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.

messy, complex and full of heart. this was immersive and wholehearted... to begin with. the right questions are being asked but the delivery wasn't right.

Primarily set on the complex, skybound ashram, Nakshar, The Surviving Sky is about an estranged marriage and the forces that threaten existence. Nakshar is one of many ashrams, floating cities that hover over a world in the throes of an earthrage. An earthrage is a planet-wide storm/earthquake that makes the world uninhabitable except for the mind-bogglingly gigantic Yakshas, wild animals which have evolved in size. Only when there are lulls is it safe to land. Unfortunately, those lulls are coming farther and farther apart, and the forces keeping the cities aloft, known as architects, are getting weaker and weaker with the strain. Senior architect Iravan and his non-adept citizen wife Ahilya, work at cross purposes to discover ways to keep their civilization from sinking into the chaos of the earthrages. Architects are able to traject or manipulate plants that make up the ashram; this power to traject sets them apart from the rest of the population, and as a result, architects hold the majority control of the counsel around government of the ashram (highly favorable toward architects, of course). Those unable to traject may choose the path of sungineer, engineers who work with trajection to build devices, but who are limited as well as the architects by the decreasing power of trajection due to the length of the earthrage. Ahilya has chosen an alternate path, that of an archaeologist. She believes that yakshas survive earthrages because they must have shelter from them, and she is determined to use lulls to conduct research on yakshas.

The two love each other, but their marriage is falling apart. Both are headstrong about the rightness of their ideas, but they are also prejudiced against each other’s role in society: Iravan thinks Ahilya would do better as a sungineer, focusing her efforts on building technology that would help to relieve the architects of the burden of keeping the ashram together rather than wasting time on worthless research; Ahilya sees Iravan as a power-sated bureaucrat who can’t see the burgeoning resentment of non-adept citizens toward the architects, nor can he see how much his judgment of her choices hurts. To make matters even more complicated, an architect is expected to maintain strong material bonds in order to tether himself to reality, otherwise there is a risk of becoming an ecstatic, one whose tether has snapped, thereby putting the ashram at great risk of that unleashed, terrible power. Iravan is expected to nurture his marriage and encouraged to strengthen his bonds by having children (a desire that Ahilya sees as yet another grab at power rather than a true desire to be a father). Into this maelstrom of pent-up emotion, a lull has settled over the planet. Ahilya, young Oam (who keeps flirting with Ahilya) and junior architect Naila are set to go when Iravan powers his way into the mission, taking Naila’s place.

When the party exits the ashram into the jungle, Iravan senses that something is horribly wrong and urges the party to abort the mission. Ahilya shrugs off his concern and is not only able to replace a tracker on an elephant yaksha, she obtains a sample of spiralweed for her friend Dhruv, who is hoping that this banned plant may provide the sungineer corps with a means to make a battery. Then the earth starts to shake; what seemed like a lull was nothing of the sort! Why did they not receive any alarm from the ashram? Iravan struggles to traject the group to the safety of Nakshar before the earthrage kills them. In order to do so, he reaches a state he’s never entered, making a connection with a silvery spark in his consciousness that he calls a resonance, which gives him supertrajection powers.

The fallout from this event guides the rest of the plot. It’s safe to say, without giving anything else away, that complex issues around the idea of selfhood are the core of this book. Marriage is an identity struggle; one’s role in society is an identity struggle. Tacked onto these is this evolutionary power to traject.

I really appreciated the plot movement. The reader sees the events through Ahilya’s eyes and Iravan’s. This separation allows for a concurrent understanding of motive and sympathy for both. My one critique around the damaged relationship is that I felt like I really understood the husband/wife hurts early on and didn’t need the excess reminders each time Ahilya remembered one of Iravan’s slights and vice versa.
The world-building and this advanced form of humanity’s part in it is really cool. I struggled a bit with some of the more esoteric explanations, but not enough to detract from enjoying the adventure.
Finally, I greatly, greatly admire authors who don’t give too much away too fast. There were some great twists in this book. I really look forward to the 2nd book in the trilogy.

Reader Advisory: Some sexual content, but nothing super-explicit

Thank you, NetGalley and Titan Books for sending this book for review. Any opinions are my own; I’m not receiving any kind of douceur for my review.

This has been on my radar for a while because of the unique synopsis and gorgeous cover. I thought it was a little confusing to get into at first, but once I got past the beginning few set-up chapters, I was hooked. The worldbuilding was very vivid and totally unique. Highly recommend for anyone looking for something a bit different and super immersive.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Titan Books for a free eARC of "The Surviving Sky" by Kritika H. Rao.
A surprising debut that blends Eco Fiction, Fantasy and SF.
In a world where humans have to escape dangerous climate desasters called rages, they get into the skies under the protection of cities made of plants.
All this is possible due to some humans that can control the flora around them, using trajection and manipulating the plants not only for survival, but also comfort. They are the architects of the flying cities.
Inspired by Hinduism, this magic system involve the conscience, experienced in a second vision where the architect can bend the will of the plants in the service of the comunity.
We experince this world throug the eyes of Ahilya, a female scientist that studies the elvolved animals, yaksha, in the hope of finding easier means of survival for humanity, even though not many people have faith in her research.
We also see the perspective of her husband, Iravan, a senior arhitect and a respected member of their city council.
But with their different views on the world and their survival, their marriage is suffering.
The supporting caracters are interesting enough, but do not get the chance to have the same strong development as the main protagonists. ( Maybe they will in the next instalments. )
A fascinating world with an original magic system that was a joy to experience.

This was absolutely incredible. First off kudos to whoever designed the cover and title because I was immediately sucked in just looking at it. Then the synopsis hooked me and once I started reading it I was a goner. Please pick this up in stores when it’s released. Such a great fantasy pick

Much thanks to NetGalley and Titan books for giving me an arc!

I am at a loss for words, honestly. I think what will really stick with me for a long time is how immersive and unique this fantasy was. It was extremely ambitious but it succeeded. It’s funny how I wanted to take a break from reading romances to focus a little on fantasy. This isn’t to say this is a romance but the tense marriage of two people being at the center of this beautiful story showed me that I can’t really escape love and it’s trials and tribulations.

I wasn’t expecting the ending at all and I don’t usually mind if I can pick up on the ending before I arrive there but I definitely felt slightly shocked about this. This story was a tense and wild ride. The writing was gripping and so captivating. The emotion? I cannot overstate how much it had me in its thrall. I think one of my favorite things about Rao’s writing is how emotional and raw it is. I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait to see more.

This was vivid, imaginative, unique, and immersive. The world building felt dreamlike. I didn't particularly care for our main characters but I did love the aspect of floating series and violent storms and this strange world. This was more high stakes than I originally thought and that was a wonderful surprise. I'd give it 3.75 stars.

Intriguing premise although this one was not for me. It might be for others though as I struggled to connect with the story. I might try again in the future.

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao takes readers on a thrilling adventure in a world of cataclysmic storms, floating cities, and magic. The story centers around architects, who are revered in a society where humanity's survival depends on their abilities to keep the cities afloat during earthrage storms. The protagonist, Iravan, is a powerful architect with a complicated relationship with his wife, Ahilya, who is an archeologist. When their jungle expedition goes awry and jeopardizes their careers, they must work together to save their reputations. However, their discoveries threaten not only their marriage but also their entire civilization. The book is perfect for fans of N.K. Jemisin, Tasha Suri, and Martha Wells. The world-building is vivid and imaginative, and the characters are complex and well-developed. Overall, The Surviving Sky is a promising start to an explosive new science fantasy trilogy.