A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

by Becky Chambers, Emmett Grosland

4h runtime; narrated by Emmett Grosland

English language

Published July 11, 2022 by Macmillan Audio.

(29 reviews)

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

6 editions

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

The best hopepunk I have read to date

5 stars

Definitely the light comfort read I was looking for, and like the first in its series it has just enough moments of emotional tension and and philosophical debate to never get twee or boring. But more than its predecessor, the world this is set in is the most convincing, appealing hopepunk I have yet to read. It's clear that it had gone through some very hard times in the past, but the equilibrium that the books are set in feels plausible and inviting. I can think of many other books whose worlds I'd like to visit, but these are among the few I wish I could move to.

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.

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

A prayer for the crown shy

5 stars

Continuing the quiet meditation on humanity, like a walk through the woods with a friend

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

yes and more

5 stars

i liked how the storytelling shifted and adapted with the story change that we have between the two groups. the discovery of the different human settlements and their societies is fascinating, thought-provoking and poetic all at once. i loved the ending, even if i had to read it multiple times to be sure. i will miss Dex and Mosscap. :(((

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.

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

Beautiful book. I am amazed at Becky Chamber's magic abilities.

5 stars

Content warning General spoilers

When I finished the first book I wondered why, being the two books so short, were they not just a single book. After finishing the second book I understand.

The second part of the Monk and Robot books is a completely different story. The apparition of Mosscap changes everything, and what was a book centered on Dex and their relationship with the world in Panga transforms into an exploration of the relationship between the monk and the robot.

Cozy as the first book, but slow in a good way. Just like the travelers in it, we have no rush to finish it. There's no big buildup to anything, and that amazes me. Like the first book, the author manages to create an engaging story without resorting to common narrative tools. It makes the book someone who's just sitting on your bedside table telling you "I'm here if you want to cuddle". The feel-good transcends the story and permeates into your everyday life, your imagination, and the things you think are possible.

The theme of purpose in this book made me shed a tear, even while on antidepressants. People telling me it's okay to just be me, I don't listen to them. But if a rusty robot says that to a monk and I'm just eavesdropping, you will be certain that I will heed the robot. And believe that it is ok to just be.

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.

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.

pdotb@wyrms.de reviewed A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot, #2)

Charming as can be... but also more

5 stars

Probably even lower on dramatic tension than the first book, but that's just fine -- that's not what's needed here. Instead we have a gentle journey between various human settlements as the background to Dex and Mosscrops' developing relationship and their respective struggles with making sense of life.

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

Now it digs deeper into the meat of it

4 stars

I felt the first book was too short, but this one with the characters already presented, could dig into the deeper discussions of life and our place in it. It was also hilariously funny at times!

Maybe you sometimes need a friendly robot to make you understand the idea of mindfulness. Ironic.

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

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

5 stars

Content warning minor spoilers

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is the second novella in this series; if the first book focused a bit more on Sibling Dex's journey, this book switches to look at Mosscap and Sibling Dex's shared travel to small towns across Panga. Their journey is presented as a series of vignettes which fill in worldbuilding details and bring in a number of different themes. Because of this, I think this book feels more winding and broad than the first one, but it's still just as endearing.

There's just so many delightful Mosscap moments: Mosscap being newly excited about every tree along the road; Mosscap waking up Sibling Dex up at a godawful early hour because they're just too impatient to discuss a book and then continuing that discussion while Dex attempts to pee; Mosscap bursting in to congratulate Dex about having sex.

Reading both of these back to back makes me appreciate how much the second book's ending is an echo of the first's, where each resolves an uncomfortable question that has been hanging in the air between Dex and Mosscap while also getting to the heart of their own struggles (that continue to hit me right in my own insecurities).

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

Lovely

3 stars

These are lovely little novellas. Easy reads with a philosophical bent.

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

do the behaviors

4 stars

These are definitely allegories (think Ishmael by Daniel Quinn; Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach), and as such you can see the strings in places. Something in me still sings at the sense of recognition; the struggle of feeling messier than one ought to be, of wanting to fill the world with activity and the diminishing returns that provides, of it being easier sometimes to be vulnerable with people who don't know you very well at all.