The Surviving Sky

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.

“Enthralling and highly imaginative. The Surviving Sky is a richly crafted story set in a fascinating world of flying cities, deadly storms and intricate magic, with intriguing characters. I loved the protagonists and their relationship, fraught with tension and secrets, ambition and desire.”

—Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

“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

"Kritika H. Rao crafts an inventive and cerebral debut, reimagining South Asian culture in a wonderfully different world. A story about love, duty, power, as much as it is about fascinating lore and costly magic. The struggles of magic, class, and the needs of the many versus the needs of oneself are all examined and put to the test within The Surviving Sky."

—R. R. Virdi, USA Today bestselling author of The First Binding

“Intensely imaginative and heartbreakingly human, The Surviving Sky paints a brutal, unforgiving world and the life that tenuously exists above it. Filled with both startling revelations and the intimate portrait of a struggling marriage, this is a story that is hard to put down.”

—Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

“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

“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

“A unique blend of sci-fi futurism, eco-fantasy mystery, and intriguing spirituality, Rao's debut about a dissolving marriage in a world on the brink of destruction is truly unlike anything I've ever read. Extremely original and thought-provoking, The Surviving Sky is something completely new and hard to find—I utterly loved it and couldn't put it down.”

—Shannon Chakraborty, internationally bestselling author of The Daevabad Trilogy.