It’s when I read books like this, and then I find out it’s a debut novel… My jaw hits the floor!

What an epic debut novel! The Surviving Sky was like reading sci-fi, fantasy, dystopia, and futuristic fiction all at once. Humanity is forced to live on a floating plant based cities run by “architects”. Architects are able to manipulate and shape the architecture of each city. They are top of the food chain and hold the highest positions. They are responsible for ensuring that the floating cities don’t collide with the uninhabited jungle that is plagued with storms that destroy everything in its path. Sounds like they are really great people, but there is one who questions their motives and intentions, and the only problem is she is married to one of the most revered architects. Meet Ahilya. She is not able to do what the architects do, but she is a scholar, and archeologist who wants to find a way for humanity to survive in the jungle. She longs to be free from a world that is run and manipulated by the architects. Soon we see that this puts her and her husband at odds yet as things are changing so must they… we watch as they work together for the greater good of humanity.

This is heavy world building, epic magic, and very deep character building. I found myself skipping and slimming for dialogue at times, but that’s mostly because I was growing impatient to see what would happen next! I will be reading the rest of this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy! Great book!

Do I "understand" what happened? No, not really, but I love Ahilya and Iravan and I got that at least half of the plot was a metaphor about enlightenment and the nature of consciousness.

This book is incredibly difficult to rate - I'm calling it a 3.5 and really struggling to decide how to round. It's dizzyingly high-concept, but as a result, it often feels muddled. Trajecting reads like a soft magic system trying really hard to be a hard magic system, which was a lot of the problem; pages upon pages upon pages are devoted to just explaining how it works and/or describing prolonged sequences of events that take place in non-space, which is hard to conceptualize as a reader. (Actually, if you're not a very visual reader and often struggle to picture things, you're going to have a difficult time with this whole book. I was constantly confused by the shifting setting, which was really unique and interesting but also raised a lot of practical questions for me personally, challenging my suspension of disbelief.)

The Surviving Sky reads a bit like a Ghibli movie at times, particularly the Nausicaa/Princess Mononoke vein of Ghibli movies: an action-packed science-fantasy environmental parable. It also reminded me a bit of A Memory Called Empire, with its elaborately imagined futuristic civilization, changeable architecture, and an investigation of a suspicious death playing a central role in kicking off the plot. Unfortunately, on a craft level, this novel just isn't as well executed as those comparable stories. It's often bogged down by the scope of its own ideas. It over-relies on telling instead of showing. I frequently found the dialogue frustratingly unnatural, running around in circles and repeating points I thought that we had already established. There are holes in the internal logic, and occasionally I felt like the story blatantly contradicted itself. The characters were also infuriatingly incurious about things that were obviously going to come back as major plot points, which any reasonable real person would have marked as important and investigated further. The pacing was TERRIBLE; it would take you from heart-pounding action to suddenly dumping you into the most agonizingly paced, circular, frustrating conversations ever which would stretch for entire chapters. Reading this is like riding in the car with a teenager learning to drive, slamming on the gas and then the brake, never quite evening out to a pleasant pace.

The most interesting element of this story to me was definitely the relationship between Iravan and Ahilya: both wrong, both kind of insufferable, both still in love with the other but too proud to admit it. I love reading about characters with a lot of complicated history between them. Married protagonists are extremely rare for some reason, as are protagonists over thirty, so these two were totally refreshing and I found them both to be really realistically flawed protagonists.

Overall I think this is somewhat of a diamond in the rough, and I'm extremely interested to see what Rao will write next.

An imaginative sci-fi/fantasy story which centres on a married couple trying to survive a murder planet.

This book is a unique blend of eco-horror and dystopian fantasy. The book is written in third-person, and flips POV between our two main characters Ahilya, an archeologist, and Iravan an 'architect' who is able to bend plants to his will using his mind. In response to massive storms on the planet, 'architects' have found a way to create floating plant-based islands on which the last gasps of humanity survives. We are introduced to the couple, in the midst of two turmoils: 1) The 'ashram' (flying plant island) they live on is slowly falling out of the sky and 2) The 11-year marriage of this couple is on rocky ground.

The imagination of the story is great, and the storytelling feels fresh. I love a good eco-dystopian storyline. I love that our main characters are older (maybe 30s/40s) and married. It's not often that I read about this type of pairing. And the world-building is lush. You feel like you're surrounded by plants from the very first chapter.

I wish the pacing was a little quicker, and to that end that our main characters were able to stabilize their relationship earlier in the book, because together they are magnetic.

On Goodreads this title is subtitled with (Rages #1), which leads me to believe this is first book in the series. With the rich world-building and high-stakes plotlines, I'd be happy to return to survive another 'Earthrage' anytime.

Thank you to Goodreads and Titan Books for providing an advanced reader copy of this book.

This book is best read in a lush, overgrown garden, with a light breeze which makes the stems and vines tickle your neck as if they are conscious and trying to get your attention.

It’s hard to know what to compare this to.
Mortal Engines meets Jasmine Throne? The Fifth Season meets His Dark Materials? The book contains elements of all of them - but is definitely something new.

The author’s world building and magic structure is cleverly designed and realised - and the reader is dropped right into it. There’s a lot to take in at first, but it’s all fascinating -and complicated.

“The universe was the Moment: a motionless reality reflecting the consciousness of the plants that comprised the building blocks of Nakshar. Each frozen star in the Moment was a plant’s possible state of being.”

As well as with the complex magic system and the intricacies of an unfamiliar floating world, the reader has to untangle the very human relationships woven into this story.

Reflecting the fissures running through their society, a long term couple with competing ideas on how to solve the threat to their community are also struggling to preserve their marriage.

Rarely seen in fantasy novels, this is a refreshing perspective to match the innovative world/magic building. However, the sheer scale of the complexities means the book takes a little while to get going. I was about a third in before I could really process what was going on, so not one to choose if you want an easier read! It was also hard to sympathise with anyone here or to root for the relationship - secrets and lies are layered over deeper mysteries but there’s also the mundane nature of a couple falling apart because they cannot seem to share a vision.

I have to say that on a first read, I was concentrating so hard on keeping all the threads straight that it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been - perhaps it’ll make more sense on a reread. It would also make the most gorgeous Studio Ghibli film!

“You’re stronger when you want the same things.”

As much as I try to resist, I often fall victim to books with pretty covers. Sometimes the outcome is positive, other times it's disappointing, but more often than not, I find myself somewhere in between. This book falls into that category.

The first 100 pages of the book were a challenge to get through. The magic system was both complex and overdone, making it overwhelming to grasp quickly. It's worth mentioning that one of my biggest mistakes was not checking the glossary of terms that came with the ARC, which is sure to come with the final copy of the book. Despite this, I must admit that the worldbuilding was fantastic and worthy of praise. However, it was disheartening that something I usually enjoy in fantasy books became my biggest source of frustration.

On the other hand, I loved the inclusion of marriage dynamics as a central conflict. It's a theme that is not often explored in the genre, and it proved to be one of the story's strongest aspects. The author executed it exceptionally well, evoking a rollercoaster of emotions and making me both glad and sad that I'm single…The character's inner monologues were particularly compelling.

Finally, I'm not entirely convinced that turning this story into a trilogy was a wise decision. From my perspective, the story would have concluded perfectly in this first installment, and I would have felt satisfied. However, I remain curious to see what the author has in store for the rest of the series.

Overall, I enjoyed the refreshing and diverse nature of the story. Considering that this is a debut novel, it was exceptionally well done, and I do not doubt that it will become a new favorite for many readers.

I saw this cover/author in Instagram several months ago and have been waiting in the wings to apply for an ARC for a while.

This is one of the most stunning book covers I've seen in a long time and will surely attract many new readers. The book was an easily consumed, incredibly imaginative, and dramatic SFF read. If you're new to the SFF (Sci-Fi Fantasy) genre, this is a great place to start!
It is clearly well researched without being too much of an overwhelming and technical info dump to the reader.
I loved the magic system and the easily imagined sky city. The story is told through two main characters, married couple Ahilya and Iravan, and they are having some turmoil in their marriage throughout the book. It was nice to see protagonists that weren't super young, like many books today. They were very real and flawed individuals sorting through life's issues/their sky city's issues.
I cannot wait to return to this world for book two (hopefully there is a book two)!

Thank you so much for the ARC! I hope this book sees much success at publishing time.

A sneakily post-apocalyptic fantasy, The Surviving Sky features relatable characters and a stunningly complex magic system.

While the novel has flavours of N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), it is also an entirely fresh and new concept, both for apocalypses and fantasy. 

The apocalyptic aspect is somehow both in the background and a major component of the story. It’s different from usual apocalypses because it deals less with a collapse and more with nature becoming too much for humans to live within. We don’t see a lot of post-apocalyptic tropes (like raiders), but there are mutated animals, technology/history from the past that becomes unearthed, and people surviving on small plots of safe land (in this case, in the sky). In a sense, this novel is like Waterworld. If you like fantasy and apocalypses, this is a great blend.  

It’s also a non-Western fantasy with normalized LGBTQ+ representation. I also enjoyed that the main characters were in their thirties and were dealing with a martial breakdown that wasn’t based on abuse or cheating. 

The magic system is revealed as the story progresses - in fact, that’s kind of the point of the novel, to learn how the magic functions - but in basic terms, there are people called architects who can control plants and who help the massive trees (which comprise the core of the flying cities) to float. A significant part of the plot deals with the magic and how it functions, so I won’t explain any of it, but if you’re the sort of person who really really likes magic systems, then do I have the book for you! 

The Surviving Sky has the most detailed, intricate, well-thought-out and intense magic system I have ever encountered in fantasy. I believe it's because the magic system is not only fantastical but rooted in physics and Hinduism. Aside from the marriage plot, most of the novel is based on the characters developing a deeper knowledge of the arcane. They perform a sort of magic archaeology to uncover facets of the magic that they don’t completely understand but still use in their everyday life. The amount of thought, research, and focus that must have gone into crafting this by the author is absolutely mind-boggling. It’s deeply impressive. 

Personally, I’m not a nerd for magic systems, so while I was impressed with the magic, I did find it a bit overbearing in terms of pushing aside other aspects of the novel that I was more interested in. But, if you’re a total nerd for magic systems, you NEED to, you HAVE to read this book! 

The two main characters are well-developed, and their marriage breakdown is interwoven with the situation of the novel as well as their own personal issues. Their relationship, like the magic system, was complex and layered, with situations that made sense and the type of argument or tension you’d see between two people who love one another but aren’t sure why their relationship isn’t working. Or they do know but refuse to talk about it. It’s relatable and realistic. 

Yet, the side characters could have been fleshed out a bit more as I only knew them by their familial or professional relation to Ahilya and Iravan (versus as people). I also could have had some more backstory scenes with the main characters themselves, such as more flashbacks to them as a new couple or when their life together was working. There were some of these, but more would have made me really feel their relationship deeper.

I could have also used a bit more about the society of the Ashran (the floating city). How do they dispose of trash in the flying city? It’s alluded to that a lot of stuff is reusable or recycled, but how does the plumbing work? Where does clothing get made? Where do they get water from? Are they all vegetarians? How does housing work? I just wasn’t sure how the council of the city was ruling the entire place because there was no one on that council whose professional focus was everyday affairs. 

That being said, the pros definitely outweigh the few critiques (some of which are my personal preferences)! I highly recommend the novel for people who love very detailed magic systems, decidedly non-Western approaches to fantasy, realistic characters, and flying citadels!  Oh, and there are also fun creatures called yakshas that are massive mutated animals!

The cover is gorgeous.

I was excited about the premise. It’s supposed to feel high stakes but the pace moves really slowly which makes the book feel very low stakes. It felt like, at 8% in, nothing had really happened, other than conversations and exposition about the world. I wasn’t able to focus on it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for the ARC.

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. On one hand, I liked the dynamics between pretty much all of the characters in this, especially Ahilya and Iravan. There's a lot to unpack with all of these relationships, and I really enjoyed that part. The concept of floating cities is also super intriguing to me. My problem was that I felt like the magic/scientific system could have been explained a bit better, a bit earlier on in the book. I also felt that the middle of the book dragged quite a bit.

This book has all the fun things. World-building, giant beasts, romance and the fun of discovering something that was set into motion long ago. The characters evolved and grew, but retained their base characteristics. Read this for all the fun of magic and nature with a hint of technology to combine the two.

Thanks Netgalley/Titan Books for the eARC!

Ultimately I found this one to be pretty unmemorable. The sort of book you finish and think, "Well, that was OK," and then move on to the next. Unfortunately, these kinds of books are also the most difficult to review, as it also means I don't have a lot to say about it. The worldbuilding was the standout for this book, but there wasn't much else that grabbed my attention. Mostly, it reminded me of THE FIFTH SEASON, though I vastly preferred that one, as generally, I felt most things were done better. The main characters--and their discussions--went around in circles and just became...tiresome. The story moved slowly--but that's not a bad thing. The ending was intriguing (I think there will be a sequel...?) which sets up some potentially interesting things for the author to explore.

This all boils down to this book just not connecting with me, and that's okay.

The first in a new trilogy, The Surviving Sky is a riveting, beautiful story with the kind of creative worldbuilding you don’t come across too often, even in the world of science fiction/fantasy. Not since Annihilation have I read a conceit and premise so distinctly interesting and unique. I tend to read a few books at a time, and I found this one to be pushing all other thoughts and stories out of my mind until I was able to sit down and voraciously burn through the rest of it. I cannot wait to read the following novels.

In a world where some humans are born with the ability to control plant life/growth, and the planet itself is so full of quakes and extreme weather that the events are deemed “earthrages,” the remainder of humanity has taken to living in floating sky cities composed entirely of botanical structures that the plant “architects” must constantly work in shifts to maintain. When Ahilya, a self-proclaimed archaeologist and the spouse of a high-ranking architect, begins uncovering more evidence about their world and society, the upheaval that follows is more than any of them can manage.

Kritika H. Rao’s wildly unique world draws on Hindu culture and philosophy in an unexpectedly beautiful way that sent me googling to learn more about the concepts and Sanskrit words behind the story. And even though all the gripping drama of the sci-fi plot line, the humanity of the characters’ relationships shines through in a way that is painfully honest and relatable. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

In a world where most fantasy characters are teenage chosen ones with an enemies to lovers trope, The Surviving Sky is everything I didn’t know I needed in my life.

The setting of floating jungle cities of the future was enough to draw me in alone. But the dynamics of a broken marriage with protagonists in their 30s?!? I am in love- and hate. I’m looking at you Iravan. 👀

This is a character driven story with more thought and internal monologue than action, but for me it works really well. Ahilya and Iravan are extremely believable and real messy characters and their journey to saving the ashram had me conflicted, who had the real moral high ground? Is anyone right? I can’t wait to see where this series leads.

4/5 stars.

Earth-rages have made the earth uninhabitable. Architects took to the sky with their ashrams. They are fueled by trajection, a 'magic' system inherent to architects that allow them to manipulate plant life. The Surviving Sky is an incredible book 1 from Kritika H. Rao. The world is so unique and imaginative. It is very much in the sci-fi post apocalyptic genre but with some 'magic' elements, so overall genre-wise it's sci-fantasy. I'd compare it to The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. It's fast-paced and balances between action/plot and character development really well.

There are two main POV characters, a husband and wife: Iravan and Ahliya. Iravan is a Senior Architect, a place of the highest privilege in society. Ahliya is an archeologist, the first one, a profession barely recognized and viewed as having minimal to no value. Both are involved in studying various topics as are the supporting characters of Dhruv, a sungineer and Naila, a Junior Architect. The characters are deeply flawed and that translates to realistic struggles. Both Ahliya and Iravan struggle with their places both within the society and within their marriage throughout the book.

I struggled at times with the trajection system. It was clear that this had been deeply thought out and everything planned. However because a lot of the characters are academics, theories fly back and forth and connections are made quickly that it became easy to lose track of developments. I personally prefer as a reader when I can start to flip the pieces and struggle put them together before the puzzle is dumped out and assembled for me. I do think this book is very rereadable, because of the complex nature of the system. I'm positive I'd get more out of it on a second read.

The set up for sequels was done in an incredibly satisfying way where all major threads were tied together but then so many possibilities were uncovered and remain for future exploration.

Holy worldbuilding! One of the best India-inspired SFF books I’ve read, with a fresh and richly imagined world. The characters are messy, real and utterly relatable. I can’t wait to see what Kritika does next!

This book was an amazing adventure in a new world, that I thoroughly enjoyed,
The Surviving Sky is a story told from two POV's, the MMC, Iravan, and the FMC, Ahliya. Each chapter bounce between the two characters and gives the reader different perspectives, which I love! Not only is this book a story of adventure and sci fi, but it's also about a marriage on the rocks, during cataclysmic storms. There was a very healthy balance between the adventure and the drama of the story.

Compared to other sci fi books, this was a definite change of pace- but in a good way! It stood out and is different than the sci-fi I usually read. The characters are very believable and I didn't feel there were any plot holes or inconsistencies.

It took about half of the story for me to really get pulled into the world... it wasn't slow or boring... I just didn't feel a connection or thirst to continue until about page 200. Then I was hooked and couldn't stop. I read the second half in one sitting.

Overall, it was a very satisfying read and I would definitely recommend to sci fi readers! I would be interested in reading more from Rao!

3/5

I was unbelievably excited for this book given the premise, but I do think I set my expectations higher than they should have been.

I personally found the world-building to be intriguing, the “magic” system to me felt very unique. I enjoyed the detail the author went in to when explaining what trajecting was and how it impacts the world they live in. The conflict between those that can traject and those that can’t was also interesting, but I think it fell short given that we only see two characters express their opinions about it (one being Ahilya and the other her friend). I feel like it may have been more impactful as the story progressed if Ahilya came across others who also expressed their doubt in architects and their importance.

I think another aspect that disappointed me was the character work, I don’t really think I could claim to know Iravan and Ahilya outside of their arguments with one another. They both had exactly two character traits, Iravan’s was being an architect and being angry at Ahilya (for something that imo wasn’t even her fault), and Ahilya’s was being anti-architect and mad at Iravan (which was understandable). I found it hard to root for either of them given how abrasive they were with one another, especially Iravan, like why are you as a man ignoring your wife for 7 months and being annoyed she turns away from you. I don’t think the descriptions they had of one another as “oh they were so xyz” helped the character work, like once again…. show me… don't just have the characters say that about one another.

Their conflict with one another at one point was so asinine, it frustrated me and honestly kind of soured my mood and opinion of the characters (specifically Ahilya). I had been enjoying the book up until the conflict because it was unbelievably tedious, and at that point I made it a point to hope that they would get divorced because their relationship was NOT a healthy one. Of course there is supposed character development and they come to an understanding, yet I thought it was undeserved… if it weren’t for the extraordinary situation they were in… would they have come to understand each other as they did?

Finally, while I did enjoy the writing style, I think the pacing could’ve done with some work. It was kind of jarring how we went from trying to survive an earthrage in the first bit, to a melodrama trying to be mystery novel for the middle portion and ended in an earthrage-esque situation. I personally found it hard to get through in the middle because both Ahilya and Iravan were characters that did not earn my sympathy, and unfortunately the side characters weren’t fleshed out to an amount either…. maybe Ahilya’s close friend but other than that….

Overall, the ending was interesting! Quite a plot twist, so I will be tuning in for the sequel.

3.5/5 stars! The premise of this story was truly special and it had the set up to be amazing. Unfortunately, it fell pretty flat for me. The fantasy aspects were good, but the depth of philosophy was too much for me. It needed more character development and less philosophy, but I think many readers will enjoy it.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Immersive and shimmering with magic, The Surviving Sky is brimming with humanity and complex world-building. It's impossible not to related to both Ahilya and Iravan–if you have a heart. This slow-burn, eco science-fantasy is timely and terrifying. Rages, Kritika Rao has built something very special here.

DNF at 40%
While I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book via NetGalley and Titan Books this did not work out for me. I found the main characters, their arguments and separation of marriage were tiresome. I had trouble understanding what is essentially “the magic system” of this book. By 40% I no longer cared about the mystery involved in the book and unfortunately have decided to DNF.