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Our bookseller says:

Every couple of years I read something that completely reframes my relationship with reading certain genres and after reading this I’m 100% sure this did that with sci-fi, it really is That Good. Solarpunk is a relatively new genre but imo, it’s an important one. The ability to look at the future with hope instead of complete dread means that there’s something to work towards. Rare that my only complaint with a book is that I wish it was longer so I could keep reading. Please pick this up!

-Ndobe

It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?