A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Taylor Drew reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Somewhat underwhelmed

3 stars

I really loved A Psalm for the Wind-Built and signed out A Prayer for the Crown-Shy immediately after finishing it (a rarity for me). However, I found this follow-up to be a bit underwhelming. I didn't see the same type of development of Dex and Mosscap that I so loved in the first book—everything just kind of coasted along without tension. I realize these books are meant to be comfortable and cozy, but I just couldn't enjoy this as much as the first book. Perhaps it was the way the two of them jumped from settlement to settlement that made it hard to connect with the story in a way that it wasn't for the first book. I'm not really sure. It wasn't bad, just not a book I could really be excited about.

bigethan@sfba.club reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Soothing, but I'm losing interest

3 stars

Similar to the first book, things happen without much tension. Which is a fascinating feeling! But this book doesn't push as hard on the introspection side -- or maybe I missed it? Felt much less quirky and unexpected compared to the first.

projectgus@bookwyrm.social reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Lovey short series

5 stars

Continues where the first one left off

Flauschbuch reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

The road trip continues

4 stars

I started this right after I finished the first one. It deals with Mosscap's tour of Panga to learn what humans need. It gets a lot of different answers. We get to experience the different areas of the world and the different ways people choose to live there in a sustainable fashion. No spoilers but Mosscap is presented with an ineresting philosophical question and it turns out Dex still hasn't really found what they're looking for. The ending is quite open and I'm looking forward to find out where the two are heading next.

Jonathan Zacsh reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

A must-read if you read the first book. Really good.

5 stars

A must-read if you read the first book. Really good.

Catship reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot, #2)

💚

5 stars

This is the perfect time for me to be reading these.

Matt K reviewed Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Just gorgeous

5 stars

This little arc charms my heart as all of Becky Chambers books do.

The world is so big and the story so intimate, the climax a hidden tiny change in a conversation.

Justin Pickard reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Quick, gentle, sensorially rich read

4 stars

Content warning Oblique reference to ending

Been struggling a bit with starting new fiction, and have fond memories of reading the first of this sequence on a trip to the Isle of Skye a year and a half ago, so started this as a way to prime the pump for future reading. A satisfying, enjoyable read on its own merits, incorporating some great descriptive material, and more thoughtful than it had to be, adding depth to an otherwise light-touch bildungsrobot (sorry) plot. The ending is well-judged, breaching reader expectations while keeping things open, and I really appreciated being able to start and finish a book in a single sitting.

Gerrit Niezen reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Can't wait for the next one!

5 stars

The world described in these books is one that I would love to live in, more than that described in any other science fiction book. Forget cyberpunk, give me solarpunk for life! It's a great book to read before bed, as the book is like a warm hug, helping you settle down and relax before going to sleep.

Llaverac reviewed Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

🙏

5 stars

At first I was low-key disappointed: Mosscap's candid questions slightly annoyed me, and I was dreading the answer. The moment where the story would answer its central question: when all your basic needs are met, what else do you need?

In other stories about the meaning of life (or adjacent themes), I could always relate to the part with the questions, and end up disappointed by the answer that the characters find, because the answer specifically works for them, and not for me. It's probably impossible to answer this kind of question in a way that will satisfy every reader, so why even try in the first place?

And... well, I like the direction that the book took, especially in its last chapter. It made me think of How to do nothing, except that Jenny Odell explains you what Becky Chambers makes you experience.

Also, I just …

At first I was low-key disappointed: Mosscap's candid questions slightly annoyed me, and I was dreading the answer. The moment where the story would answer its central question: when all your basic needs are met, what else do you need?

In other stories about the meaning of life (or adjacent themes), I could always relate to the part with the questions, and end up disappointed by the answer that the characters find, because the answer specifically works for them, and not for me. It's probably impossible to answer this kind of question in a way that will satisfy every reader, so why even try in the first place?

And... well, I like the direction that the book took, especially in its last chapter. It made me think of How to do nothing, except that Jenny Odell explains you what Becky Chambers makes you experience.

Also, I just read it at home, with closed blinds due to the heat, while preparing for the heat wave that will occur during the next two days and reading about fires, drought and our general inability to address climate change fast enough. Even though the utopian aspects of the book's world didn't always work for me, it made me emotional to read a story when things actually improved and the world turned out fine.

What do you need? Well, today specifically, I needed a story like that.

bbbhltz reviewed Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers delivers again

4 stars

Like the first book in the series, I had a good laugh and paused to think a few times. An excellent novella for a warm summer night that offers a peculiar perspective on some of our real world problems.

charli

bewertet

16. Januar 2023