A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)

by Becky Chambers

Decay was a built-in function of the City’s towers, crafted from translucent casein and mycelium masonry. Those walls would, in time, begin to decompose, at which point they’d either be repaired by materials grown for that express purpose, or, if the building was no longer in use, be reabsorbed into the landscape that had hosted it for a time.

Its only legacy was to persist where it did not belong.

“Because nothing else in the world behaves that way. Everything else breaks down and is made into other things.

It is difficult for anyone born and raised in human infrastructure to truly internalize the fact that your view of the world is backward.

So, how fucking spoiled am I, then? How fucking broken? What is wrong with me that I can have everything I could ever want and have ever asked for and still wake up in the morning feeling like every day is a slog?”

it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”