★★★★★
A Psalm for the Wild Built is a lovingly crafted, low-stakes peek into a post calamity utopia.
Sibling Dex lives in a world set centuries after a robot rebellion where humankind has made peace with their environment and created a utopian garden world to live in. Gone are the ravages of environmental catastrophe and capitalism. The greatest problem facing Sibling Dex is their continual yearning for fulfillment, first sought as a Garden Monk, next as a traveling Tea Monk, then, finally, on a quest to hear the long-gone sounds of crickets chirping. When Dex meets wild-built robot Splendid Speckled Mosscap, the two become uneasy companions. Then the narrative shifts to the imagined conversations between a rambling, disaffected human and the first robot companion to be seen in hundreds of years.
The story is packed with Chambers’ typical charm and whimsy. Queerness abounds, starting with the nonbinary main character Sibling Dex. While it’s a shame that people chose to retain gender-based divisions and honorifics in their paradise, at least Chambers makes it clear that none are better than the other. The writing is pleasant, and the stakes are low. It’s not that the world is without sorrow. Far from it. The whole Tea Monk ethos is as much about friendly listening and counseling as tea. But the sorrows are more intimate and personal. No one seems to be worried about the spread of war or a deadly pandemic. And pieces of the world’s troubled past–including visits to a long-abandoned factory and mountain retreat–serve to remind the reader of how far the people of the world have come.
Chambers has offered a comforting read in A Psalm for the Wild Built, offering a hopeful peek at a promising future.