We chat with author Ai Jiang about A River from the Sky, which is a 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.
Hi, Ai! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I am a Chinese-Canadian writer, Ignyte, Bram Stoker®, and Nebula Award winner, and Hugo, Astounding, Locus, Aurora, and BFSA Award finalist born in Changle, Fujian, currently residing in Markham, Ontario. My work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, Clarkesworld, The Masters Review, among others. I am the author of the Natural Engines duology, Linghun and I AM AI.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I was in elementary school, I became obsessed with both the library and Scholastic book orders. I was drawn most to portal fantasies, enough so that I wrote and illustrated my own in the second grade. I laminated the cover manually with tape and my mother brought it to the travel agency she worked at back then to get it stapled because it was too thick for our stapler at home (it was something around 25-30 pages in length). I think it’s the wondrous nature of created worlds and being able to transport myself into them that drew me to writing and stories. As to when I discovered it, I’m not sure. I can’t remember not loving stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Animal Stories: Lost in the Snow By Holly Webb
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Beloved by Toni Morrison
A River from the Sky is the follow-up to A Palace Near the Wind and it’s out April 28th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Studio Ghibli x Attack on Titan.
For those who haven’t picked up A Palace Near the Wind, what can readers expect?
A Blue Beard-esque secondary world, science-fantasy tale exploring nature versus industrialism, where nature is personified.
And for those who have, what’s to come in A River from the Sky?
A continuation right from the end of A Palace Near the Wind but with an introduction of a new perspective of a character who is far more acquainted with the realities of the world compared to our original MC, Lufeng, exploring the nature of innovation and discovery and its consequences.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
I think rather than the characters, I was more excited in building out the world of the Natural Engines series further because its development and erosion speaks more about the characters than even the characters reveal about themselves.
Did you face any challenges whilst working on the sequel? How did you overcome them?
I had written A Palace Near the Wind back in 2022/2023 and both began and finished A River From the Sky in 2025, before Palace’s release, so it was very difficult approaching the book as a very different writer from who I was when I’d written the first book, trying to figure out what I’d intended in the first of the series and how I could both continue and evolve the story based on the writer I’d become. As to how I overcame it, I suppose the loom of a rapidly approaching deadline! But jokes aside, I think it took a lot of reconciling the past with the present, of trying to stay faithful to my original vision for the books but also merging it with new ideas that had been percolating in my mind over the years.
What’s next for you?
I just finished the final edits for An Empire in the Clouds, which is my first novel-length book, forthcoming with Titan Books this fall, September 2026. I’ve a bunch of projects written, waiting to find homes, and I think I’ll be returning to my horror/dark fiction roots this year with a weird little project that’s been brewing in my mind.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
Oh, there are so many. At the top of my list I’d say, Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang, Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar, The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung, Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Gracie Marsden, The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang, The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro, Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis.
