The Call of Abaddon by Colin Searle is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller that fuses nanotech horror with psychic warfare to explore identity, addiction, and survival in a fractured future.
Table of Contents
Review
Darkly innovative journey
Imagine waking up from a nightmare only to realize it followed you into daylight, whispering in your ear that you were never fully human to begin with. That strange, alien sense of self-fracture is not just the premise of The Call of Abaddon—it’s its pulse. Centuries ago, Russian sleep experiments, now long-debunked, claimed that the mind under extreme duress could cross into unknown mental terrain. Whether fact or fiction, that eerie idea of psychic thresholds underpins Searle’s universe, where minds are weaponized and memories are modified like software updates.
In a grim, post-Earth apocalypse arcology called New Toronto, salvage runner Jason (also known as Subject 107) wrestles with a voice that lives inside his head—and maybe beyond it. Plagued by psychic echoes and hunted by a technotheocratic regime, Jason’s journey through the undercity isn’t just about finding parts or profit—it’s about understanding what’s been done to him and what he might become. Alongside a team of scavengers that includes a precognitive salvager with surgical psionic control, a giant sarcastic robot, and a cockatoo named Budgie, Jason descends—literally and metaphorically—into the ruins of both civilization and self.
Searle’s world is dense with texture and crackling with tension. From a decaying megastructure teetering on atmospheric collapse to the fragile peace of a hidden underground village guarded by jerry-rigged plasma turrets, each page delivers visual grit and narrative urgency. The scenes are visceral and cinematic, written with a rhythm that breathes life into even the darkest alleys of a drowned Earth. What makes this book special isn’t just its scale—it’s the human pulse underneath. Addiction is portrayed with brutal realism, not as plot fluff, but as a core mechanic of Jason’s struggle. The neural inhibitor implant is more than sci-fi—it’s a metaphor for the numbing distractions we use to keep our worst truths at bay.
Readers will be drawn in by the originality of the premise, the clarity of the prose (despite a few visual hiccups in the formatting), and the sharply honed characters. The book’s true superpower lies in its ability to blend psychic horror with hard science fiction in a way that doesn’t sacrifice depth for spectacle. The evolving relationship between Jason and his brother David feels genuine, layered with loyalty, exasperation, and loss. One of the most riveting sequences comes when Jason, wracked by a psychic assault, begs his friends to leave him inside a crashing ship—a moment that throbs with sacrifice and dread, made even more poignant by the unseen shadows clawing at the edge of his sanity.
This story may not be for those who crave romance, leisurely pace, or traditional happy endings. Its complexity, hybrid genre elements, and darker psychological themes might challenge readers who prefer simple dystopias or space operas without moral ambiguity. However, fans of Neal Asher, James S.A. Corey, and even the twisted philosophical undercurrents of Akira or Control (the video game) will find themselves at home.
Yet even as it deals with the collapse of human systems and identity, The Call of Abaddon builds something meaningful—hope amid chaos, individuality in the face of programming. It posits that maybe our trauma, our failures, and even the voices in our heads don’t make us broken—they make us capable of transformation. Just as Jason must choose between being a weapon or a person, readers are invited to consider how much of their own lives are dictated by invisible programming—social, emotional, digital—and whether they, too, can override it.
Colin Searle’s debut doesn’t just stake its claim in the sci-fi genre—it warps the very coordinates of what speculative fiction can achieve. It’s a neural spike into the bloodstream of modern sci-fi, sparking a haunting, cerebral blaze that lingers long after the last whisper from Abaddon fades.
About the Author
Colin Searle is a writer and visual artist based in Toronto, Canada. He creates original fiction and artwork, combining storytelling with visual expression across different mediums.
Book Details
- Title: The Call of Abaddon
- Author: Colin Searle
- Genre(s): Fiction
- Sub-genre(s): Science Fiction, Genre-Bending, Young Adult
- Theme(s): Identity, Survival, Power, Technology, Rebellion
- Minimum Audience Age: 16+
- Main Language Used in the Text: English
Book Themes
(Note: 0=none, 1=a few, 2=considerable, 3=pronounced, 4=excessive)
- Sexual themes: 0
- No romantic or sexual content depicted in the narrative.
- Religious themes: 2
- Metaphysical and psionic ascension framed with quasi-religious language.
- Violence, self-harm, etc.: 3
- Frequent combat, mental torment, psychic attacks, and body horror.
- Crude language, expletives, swearing, etc.: 2
- Mild swearing like “shit” appears occasionally in dialogue.
- Other adult themes: 3
- Addiction, trauma, dystopian oppression, and mental health struggles.
Rating
- Content: 5
- Writing Style/Visual Presentation: 5
- Appeal to Target Audience: 5
- Uniqueness: 5
- Editing: 5
- Other Factors: 5
- Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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