The Call of Abaddon by Colin Searle Review

To save the human race from the ultimate cosmic threat, Jason will have to become something far beyond human.
 

New Toronto is a fractured city-arcology on a dying Earth, where hope is as scarce as clean air. For Jason, survival means scavenging the ruins beneath the city — where any day could be his last.
 

But everything changes when an ancient alien obelisk — the ABADDON BEACON — attacks Jason’s mind from afar, making his dormant psychic abilities spiral out of control. After barely surviving Abaddon’s psionic possession attempt, Jason and his companions are left with no choice but to find the obelisk before it consumes him.
 

Problem is, Abaddon has been sealed within a top-secret United Earth Federation research lab for over a century, silently worming its alien technologies into human society, presented as gifts with a far darker purpose. The Beacon doesn’t just speak; it infects, projecting its viral energies far beyond the walls of the lab.
 

And Jason isn’t the only one hearing Abaddon’s call. Across the Solar System, a ruthless Emperor will stop at nothing to seize the Beacon’s power for himself.
 

As the Imperial invasion of Earth looms, Jason’s quest to confront Abaddon will force him into a critical master the strange power growing inside him ... or succumb to the Beacon's godlike influence, ushering in mankind's doom.
 

The Call of Abaddon is a gripping mythological tale of humanity's struggle to overcome an unimaginable darkness, blending the political intrigue of Dune with the eldritch terror of Lovecraft, and the explosive world-building of The Expanse.
 

The following review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

In the year 2263, Jason’s world and home under New Toronto is a world unlike any other. Under a dome protecting the city from raging toxic storms, New Toronto and its inhabitants are at war against an Imperial Invasion from across the Solar System while simultaneously fighting a separate battle within against a nanophage epidemic infecting humans, robots, and cyborgs alike. Haunted by strange visions and a voice in his head, Jason’s life in a hidden underground enclave is thrown into chaos when latent psychic abilities start to threaten both himself and everyone else around him. As the United Federation of Earth combats the Imperial forces in space, with the help of his brother David and friend Sam, Jason hears the calls of the mythical and extraterrestrial obelisk Abaddon that promises salvation from his uncontrollable powers, as well as information about his mysterious past. Serving as the first entry in the Abaddon Cycle series and Colin Searle’s debut novel, The Call of Abaddon is an ambitious sci-fi epic that mixes cyberpunk elements (bio and nanopunk flavors specifically) with the scale of a space opera. Featuring flashy action sequences, creative and expansive concepts, and a cast of scrappy characters, the Call of Abaddon is a promising start to a unique and futuristic version of Toronto and beyond!

One of the quintessential must-haves for a good sci-fi action-adventure romp is a solid premise paired with an exciting plot, and that is where the Call of Abaddon is strongest. The mysterious and powerful obelisk Abaddon is not only a unique twist on an extraterrestrial contact/technology, but is also a strong recurring visual perfectly featured in the book’s outstanding cover design illustrated by Searle himself. New Toronto’s futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic and technology alone is cool enough, but the addition of automatons, cyborgs, and psychic abilities provide a lot of great material to work with. In addition to New Toronto’s under the dome-style setup, the story also features underground enclaves that feel like a whole different world. The Call of Abaddon’s plot is also quite complex and is very much an ensemble cast story with a large number of characters and conflicting factions. Over the course of its run, the novel juggles several different storylines such as Jason’s psychic possessions by Abaddon, the Imperial Empire’s conquest against the United Federation of Earth, the spread of the infectious and cancerous phage, a dystopian society influenced by a corrupt clergy, and finally Jason, David and Sam’s shared history of escaping from the experimental Science Institute years ago. While there is a lot going on, by the end of the novel, each of the seemingly unrelated storylines are shown to be deeply connected to each other, all being traced back to Abaddon.

Besides the imaginative world and sci-fi aesthetics goodness, for me the Call of Abaddon is at its best during its high-energy thriller sections or when it focuses on fast-paced action. Mixing psychic powers with cybernetic weapons means that the fighting and action scenes never get old, with Seale making good use of the post-apocalyptic and underground landscapes within his written fight choreography. A notable highlight is Sam’s unique energy sword that is something like a cross between Indiana Jones’ bullwhip and lightsaber which is just plain cool. Jason and co.’s above ground excursions investigating Abaddon are also compelling while the alternating space opera battles and strategizing chapters nicely break up and support the slower underground ones.

While character motivations early-on appear to be quite straightforward, as the story progresses, the Call of Abaddon has far more substance and intent that it would initially appear. While not highlighted quite as often as other plot points, the clergy and above-ground dystopian system of New Toronto pose intriguing ideas in regard to religion and politics. Clearly intended to be a foil to the Imperial Empire’s stark and ruthless governing philosophy on humanoid survival and its handling of the phage epidemic, both major factions are depicted as being heavily flawed and ill-equipped to handle the immense threat. The state of Earth outside of New Toronto’s protective dome and the historic mistakes made by the Science institute also serve as metaphorical examples of when technology and ambition is pushed too far if unhindered by checks and balances, at the cost of long-term societal stability; the Village enclave serving as an alternative and sanctuary to all the above ground influences. While slightly on the nose and a bit heavy-handed at times, cyborg Anne Oakfield’s entire arc and backstory represents how even good intentions can go unnoticeably awry with subtle pushes in certain directions.

While the overall plot and ideas incorporated are excellent and the setting creative, I noticed a few recurring trends that I found myself often nitpicking. While the world is well-thought out, I frequently found myself wishing for more visual details or descriptions of both the setting surrounding the characters as well as the various cyborgs, robots, and phage-infected beings. Certain descriptions are vague for narrative purposes such as elements involving Abaddon, but other such as Sam’s robot Talon, large derelict pieces of equipment, the look of Jason’s village are less visual than I would’ve liked. Some areas like the village are described in good detail when Jason and co. return to it midway through the book, but it would’ve been nice to have these images provided earlier. The plot, while complex, also sort of throws the reader right into the story without much context or history considering the expansive scale of the story. The reader is given tidbits of information in passing, often in the form of “hey remember this and this back from before the *redacted*?” which is fine in moderation, but it felt like the approach was used too often as a storytelling crutch. The conflict between the UFE and the Imperial Empire is decently documented over time, but the early chapters can be confusing if you’re not paying attention since not much backstory is given prior to the book abruptly shifting from Jason on Earth to commander Zeke in space. Other factions such as the Confederates, the Church and its persecution, and Anne’s own story come in quite cold without much introduction, making early perspective shifts jarring and later plot twists involving them a bit less dramatic than likely intended. While I appreciate that the story doesn’t suffer from excessive stretches of info-dumping or a long and boring introduction, I think a bit more time spent familiarizing the reader at least with the different main parties involved could’ve helped the reading experience a lot.

Another area that I had minor qualms with is the characterizations and dialogue. I found Jason to be an appealing and likeable main character and his shared history with David, Sam and other characters interesting to read about. While the other characters are quite varied in nationality and looks, unfortunately I found many of them to be less distinctive. Searle does a great job portraying scrappy cheeky characters as well as conveying rag-tag group dynamics, but over time several characters and groups started to unfortunately feel too similar to each other. Though generally serviceable, the character dialogue also felt a bit plain and repetitive to me, particularly the discussions and arguments between Jason, David and Sam. While not necessarily a drawback per say, the dialogue tonally and narratively felt quite YA to me despite the more mature themes and social commentary reflected in the Call of Abaddon’s futuristic metaphors. While the story is fairly fast-paced, I often felt like the story started to drag in Jason’s dialogue-heavy chapters mainly due to the simplistic content and repetitive nature of their convos. This is less of an issue with older characters like Zeke and Anne, but is still a noticeable drawback compared to how well-crafted the plot is. That said, the straightforward characters do make the story very readable and highly accessible across many age demographics and even for readers outside of the sci-fi community.

Despite a few nitpicks, I found the Call of Abaddon to be a creatively ambitious sci-fi adventure that has great narrative ingredients utilized in its story. Once the different storylines and character perspectives start to intersect, the full picture Searle has envisioned is impressively well-developed. The action in the last third of the book plus the way the story concludes on a dramatic and reality-shifting “to be continued” note is an effective and strong hook for hopefully more compelling material soon to come! And while I do not adjust my reviews or scoring based on a book’s publication or release method, the Call of Abaddon is a very well edited and presented indie novel, in addition to having wonderful illustrations featuring Searle’s illustrating and visual design background. Fans of sci-fi epics with unknown foreign beings like Mass Effect, Hyperion, or even Metro 2033 will find a lot to like in the Call of Abaddon which covers similar territory while delivering a unique and memorable story all the same.