Welcome friend! One of my bookstagram friends sent me her additional copy of The Surviving Sky – that is how I came across this book back in June 2023. I told Ariel about it and we got around to reading this unique fantasy in March. Take a look at what the book is about and read our discussion:
Kritika H. Rao | Goodreads | Rages #1
Enter a lush world of cataclysmic storms, planet-wide jungles, floating cities and devastating magic in this first book of an explosive new science fantasy trilogy, perfect for fans of N.K. Jemisin, Tasha Suri and Martha Wells.
High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. Here, architects are revered deeply, with humanity’s survival reliant on a privileged few. If not for their abilities, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below. Charismatic and powerful, Iravan is one such architect. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his archeologist wife, they are a method to suppress non-architects. Their marriage is thorny and fraught—yet when a jungle expedition goes terribly wrong, jeopardizing their careers, Ahilya and Iravan must work together to save their reputations. But as their city begins to plummet, their discoveries threaten not only their marriage, but their entire civilization.
Content notes include death, grief, classism, violence.
The Surviving Sky – Discussion
Kriti: The idea of a science fantasy, rooted in South Asian culture, particularly Indian culture, drew me to the storyline and when Ariel liked it too, we decided to save it for a buddy read this year.
Ariel: Yes! The concept of this book drew me in and I was very excited to begin reading this with Kriti. Books like this always have the potential to be great for discussion and exploration of our own thoughts as we journey with the characters, and this was no exception.
World building
The world of The Surviving Sky is ancient where humans have lived for a long time. There is history that goes back to when civilization was on the ground but in the present, people live in earthly sky ships, called ashrams. There are many such ships scattered across the globe. Earthrages, these violent storms on the surface, have made the ground inhabitable and people live in small communities, following a strict hierarchy of roles and powers.
The worldbuilding in this book felt extremely unique and fresh. The concepts were foreign, but we learn about the world gradually in a way that makes sense to the readers, so that the worldbuilding doesn’t feel tedious or an overload of information. We don’t know much about the magic system, but neither does one of the main points of view, Ahilya, so we discover trajection’s intricacies alongside her. We discover the setting through two characters, Ahilya with a more “layman’s” idea of the ships, and Iravan with an overarching big-picture understanding.
The coolest thing about these ships in my opinion is how malleable they are. Created from plants, controlled by humans who have a unique ability to ‘traject’, i.e., enter and manipulate the Moment, the architects change the architecture of the ship as it travels and, in times of lulls in the earthrages, lands on the surface. Of the two main characters, Iravan is a Senior Architect, while his wife, Ahilya, is an archeologist.
The overall world and society being built out of a necessity for survival was a cool concept, and the idea that architects are the world’s magicians who keep these floating city-ships out of harm’s way was fascinating.
Characters
The Surviving Sky begins with Nakshar landing on the surface and Ahilya embarking on an expedition to track down a rakshas, these giant beings who survive earthrages. Ahilya believes that the key to survival is in how these beings continue to live inspite of the difficulties on the ground. However, as a person who cannot traject, her opinions are not listened to. She had Iravan’s support for the longest time but since his promotion to Senior Architect, their relationship has become strained.
Iravan is a character who is a councilmember and a powerful architect. He takes pride in the work that he does contributing to the city, and how his trajecting can create a safer and happier place for people to live. However, we quickly find out that there are strict tenants to being a powerful architect, and many councilmembers keep a close eye on him. In this world, magic has consequences, and architects are at risk at losing themselves to the trajecting magic, so having deep material bonds (such as marriage) is a must for these powerful architects, so Iravan is motivated to try to patch things up with his wife, Ahilya, so he can continue to do his important work.
I love how the marital bond between Ahilya and Iravan is central to the plot of the book. The story is told in both their perspectives, showing what it is like to have responsibility and secrets (Iravan) and what it is like to be oppressed because of lack of an ability (Ahilya).
I appreciate the ability to write compelling characters who work off each other and build agency through each other’s goals and conflicts. Ahilya and Iravan each are well-rounded and well-defined characters who have their own view of the world, and often those views come in conflict with each other. Their interactions with each other provide engaging dialogue and exposition while also propelling them to make the choices that carry the book along. There is interesting development and I’m so excited to see where book two brings these two characters.
They both have their unique existential crisis and dilemmas. They have their respective people outside of the marriage to turn to in their times of need and agendas they are trying to move forward. In the end, they realize how important they are to each other and how intimately they know each other.
There are a number of other characters. There was Bharavi, who we both loved. She is a fellow Senior Architect. There is Dhruv, Ahilya’s childhood friend and sunengineer who helps with her experiments and data collection. Through Bharavi, Dhruv and the other council members, the workings of the ashram are revealed further. Ahilya’s sister plays an important role in portraying another side of a Senior Architect’s wife.
The side characters were also integral to the plot and the worldbuilding, and those side characters each felt like they had their own goals and understandings of the world that the reader can only see a glimpse of. They felt fully in charge of their own actions as well; rather than only being vehicles propelling the main characters forward.
Storytelling and Plot
I found the storytelling to be immersive in the best sense of the word– I often found myself struggling to put down the book! Each new chapter ended with an exciting new twist or turn that I had no idea was coming, and I always wanted to read one more chapter. From start to finish, the book held my attention and I’m looking forward to the next books in the series.
Often in books with multiple POVs, it is easy to have a favorite narrative. The Surviving Sky was so balanced and well done that I could not pick between Iravan and Ahilya. They offered different aspects of the world and the story and each was pivotal in the plot and enjoyment of the story. I would never end a chapter from one character’s point of view and not be curious about what was happening to the other one.
I found a lot of interplay between Hindi words and philosophy. Raksha is a play on ‘rakshash’ which means demons. The Surviving Sky beautifully portrays the concept of samsara – birth, death, and reincarnation – linking it to magic and human evolution.
I found the concept of survival and contribution to survival as an interesting premise, especially in light of the idea of rebirth and continued consciousness throughout generations. Ahilya often has to grapple with the fact that she’s not an architect and not “contributing” to the ashram enough. This as a juxtaposition to Ivaran being one of the most powerful architects on the council created a compelling conflict that propelled the story along with the larger world events.
Add The Surviving Sky to your Goodreads shelf. Next book is out in June.
There are many other South Asian fantasies on my radar – The Burning Kingdoms by Tasha Suri and The Ivory Key Duology by Akshaya Raman – and I am excited to read what they offer.
Thanks for reading our discussion! Let us know if you will be picking up this book.
Our next read is Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin.
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