The Surviving Sky

Surviving Sky, Book 1

By: Kritika H. Rao

Narrated by: Pranshu Mishra, Sharmila Devar

Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

This Hindu philosophy-inspired debut science fantasy follows a husband and wife racing to save their living city—and their troubled marriage—high above a jungle world besieged by cataclysmic storms.

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below.

Charismatic, powerful, mystical, Iravan is one such architect. In his city, his word is nearly law. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his wife, they are a way for survival to be reliant on the privileged few. Like most others, she cannot manipulate the plants. And she desperately seeks change.

Their marriage is already thorny—then Iravan is accused of pushing his abilities to forbidden limits. He needs Ahilya to help clear his name; she needs him to tip the balance of rule in their society. As their paths become increasingly intertwined, deadly truths emerge, challenging everything each of them believes. And as the earthrages become longer, and their floating city begins to plummet, Iravan and Ahilya's discoveries might destroy their marriage, their culture, and their entire civilization.

©2023 Kritika H. Rao (P)2023 Reccorded Books

Critic reviews

"Sharmila Devar and Pranshu Mishra tap into the emotional turmoil of a marriage on the rocks in a Hindu-inspired eco-fictional world in which humans fight for their lives amid devastating storms.... With a broad range of emotional complexity, Devar and Mishra skillfully balance the couple's interpersonal strife and the far-reaching implications of a shifting society filled with secrets." (AudioFile)

Very near DNF

I very nearly did not finish this book almost entirely because of the male narrator. Not every single word needs to spoken in a growl. It got to an almost peak annoying level half way through the book and I almost stopped listening all together.
Aside from the narrator, the book itself is interesting on the surface. The magic behind it is still very confusing and not very well explained but the basis is good nonetheless. However I could not get past the husband and their toxic and manipulative marriage. He’s possibly the worst character I’ve read in a while, and I found myself really hoping he’d honestly die off at some point. Overall, I’d probably not recommend this book to many people unless they were specifically looking for a book exactly like this.
Why can’t we ever just have strong, independent women leads who aren’t gaslit the entire book to believe they’re less then?

I really wanted to like this, but...

I was intrigued by the premise and the potential world building, especially the Hindu-South Asian inspiration. The first few chapters I was drawn in and felt the voice performances were great. However, the male actor for Iravan essentially spoke in a teeth-clenched growl 80% of the book. The female actress was good. The story was confusing (I would say confused) and really did not go anywhere until the very end. And then the last 1/4 of the book the plot took a turn that made no sense. Maybe in future books more of the world and "magic system" will be built and revealed.. the characters are also very one-dimensional, which is a shame because they could be really interesting. Ahelia basically served no purpose of her own other than as a plot foil. I really was going to abandone this but kept giving it another try until I reached the point where I felt I might as well. I honestly cannot imagine what additional books would be about as the plot entirely resolved itself (way too neatly). Lastly, Iravan is about the most unlikable character I have read in a long time. He is arrogant, ego-driven and condescending. The great reconciliation felt so unbelievable. I actively was rooting against him the entire time. I kept expecting Ahelia to play some part or some aspect of her character to be the key. But alas she serves very little purpose despite being the only character that is remotely interesting or has depth. All this being said, I think I would have enjoyed this lore had I read it. I still would loathe Iravan. But I think the story and world would better translate. I just could not get past the choice to make Iravan constantly giving a gravel guttural angry growl. Which is a shame because the actor has a rich voice made for audio narration. Just a really unfortunate choice and a really loathsome character.

A Truly Original SciFantasy Odyssey

If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, magic, richly textured stories, mystery, adventure, complicated emotional characters, and a messy romance, and spirituality (which may be very different than your own) you will enjoy this amazing book. I can't wait to read more from this author. If you don't enjoy that combination of elements, this is probably not the book for you, as evidenced by the reviews that mention some of those elements in a negative light.

The voice acting was top-notch and a big part of the appeal for me.

At first, I was a bit put off by the lack of where in time/space the story takes place. It is not clear if it is Earth's future, an alternative Earth, or some completely different place in the Universe. But soon I let go of that and just enjoyed it. Also, I originally thought the focus was SciFi, but I would peg it as more like sciency magic.

Some reviewers have described some of the characters as annoying or immature, but I would describe them as a combination of passionate and victims of circumstances. The circumstances are one of the most compelling parts of the story. There are secrets kept between different groups that shape the story and form the central struggle that must be overcome.

Great Story, Stupendous Delivery

STORY: To save a crumbling world, they must save their crumbling marriage. An emotional tale of truth and reconciliation, set in a world of floating tree-cities above a jungle planet roiling with supernatural storms. The perspective alternates between the troubled couple: a husband born into the roughly-hereditary caste of Architects, plant-manipulating mages who’ve kept humanity alive in the skies for centuries, and a wife whose unorthodox hypotheses about the true history of their people are humored as flights of fancy at best, or at worst, dismissed and attributed to suspicion, resentment, or envy of the Architect caste and their power(s).

Without giving anything away, the protagonists’ gradual discovery of the elements of the wider metaplot suffers somewhat from “tell, don’t show” deliveries of exposition, but given how intensely metaphysical the story gets, this is easy to forgive — it would be nearly impossible to follow at times otherwise, and I don’t consider that a bad thing!

The real strength of the story, though, is the relationship between Ahilya (the wife) and Iravan (the husband). Watching them try, fail, and try again to heal their broken marriage, stymied by their stubborn pride or the secrets they keep from each other, seeing matters from both of their perspectives as the POV alternates, all of it results in you rooting for them to work things out.

PERFORMANCE; Holy crap. Devar (reading for Ahilya) is very good, don’t get me wrong, but Mishra (reading for Iravan) is in a league of his own. His portrayal of Iravan at his highest and lowest points — his awestruck wonder, his grit and determination, his explosive fury, his guilt and self-loathing, his sorrow and despair — is delivered with such raw emotion that your heart soars and breaks and soars again along with Iravan’s own. Nowhere is this more evident than Chapter 26, when Iravan is at absolute rock bottom — even as I type this review, I’ve given myself chills just REMEMBERING Mishra’s delivery of this chapter, giving voice to a man who is simultaneously at the peaks of self-loathing and the depths of despair, begging for the pain to stop.

Overall; The book was a great read, and a MARVELOUS listen.

very interesting and creative story, bad make voice actor

such a cool story, and really liked the at times irrational yet realistic characters. couldn't stand the make voice actor whose voice was 99% vocal fry.