I read a lot of dark fiction. Horror, dystopian science fiction, gritty crime, you name it. It’s what I like. Even with the toxic shitshow we’re currently living through, I still gravitate in that direction. Maybe it’s cathartic, who knows?

But every once in a while I need to come up for air and read something hopeful, something positive. When that happens I often reach for something by Becky Chambers. Cozy fantasy has been having a moment for a few years, but I think Chambers is one of the few proponents of cozy science fiction. Science fiction that isn’t afraid to let the light in.

So while on vacation in Bozeman, Montana a couple of months ago, I chanced upon a wonderful indie bookstore (shoutout to Country Bookshelf) and found a lovely softcover edition that included Chamber’s two novellas, A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. It turned out to be the perfect read to end my year.

Both slim volumes follow the adventures of a tea monk named Sibling Dex and a robot named Mosscap as they travel together. I say adventures, but really, these books are quietly contemplative, more conversation than action, and I was there for every moment of it.

The world Chambers has created is overwhelmingly optimistic, a place where robots long ago gained consciousness and withdrew into the wilderness, leaving humans to rebuild their society in a way more in keeping with ecological balance and the value of caring for one another. When Dex and Mosscap meet each other, it’s the first interaction between humans and robots in centuries. Mosscap yearns to know what humans are like, what they need to live a good life, and Dex, as his thoughtful guide, finds himself reflecting on his own purpose. As they interact with each other and the other humans Mosscap meets along their journey, Chambers manages to ask and answer a lot of crucial questions about endless growth at the expense of nature, the meaning of autonomy, and what it means to live a good, humble life.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy are two separate books, but can easily be read together. They are a beautiful examination of a world in harmony and balance. Feeling overwhelmed and hopeless? Reading these books may provide you an antidote, however brief.