High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity--plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below.
Charismatic, powerful, mystical, Iravan is one such architect. In his city, his word is nearly law. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his wife, they are a way for survival to be reliant on the privileged few. Like most others, she cannot manipulate the plants. And she desperately seeks change.
Their marriage is already thorny--then Iravan is accused of pushing his abilities to forbidden limits. He needs Ahilya to help clear his name; she needs him to tip the balance of rule in their society. As their paths become increasingly intertwined, deadly truths emerge, challenging everything each of them believes. And as the earthrages become longer, and their floating city begins to plummet, Iravan and Ahilya's discoveries might destroy their marriage, their culture, and their entire civilization.
💖💜💙 afro-venezuelan illustrator and author of THE SUN AND THE VOID (2023) & sequel (2025) | rep: @NaomisLitPix | Former ChemE
Kritika has gone through a lot so she has excellent wisdom to share 👇🏽 Also don’t forget to preorder/add THE SURVIVING SKY to your TBR!!! https://t.co/HaFDI8lmIJ
Nebula-winning, World Fantasy-Nebula-& Hugo-finalist storyspinner; time-traveling Code Poet. (she/her). Faculty @vcfawcya. EDS Opinions my own.
Hey everyone - I’m traveling & deep in work but I’m just getting caught up on what’s happening w @KritikaHRao’s wonderful THE SURVIVING SKY — it’s a gorgeous book (I blurbed it!) & I just renewed my post about it, so I’m sharing that here too: https://t.co/QNZWZG6U1o
Constitutional law. Science fiction. Co-ordinating editor @strangehorizons. Author of The Wall and The Horizon: https://t.co/uCAdGYNSqx.
Just finished reading an advance copy of @KritikaHRao’s The Surviving Sky. It is a deeply immersive and *very* original science fantasy novel, with a flavour of Lem’s Solaris and a bit of Jemisin’s Broken Earth, but very much its own work. Highly recommend pre-ordering. https://t.co/52UxfvnPOX
"Precise, exquisite, and jaw-dropping. The world is rich and alien and wonderfully new, grounded by characters so familiar they ache. I loved every page." --Dan Wells, New York Times bestselling author of the John Cleaver series
"In this brilliant, gorgeous debut, Kritika H. Rao's The Surviving Sky weaves a kaleidoscopic environmental plot with relationships that feel very real indeed. The combination is electric. I loved watching the main characters grow, evolve, and become unforgettable, each in their own right. This is a story unlike any I've read before, an epic adventure through fantastic landscapes and heartscapes." --Fran Wilde, double Nebula Award-winning author of Updraft and Riverland
"Breathtakingly inventive, The Surviving Sky is a twisty, cerebral journey through a fractured marriage, a world plagued by storms, and the question of what it means to be human. This is a book to get lost in." --Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne
"With lush prose, compelling characters, and a wonderfully built world, The Surviving Sky has everything I hope for in a novel. This is a book for anyone who has ever loved and longed for the natural world around them." --Joshua Phillip Johnson, author of The Forever Sea
"The Surviving Sky dares to imagine a boldly unique fantasy world and succeeds in spades. Lush and evocative, this flying jungle city will draw you in, and the characters anchoring the story will keep you reading to the very end." --Rowenna Miller, author of The Unraveled Kingdom trilogy
"The Surviving Sky is a high-octane science fantasy with heady, cerebral ideas and a lushly imagined world, whose story centers on a 30s-ish married couple--very unusual for fantasy! There is nothing else out there which is quite like it!" --Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters
"The Surviving Sky's characters struggle passionately to balance communal survival and individual ambition, exposing the private strain on a marriage. Teeming with detailed world-building, this debut is perfect for fans of original science fantasy." --E.J. Beaton, author of The Councillor
"The Surviving Sky is utterly creative, a heady and mysterious tapestry of love, duty, and discovery centered around a civilization toppling from the sky, a unique magic system, and an archaeological expedition into the ravenous jungle of a murder planet. Add in a slow-burn romance and Rao's exploration of human drive, desire, and consciousness--and The Surviving Sky is sure to stay with readers long after the final page." --H.M. Long, author of Hall of Smoke
"A gorgeous novel, its heart a marriage simmering with love and rage, mirroring a ravaged world whose sanctuaries are in peril. Saving both involves the unraveling of nested secrets, knotted emotions, and a treacherous delve into consciousness itself." --Essa Hansen, author of Nophek Gloss
"The Surviving Sky weaves a compelling web of wounded hearts and warped duty, as conflicting forces of ambition, love, and magic strain its characters to the breaking point in a lush world on the brink of destruction. Fall from its floating city's edge into a storm of emotions!" --Melissa Caruso, author of The Obsidian Tower