Play Book Tag discussion

Take my rating with a grain of salt because (1) I listened on audio. I think I would've enjoyed it more in print. And (2) it is a cute story and that's not really my preference. I like cute, but I tread more in dark, mysterious, dramatic, frightening etc etc.

This is a very cute story about a monk on a pilgrimage to find themselves and their purpose. They meet up with a robot who is searching for "what do humans need." Together they help each other navigate to the final destination and challenge.

An interesting story, a cute relationship of which each character offsets the other nicely. An adventure story. A bitesize book pondering great life questions and mysteries.

I enjoyed this but is an upbeat utopian philosophical story, an excellent quick indulgence between heavier or darker reads. I have the sequel in one of my TBR Towers.

Yes, such a quick and pleasant read. She could really expand much more on that story and universe.

She was commissioned to write these by the publisher to promote a newly developing subgenre. Her imagination thus may not be so engaged as to expand it more.

Meli, I can’t handle as many dark topics as well as you can, but I agree this book was missing something. This genre is called “hopepunk.” I think it needed more conflict, tension or something dark to make the hope more meaningful. I really liked some of the author’s other books. My favorite was A Closed and Common Orbit, which felt very dark and hopeless at times, but was ultimately very hopeful. Many of my favorite books have a mix of dark and light.

Theresa, that explains a lot. Thanks for sharing that. I guess if she was writing to spec, the constraints put limits on her imagination. I understand why Chambers was tasked to write about positive things, because she’s excellent with sci-fi plots involving interspecies cultural diversity, difficult challenges, and creative ways of organizing society.

@Theresa, I heard Tor was firm in only 2 books and no more as well, for whatever reason. As popular as it is you would think she'd pop over to another publisher to continue the series, but maybe she isn't interested in that or contractually cannot.

@NancyJ, oh good so it's not just me! I was definitely the outlier at book club. And "hopepunk"?? For some reason I hate that LOL