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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.
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Oh, this is a conflicting one, but I am leaning toward a higher score because for all the issues I had with the book at times, it was engaging, hard to put down, and so wildly imaginative and unique.
When I first picked this up at the bookstore today, I intended only to read a chapter or two to see if I liked it - and I ended up reading 200+ pages. I bought the book, obviously, and finished it this same day. It really is easy to be enthralled by, and the pacing is so swift that it pulls you along whether you like it or not.
The world building is highly imaginative; I can easily say I haven't read anything like this before. There is a lot of Hindu philosophy built into the story as well, and that was a breath of fresh air. There were many moments when the narrative became painful to read through as it had to do a lot of heavy lifting with the world building - especially at the end, when puzzle pieces were being put together during the climax of the whole story. The come down after the climax was also a whole lot of world info dumping, which felt awfully strange. Actually, everything having to do with the climax on to the end of the book felt like a severe let down.
Because this story, with all the heavy world building and incorporation of the philosophy of the mind and of reincarnation, becomes an absolutely frustrating mess of Words being Thrown Around as the characters struggle through the climax. Despite having followed these characters through their investigation and ostensibly understanding the journey they went on, the climax was just...word salad. It was a strange, frustrating experience. Perhaps part of this is because of my aphantasia; when I read, I don't picture anything. At most, I see a black background with gray outlines and shading. If I think of an apple, I know what an apple is supposed to look like, intellectually, but I can't actually picture it in my mind. So this climax, which is almost entirely about a mental, emotional, existential crisis, did absolutely nothing for me. I just felt so frustrated. I wanted to feel what the book wanted me to feel for the characters, but nothing connected.
Speaking of the main characters, oh boy. Oh man. Oh wow. What a wildly brave thing Rao did here with Ahilya and Iravan. The book starts out with them basically estranged, and Rao really digs into their strengths and weaknesses both as individuals and as a married couple. They hurt each other and allow their insecurities to drive them, and they're not exactly easy to follow. I actually kind of hated one of them at the start, but a lot of what I was getting through the writing felt purposeful; what I disliked about the character was called out in the text, and I felt so validated. I don't think I could ever believe these two people actually loved each other, though. The book kept trying to convince me that they loved each other madly despite how fractured their relationship was, but I just wasn't buying it. They needed therapy, LOADS OF IT.
I know I've just unloaded quite a bit of my frustrations with the book, but I did really appreciate what The Surviving Sky was doing. Rao created an incredibly interesting and compelling world and story here, centering two characters and a version of a relationship that I don't often see in fantasy. Seeing this story unfold through the lens of their fractured relationship was SO interesting. I think all of the other characters could have used a bit more development, but they all served their narrative purposes very well.
The Surviving Sky, flaws and all, is a deeply imaginative and enthralling novel.
There was a lot going on here. The writing was beautiful, the world-building was amazing, and the imagery was vivid. I think the only thing I didn't like was that Iravan seemed like two different people based on whose perspective we were following. Even if I ignored the context for dialogue, what he said sometimes contradicted what I thought I knew about him.