Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (September 3, 2024)

A sci-fi murder mystery novella that will have you praying to gods old and new.

This is a wildly imaginative and beautifully written novella which really excels in character development. Our main characters are a newly created angel, an investigator with addiction issues and an automaton that has achieved consciousness, but worries he may not have a soul. All of this on the backdrop of a lone tower, on a forgotten planet where a key religious leader known as 'the pope' has been murdered.

I love the gender-queer rep with our angel's pronouns as xyr and xe through the whole book. This has a light MM romance subplot, and amazing sibling relationship rep.

For me there were some pacing issues, where I felt some characters were introduced too late in the story, or the world building was a little too soft and left me unsure of what was happening.

I hope that A.C Wise writes another story set in this universe. They did such an amazing job with soft world building that they created a universe of possibilities.

This book is best read while trying to find your grandfather's soul inside a clock.