Une prière pour les cimes timides

Becky Chambers's books are exactly what I need right now. It's almost disappointing that they are so short, and so easy to read! In fact, she makes writing look easy, and every moment is a pleasure. I flew through the chapters, and I bawled my way through the last chapter. The Monk & Robot books have really resonated with me lately, and they offer both an escape and a glimpse of what a better world could look like. I'm going to have to read her Wayfarers series a bit later, as I can't get enough of her writing (although I don't want to complete it all at once).

Chambers is right; this book is for those who need a break. Although I don't have Dex's cricket or Mosscap's turtle, I do have the sounds of cicadas, the forests of Kroumirie, and fields of olive trees to get lost in, and that's exactly what I'm going to do this summer.

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.

J'ai beaucoup aimé le premier tome de la série Moine et robots, même si il était très court, il posait le contexte d'un monde intéressant, à la fois utopique par beaucoup d'aspects mais également laissant de la place pour des discussions personnelles qui résonnent beaucoup avec moi. Si on reste dans un même contexte reposant à-la-Becky-Chambers ici, j'ai eu du mal à comprendre ou elle voulait en venir. On continue de suivre les aventures de Omphale et Dex cette fois-ci dans la communauté humaine, ce qui en fait un livre un peu plus d'aventure et moins d'introspection mais la brièveté du livre ne laisse au final que peu d'espace pour y développer un propos. Je suis donc arrivé à la fin du livre un peu frustré et sans trop savoir ou l'autrice voulait en venir. Ca m'a également questionné sur l'intérêt de faire une série de romans courts si on n'y trouve pas le temps de développer une histoire, au vu du coût total de la série pour la lecteurice.

Even better than the first book in the series! Funnier, more moving and (even) more thought-provoking at once.

In A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, we spend more time focusing on Mosscap, and how it learns the human way of living. Sibling Dex changes and learns too, watching their friends and self-reflecting a lot on what their life used to be and what it has become. I am amazed how subtly the author depicts the evolution of such profound and complex characters in the span of so few pages. It is delicate, soothing, and overall a wonderful read !

I am so very glad Becky Chambers chose to be an author, we'd have missed something great.

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.