Fic­tion

The Absolved

  • From the Publisher
January 1, 2013

It’s 2036. Hen­ri is a wealthy physi­cian, hus­band father, and ser­i­al phi­lan­der­er. He is also one of the rel­a­tive­ly few peo­ple to still have a job. Automa­tion and oth­er tech­no­log­i­cal advances have led to unem­ploy­ment so severe that many peo­ple are no longer expect­ed to work and are now known as The Absolved.” 

Mean­while, it’s elec­tion sea­son, and a can­di­date from a rad­i­cal fringe par­ty called the Lud­dites is call­ing for an end to the Divine Rights of Machines.” After Hen­ri is dis­placed from his job, two Lud­dite sym­pa­thiz­ers — whom Hen­ri has befriend­ed at his local bar — frame him for an anti-tech­nol­o­gy ter­ror­ist act. The prospect of Henri’s sal­va­tion comes at the cost of fore­go­ing his guid­ing prin­ci­ples in life. This new vision for the world, after all, just might prove bet­ter than the tech­no­log­i­cal advance­ments that, para­dox­i­cal­ly, have left human­i­ty out in the cold.”

Discussion Questions