A Prayer for the Crown Shy is the second in the Robot and Monk series by Becky Chambers, and just like the first book, it is just absolutely delightful. We follow Dex the Tea Monk and Mosscap as they re-enter civilisation, meeting the denizens of Panga so Mosscap can accomplish his mission of finding out what people need.

The description of the world continues to be lovely and warm, full of interesting characters. However, this book really focusses on Mosscap and Dex more so than exploring the world. There are some interesting moral questions posed by catching fish, fixing something broken and lying to one’s parents. There are delightful observations that confound both the Monk and Robot in equal measure.

It’s a very short 140 pages, definitely more novella than novel. You can probably polish it off in an hour uninterrupted. But what a lovely way to spend an hour. I hope there’s at least one or two more as I just don’t want to let go of Panga just yet.