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A River from the Sky: Natural Engines

by Ai Jiang

A world caught between family and industry

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Regular price $34.34 USD Sale price $20.60 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A world caught between family and industry

Set in the world of *A Palace Near the Wind*, Ai Jiang’s science-fantasy novella brings Lufeng and Sangshu into a landscape shaped by enormous water wheels, rebel territory, and Zinc’s experiments on its people. The sisters’ search for one another runs through Gear toward Engine, Zinc’s industrial heartland, while Sangshu confronts the consequences of her own connection to those experiments. The publisher’s description frames the story around family bonds, displacement, responsibility, and the costs of an industrial future, giving the fantastical setting a clear cultural and political dimension.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in science fantasy with industrial-worldbuilding and political conflict.
  • Those who enjoy stories centered on siblings, family ties, and the costs of leaving home.
  • Readers considering a follow-up to *A Palace Near the Wind*.

Themes

Family and sibling bondsCultural protectionDisplacementIndustrial consequencesResponsibility

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From the Nebula and Bram Stoker Award(R)-winning author comes the lyrical and moving science-fantasy follow-up to A Palace Near the Wind, as Lufeng and her sister Sangshu fight to protect their culture and their world. For readers of Nghi Vo, Amal El-Mohtar and Kritika H. Rao.

Fleeing from the Palace and crashing into the waters below its steep walls, Lufeng and her siblings reach Gear, with its huge deadly water wheels, where their sister Sangshu is waiting for them. In the chaos of the enormous waves, within moments they're snatched away and taken into rebel territory, where they learn more of the deadly experiments Zinc has wreaked upon the people.

Loyal to Copper now, Sangshu herself is a victim of Zinc's experiments. Desperate to find her family, she races through Gear to Engine, ruthless Zinc's industrial heartland, where she burns with a desire to fix her own mistakes and those of others and find a way to save her world.

This powerful, beautifully told novella explores the bonds of family, the pain of leaving all you have known behind, and the terrible price of our industrial future.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.