The Surviving Sky, page 46
The bush continued to grow, nearly to her chest. Soon, the brambles would block her view. The tracker locket around her neck began chiming again, ever so softly, muffled by the thick fabric of her kurta.
Her heart pounding, Ahilya raised the telescope to her eyes and aimed it straight ahead. The bobbing shape focused into a faraway falcon, its wings spanning a hundred feet. Atop the creature sat a figure, his white kurta gleaming in the blue sky, his windswept hair a tangle. Iravan raised a hand, and she caught the glint of a smile.
Ahilya laughed—
Raised her own—
Then the brambles closed, knitting themselves together.
The smile still playing on her face, Ahilya turned and walked away from the terrace. Jasmines erupted along the grass, leading her way back to the temple.
GLOSSARY
• ARCHITECTS’ ACADEMY: A place outside the temple where architects go to learn trajection. Non-architects are not privy to this place.
• ARCHITECTS’ DISC: A Disc circling the rudra tree where Maze Architects perform trajection to construct the city and keep it in flight. Non-architects are not privy to this place.
• ASHRAM: An airborne city.
• BASIC EQUATION, THE: A commonly understood mathematical equation that measures the loss and conversion of energy during trajection: Plant’s old state of consciousness + trajection = a corresponding dissipating raga.
• DEATHBOX: A sungineering device made of glass that creates a pocket Moment.
• DEATHCAGE: A gigantic deathbox that can potentially contain people within it.
• DEATHCHAMBER: A sungineering invention comprising forcefields that create a pocket Moment. Unlike deathboxes or deathcages, deathchambers have no physical boundaries of glass, thus allowing one to walk in and out of them unobstructed.
• DISC ARCHITECT: An architect charged specifically with working on the Architects’ Disc. Usually Maze Architects or Senior Architects.
• EARTHRAGES: Cataclysmic storms that destroy the surface of the jungle planet constantly and unpredictably.
• ECSTASY: A state of uncontrollable power for an architect, which is extremely dangerous.
• EXAMINATION OF ECSTASY: An Examination that only those architects suspected of Ecstasy are called to. Undergoing it can be harrowing. Failing it results in excision. Passing it can still be traumatic.
• EXCISION: The cutting away of an architect from their trajection. Only done to Ecstatic Architects.
• HEALBRANCH: A plant grown in Nakshar that provides immunity to everyone.
• JUNIOR ARCHITECT: A person who can traject and is one level below Maze Architects and two levels below Senior Architects. Their uniform comprises a long green kurta and narrow green trousers. A formal translucent robe is belted over those for official ceremonies.
• MAZE ARCHITECT: A person who can traject and is one level above Junior Architects and one level below Senior Architects. Their uniform comprises a long brown kurta and narrow brown trousers. A formal translucent robe is belted over those for official ceremonies.
• MOMENT, THE: An extradimensional reality only available to architects, where they are able to see the consciousness of plants.
• RAGA: A melody that is discernible only to architects. A byproduct of trajection.
• RUDRA TREE: Nakshar’s core tree that is embedded with flight permissions from ancient times that allow the city to fly.
• RUDRA BEADS: Dark black beads that are created from the rudra tree, and are embedded with both trajection and sungineering technology. The greater the number of beads, the more responsibility a person has. Each bead contains specific permissions, and several beads make rudra bead necklaces, bracelets and rings.
• SANCTUM: A place within the temple where architects go to heal. Non-architects are not privy to this place.
• SENIOR ARCHITECT: The most senior position an architect can aspire to. A level above Maze Architect. All Senior Architects automatically become councilors, and it is awarded very rarely after a very critical process. The uniform comprises a long white kurta and narrow white trousers. A formal translucent robe is belted over those for official ceremonies.
• SENIOR SUNGINEER: The most senior position a sungineer can aspire to. All Senior Sungineers automatically become councilors, and it is awarded very rarely after a critical process.
• SPIRALWEED: Contraband. An illegal plant in most cities.
• SUNGINEERS: Engineers who harness trajection to build everyday devices.
• TEMPLE: A city’s core that houses councilor chambers, the sanctum, the Architects’ Disc and other such privileged and protected spaces. No one may come in without permission from the councilors.
• TRAJECTION: The power that architects use that allows them to manipulate plants in order to build.
• TWO VISIONS: The way an architect can split their sight. The first vision allows them to see normally with their eyes, and the second allows them to drift in the dimension of the Moment.
• YAKSHAS: Gigantic jungle creatures that live in isolation. Little is known of them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
You’d think when you’ve finished writing a whole book, the acknowledgment section would come easy—but wow, that is so not the case. Books are nebulous things, coming into reality from half-formed thoughts and daydreaming; and the publishing industry is ruthless, with many systemic messes. For this to become a thing I can touch and smell and hold and feel… it is nothing short of magic.
There is a temptation—especially with your very first book—to thank everyone who had even the slightest to do with bringing you to this point; from your English teachers who graded your essays with joy and pushed books into your hands, to the stranger who didn’t laugh when you shyly mentioned you wanted to be an author.
So ah!—is this ever going to be an incomplete, arbitrary list… and if I miss you out, it is not because I am not grateful. Just maybe tired and overwhelmed as I write this, hah!
Thank you, first and foremost, to my wonderful team at Titan: my editor George Sandison whose communication, gentle navigation of the story to make it its best, and vision for the book made me see my own work differently—something I never thought I’d be able to do through so many re-reads. I cherish your feedback immensely.
Thanks to my copyeditor Richard Shealy for untangling commas and the finer details of sentence structures, and being so communicative through the process; to my marketing team Katherine Carroll, Kabriya Coghlan, Lydia Gittins, Hannah Scudamore, and all of the extended Titan family. After a brutal experience in the initial stages of The Rages Trilogy, being welcomed and cared for by you was like coming home. You reignited joy in the debut experience when I was fairly certain I was entering into all this pretty jaded.
Thank you to my fabulous cover artist Leo Nicholls, and the Titan art team, especially Julia Lloyd for all the gorgeous art (did you, dear reader, catch that coolness in the interior art of Chapter 51, by the way?), and all of the things that made Iravan and Ahilya, and the world of The Rages Trilogy feel so alive. Thanks to Adrian McLaughlin for typesetting magic—when I tell you that it was one of my largest concerns, how some formatting would be rendered—ah, but I needn’t have worried at all. Thanks to the PRH sales team who worked so hard behind the scenes to get this book into the hands of booksellers and readers. Thank you to the wonderful team at Recorded Books, who got the audiobook out—and oh my goodness, is it ever surreal to hear your book read out like that, what a trip! It feels so goddamn real, in a whole different way!
Deep gratitude to the BookEnds Literary Agency, and especially to Naomi Davis, my dear friend and brilliant agent. I will never forget how you were so excited about this book when it was nothing but a seed, and I was but a stranger, back when we met at a con. Look at how far we’ve come, huh? I cannot thank you enough for your passion for my career, for taking me at my own estimation and always believing in me—and for standing by me through events that are certainly no part of an ordinary debut experience. We weathered it all, and here we are on the other side, and we are a badass team, you and I.
So much gratitude to the many, many people who have taught me about the industry. It would be impossible to name everyone, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two groups. The Writing Excuses crew, whose podcasts I’d listen to every morning driving to work in those very, very early days when I was drafting this book, before I even had an agent—you folks reminded me of why I loved writing when I truly needed it. When I look back, those podcasts really shine as a starting moment for The Rages Trilogy and my own career as a writer. Thanks also to SFF Powerhouse, who kept me company through the ups and downs of life in the last few years—Chelsea Mueller, Gabriela Romero Lacruz, Rachel Fikes, Sue Lynn Tan, and all my other wonderful agent sibs on the server. You are all so generous for sharing your expertise freely, and you’ve taught me about community in this very topsy-turvy, lonesome industry. I could not be more grateful.
Several people also read the early drafts of this book, and tremendous gratitude to them all, especially my excellent beta readers: Cheyanne Lepka, David Esarey, Léon Othenin-Girard, and Francesca Gabrielle Hurtado, whose constant love for the story through the years gave me enduring faith in my own work when doubts crept in. You are all rockstars, and you answered the inanest of queries with patience and calm, and helped me reverse-outline my character motivations when I sent you late-night Discord messages, saying, “Wait, would Ahilya or Iravan really do that?” I see you, my friends.
This would be an incomplete list if I did not thank the book community who showed up, especially during my deep moment of crisis in 2021 when it felt like The Surviving Sky was not going to see the light of day, because of Publishing MessTM. Look what we did together! You made The Surviving Sky the little book that could. You’re wonderful!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the good folks at Fantasy Hive UK for helping with the cover reveal, and being among the first few to reach out and offer support—even back when I didn’t truly cotton on to how much I needed it. Thank you, Shazzie at Fantasy Book Critic for your constant cheerleading of the book and the characters, and making me truly believe that yes, Representation Matters—I was delighted to see you pick up on all the Hindu philosophy stuff; thank you, Rogier Capri who was the first champion of The Surviving Sky online—I still remember being shocked when I saw you saying you anticipated my book so much all those years ago when there was no buzz around it at all. Deep, deep gratitude to all the booksellers, bookbloggers, bookstagrammers, and Tiktokers who have shared their love for this book. Truly, in my deepest moments of doubt, your support for The Surviving Sky, and for Ahilya and Iravan, kept me going.
Thanks also to my dear writing friends—authors who I love and admire so much, and honestly, I still pinch myself—what is this reality where I can call you friends? Fake news! You reached out with your support, and I will always remember your kindness—Tasha Suri, Shannon Chakraborty, Anna Stephens, Essa Hansen, Andrea Stewart, EJ Beaton, Melissa Caruso, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Sunyi Dean, Hannah Long, Fran Wilde, and oh god, I know I am just forgetting some names—I’m sorry! Deep thanks to all of the wonderful people who blurbed this book. How so many and so amazing, each of you? I am blush! You should know, I read your blurbs many times, especially when I was writing the sequels—your words mattered so much. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules to read early copies of this book.
Thank you to my parents and brother who grew me up on books. Look ma and pa and Kateek—I haz written words. Those days of bringing me back stacks of heavy tomes from your school library everyday; or taking me to the public library that was so far away from home; or posting my childish essays out to the local magazines and bragging to your friends, “My daughter/sister wrote this”… they got me here. Your daughter/sister wrote this. (Insert cool sunglass emoji.)
Many thanks to you, reader, to whom this book is dedicated. I thought long and hard about the dedication, and it seemed the only appropriate one for this book, my first one out in the world. After all, ever since I was a dreamy kid chewing on a pencil and thinking up plotless stories, I had you at the back of my mind. Now I get to meet you through my words, and it is such a privilege. I hope you stick around for the rest of Ahilya and Iravan’s journey. I promise it is going to be good.
And finally—I deliberately kept this for the end, because I don’t know if I will ever have the right words, and I know how inadequate these words are—thank you to my dear, loving family. To my husband, Tate—you are the treasure of my life, the best person I know, and none of this would have been remotely possible without you. If I tried to list the ways you have contributed to not just this story, but my whole writing career, I’d fill up another book.
And to my Rohan, my beautiful, brilliant darling. You were along for so much of the journey, weren’t you? I wrote through when you were an idea, through the pregnancy and nursing sessions through maternity leave and then the end of it. I wrangled publishing woes with you right by my side, and burst into tears of overwhelm when both good and bad things happened while cuddling you; and you just stuck by me, giving me so much love. I hope one day when you’re old enough to read these books, you enjoy them, and are proud of your mom. I love you more than anything else in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kritika H. Rao is a science-fiction and fantasy writer, who has lived in India, Australia, Canada and The Sultanate of Oman. Kritika’s stories are influenced by her lived experiences, and often explore themes of consciousness, self vs. the world, and identity. When she is not writing, she is probably making lists. She drops in and out of social media; you might catch her on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram @KritikaHRao. Visit her online at www.kritikahrao.com.
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Kritika H. Rao, The Surviving Sky
