Out of the Drowning Deep by AC Wise

Publisher - Titan

Published - Out Now

Price - £11.99 hardback £6.99 Kindle ebook

Scribe IV is an obsolete automaton, peacefully whiling away his years on the Bastion, a secluded monastery in an abandoned corner of the galaxy. But when the visiting Pope is found murdered, Scribe IV knows he has very little time before the terrifying Sisters of the Drowned Deep rise up to punish the Bastion’s residents for their crime.

Quin, a recovering drug addict turned private investigator, picks up a scrambled signal from the Bastion and agrees to take the case. Traumatized by a bizarre experience in his childhood, Quin repeatedly feeds his memories to his lover, the angel Murmuration. But fragmented glimpses of an otherworldly horror he calls the crawling dark continue to haunt his dreams.

Meanwhile in Heaven, an angel named Angel hears Scribe IV’s prayer. Intrigued by the idea of solving a crime with mortals, xe descends to offer xer divine assistance (whether those mortals want it or not). With the Drowned Sisters closing in around the Bastion, Scribe IV, Quin, and Angel race to find out who really murdered the Pope, and why. Quin’s missing memories may hold the key to the case―but is remembering worth the price?

How far can a story go? This can mean stretching your sense of disbelief? It can mean how many impossible things you accept before breakfast (or at least picking a book up). Sometimes it’s just fun to pick a book up truly going for something a bit different and aiming for a horizon you’ve not seen before. In AC Wise’s fascinating genre blending almost metaphysical murder mystery and more that is the novella Out of the Drowning Deep we have a wonderfully strange trio to a world of strange but real gods, robots, lost memories and not so angelic Angels. It’s a trip you’ll never forget reading.

The Bastion sits beneath three moons against a raging sea. An abandoned monastery in a place where the Gods all once came alive. Scribe IV runs it and a skeleton staff which is playing host to the Pope about to abolish organised religion. But the Pope is found dead very likely murdered. A murderous God and followers is on their way so Scribe IV calls out for a detective to which Quin answers the call as does a young Angel who adopts human form. They find inevitably nothing in simple, Quin’s own past continues to haunt and harm him and a God wants a sacrifice.

I don’t like comparing books to another book and I can safely say that would be very difficult anyway for this one. It’s a sumptuous blend of crime, SF, cosmic horror and a host of subgenres in between. We feel like we’ve been sent to the edges of genre in this tale where Gods, Sentient robots, humans and Angels mix with total normality. It is an isolated setting murder mystery with a kind but exasperated robot needing help before they get Judged by a God who lives within the Deep and feels very much from Cosmic Horror.

We soon find ALL the gods in this realm are alive and there are equally strange amazingly powerful and unusual creatures known as Angels. One named Angel decides to join Wuin after hearing Scribe’s prayer and they keep changing form. angel is clearly young ancient sentience and enjoying playing detective but also very much has a desire to help both Scribe and also Quin who is a very mentally scarred detective. For Angel’s story it’s about finding helping humanity has a cost and are they prepared to pay it.

For Quin while they try to work out the mystery they also are battling with a sense of lost. They’ve had a strange toxic relationship with another slightly more sinister Angel named Murmuration who brings agony and ecstasy. Their plotline is revealing Quin’s secret which chimes with this mystery and we as readers are made to judge what is the right thing to do here? Our views of characters will alter and I like that we are made to consider who really is at fault? Murmuration could be seen to be Angel’s future if they let themselves get too close to humanity’s foibles.

Finally we have Scribe and Angel’s section. The mystery is a good one with a host of suspects, motives and a pleasing loop to the theme of memory and the past haunting us. It’s a sad ending combined with a cosmic horror good awaiting. Moment to punish everyone. tension as to how this gets resolved stays solid. I loved Scribe a kindly robot slightly aware they are more human than people realise and their lack of heart doesn’t mean they haven’t got one.

All of this amazing stuff would not work without Wise’s gorgeous dark and lyrical writing pulling this all together to feel normal. This reality works even with all these disparate elements a space station nightclub sits alongside an eerie monastery and where SF and magic are clearly running around each other swapping ideas they go. It writing as a trip into the strange and the weird and if you expect clear logical answers to the world you may be disappointed but I enjoyed my journey so much I really didn’t care.

As a novella this doesn’t outstay its welcome. Too short a tale and you’d lose the scope and scale of the strangeness. Too long and we may have needed to explore the world to make this work. For me this shows why novellas are needed because I’d struggle to think how else such a beautifully weird dark tale could be told. Highly recommended!