REVIEWS

A monk and a robot take a buddy road trip

Genre fiction is often best at tackling the really big questions. There’s something about a distance from the everyday world that allows a better perspective on who we are, how we function as a community, what it means to be alive. This week we have two very different books that tackle such questions while also delivering beautifully imagined stories.

First up is A Prayer For the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. This is the second novella in the Monk and Robot science fiction series from the American author, and a shining example of the ‘hopepunk’ sub-genre, which postulates a positive future for humanity.

The book is set on a moon called Panga, where a human civilisation lives in peace, having survived a catastrophic industrial age. Many years before, robots gained sentience and disappeared into the forests and no one has seen one since, until now.

Sibling Dex is a travelling tea-monk, journeying across the land providing a hot brew and a