along the road, as Mosscap fulfills it’s wish to meet humans and try to understand what they need. This question, which it thought simple, turns out to be much more nuanced than expected. This new turn in their travel also gives Sibling Dex a lot to ponder, as they aren’t quite sure about their own purpose at this stage of their journey. Mosscap’s questions, concerns and view points send their thoughts in unexpected directions and I must say that the characters’ inner process are just as interesting as the external events.

Exchanging Very much so. I feel—I connect simply by watching things move through the Cycle. I don’t need an object to facilitate that feeling.” Maybe,” Dex said with gentle honesty. “But I highly doubt many of them will feel that way, and anyway, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Discussion

But they don’t. Many species are “crown-shy”, meaning that they somehow know where their limits are and leave just a bit of space, a channel, between where their leaves end and the next tree’s leaves begin. So that the sun does reach the ground to give other denizens of the forest a chance to grow. Like A Psalm for the Wild-Built before it, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a meandering and gentle novella, exploring what it means to have purpose and be satisfied with yourself and your role in your community. It’s beautifully written and philosophically engaging. I love that the phenomenon of 'crown-shyness' inspired the title and is a central metaphor for the story: It’s impossible to review A Prayer for the Crown-Shy in a vacuum. The novella is too much in conversation with its predecessor, too much an immediate continuation of Wild Built’s story, that it would be a disservice to not look at them as parts of a whole.

Mosscap’s lenses shifted, and Dex could hear a small whir inside its head. “I’d never thought of it that way,” Mosscap said. It put its hands flat against its torso, falling silent and serious. B&N: One of the things I love most about the books is how Dex and Mosscap become such good friends. It shows us that we can find friendship and comfort in the most unexpected places. And sometimes those are the most deepest and meaningful relationships. And I love those. Do you have those? Was this in honor of anyone?

Recent Comments

Dex and Mosscap are no different, though Crown-Shy sees them thrust into somewhat unexpected notoriety as they begin their journey through Panga’s human territories. Neither is seeking to change the world, and in fact the world they live in doesn’t actually seem to require changing. What the Monk and Robot series explores through its solarpunk setting are the existential questions that arise even when all one’s basic needs are met. For Dex it is a struggle with purpose and direction, for Mosscap it is the much broader question of “What do humans need?” A question they find increasingly confounding as they are introduced to the human denizens of Panga. Wonderful! It's a rich chocolaty cup of hugs! These two travel Dex's world now and Mosscap, the robot, gets to see the world the robots left and ask the people what they need. If someone told me I would enjoy reading a book about two non-binary characters discussing various aspects of philosophy I would have laughed. I am not one to read a lot of philosophy and really enjoy it. But these two drew me in and I was captivated by the subjects and how it relates to life now.

This is what I love most about these books—how they give language to those of us who never learned in college or media or life how to deal with being lost, with feeling that you have wandered out of the right life, forgotten who you are and kept turning up in all the wrong places assuming different faces. The kind of lost you cannot help and cannot explain; there is only the feeling, deeper than words, that something is missing, something you hadn’t named yet, or perhaps you are simply not letting yourself know. This is the kind of lost some of us might go our whole lives trying to accommodate because it hurts too much to face it head-on, like pulling your own heart out by the roots. I wasn't enamored with the first book in this series, A Psalm for the Wild-Built but because it's about a sentient robot, I wanted to read this one as well. I suspect it was my mood that kept me from enjoying the first one because I liked this one a lot more.Dex thought. “You ever had a friend come visit from somewhere else? Somewhere far away, where they do everything different? You have to show them around, teach them what the food is, how the tech around your house works, what counts as good manners?” The only thing I found I didn't like is that it was too short. I felt they was just starting their travels and they were not finished. But it ended rather abruptly. Dex (a nonbinary monk) and Mosscap (a robot) are travelling together from village to village, Mosscap in the hope of finding what it is that humans need and Dex in the hope of finding themself.