A review by thereadingrambler
Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise

5.0

Scribe IV is an obsolete automaton living on the Bastion, a secluded monastery in an abandoned corner of the galaxy. 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 all the Bastion’s residents for their supposed crime.Quin, a recovering drug addict turned private investigator, 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 xyr divine assistance.With the Drowned Sisters closing in, 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 what it will cost him?

This summary makes this book sound like a fast-paced murder mystery set in a religious back drop, when really it is an intensely personal examination of the price of faith set in a murder mystery backdrop. The Bastion used to be one of the most holy places in the universe: the site of divine revelation. Literally, all the deities and divine creatures of the world revealed themselves to humanity. For decades, humans pilgrimaged to the site or used its symbolic power to ascend their own gods. But over time the fervor (or the novelty) waned until all that was left is a crumbling ruin haunted by Scribe IV and a few humans.

The symbolism of the place serves as a perfect location for the Pope to call a conclave of as many religious leaders as possible to make his proposal: the abolition of all established religions. Scribe IV is fairly sure this is not going to go over very well with all of these religious leaders, but who is he to countermand the Pope. Unfortunately, before this compelling theological issue can be posed, the Pope is found dead. Thus enters Quin and Angel, our investigative duo, and Quin’s haunted past, which is the monkey on this book’s back, dragging the characters and the reader down into the depth of trauma only to fight our way back out as the mystery is unfurled.

The book opens with Scribe IV contemplating the sky above Bastion, trying to guess where Heaven’s Ark Station was at that moment. He knows it would be easy to find out as the station is easily tracked, but “when so many great questions had been answered—the nature of gods and angels, the shape of the universe—Scribe IV chose to find mystery wherever he could. However small. He craved wonder and the possibility that at any moment he might experience uncertainty, be surprised” (1). What is the purpose of a scribing automaton in, essentially, a monastery at the most religious site in the universe, that is crumbling into the sea? Where faith has become something that no one needs anymore? The book ends with a path to an answer: “Faith in a world where gods were proven—maybe that in itself was a mystery worth investigating. The riddle of himself, his purpose in life, and what he might become” (167). This book is about faith and mystery and how the known and the unknown hold a tender balance with each other, snapping it—fulfilling our desire for knowledge—can cause ruptures and ripples we did not expect or intend.

I was truly blown away by the nuance, grace, tenderness, and depth of this little book. In barely 170 pages, Wise is able to tackle some of the deepest and most essential mysteries of the human experience in a way that leaves you with hope—and isn’t that what faith is all about?