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Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

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Rating: 4/5.

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The Psalm for the Wide-Built is a celebration of humankind; it asks the fundamental question that is ever more relevant in this modern era of AI. What do people need? 

“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.”

Becky Chambers is quite a household name in the fantasy & science fiction world. Whether it be watching my favourite booktubers or scrolling through reviews on Goodreads or Reddit, I’ve never failed to notice the glowing reviews and recommendations of her countless books. “Feel-good” is the word I’ve seen most people describe her literature, writing that makes you feel all fuzzy and warm. Having finished The Psalm for the Wide-Built, I’d like to offer a fresh word to the mix: truthful. 

There is something so honest about Chambers’ prose and the world it inhabits. The world of Panga is both similar and completely different from our own, existing in this period of time and place where robots have become sentient, and walked into the wilderness to live without human interference. The robots, on the outside, couldn’t be more different than humans. Their blood is oil, their heart moves not of beats but engine hums. But the electrifying, beautiful thing about them is that they understand what it’s like to live, perhaps more than us. They hold a miraculous grasp on the everlasting cycle of life, of our place in the natural world. 

“Still. Something is missing. Something is off. So, how fucking spoiled am I, then? How fucking broken? What is wrong with me that I can have everything I could ever want and have ever asked for and still wake up in the morning feeling like every day is a slog?”

Splendid Speckled Mosscap is one of those beings, who has taken a vast journey to find out the answer to a singular question: what do people need? And in that search, he comes across Sibling Dex, a human that is struggling to find his purpose in life. A 29-year-old tea monk, he has acted as a traveling therapist and a listening ear to everywhere he goes. Despite being incredibly good at his job and universally liked, he felt a deep, restless yearning for something more, for something utterly his own. Their meeting ignites a series of events that eventually blooms into an unbreakable  bond. 

“Then how,” Dex said, “how does the idea of maybe being meaningless sit well with you?” Mosscap considered. “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful,”

I must say first and foremost that the troubles of Sibling Dex are extremely relatable. Despite not having lived the same amount of years as him, I am already starting to face the grueling wonder of the universe. Sometimes, I think, what’s the point of all this? This story didn’t give me a singular answer, but instead gave me a much needed time to think about these important questions. Perhaps, the answer is, there is no point in life. But to enjoy the footsteps you leave on the beach and the birds you sing with, until the wind takes the last remnants away. 

In conclusion, The Psalm for the Wide-Built is simply incredible. The way Chambers builds this animated world where there is no war or pain, but just the search for who you are, is the most executed I’ve ever encountered. Everyone is not perfect, but they are all trying to live their best, to help others, and to become the best versions of themselves they can be, even the robots. Maybe we can make that our world, too. Someday. ⅘.

“I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out.”