Absence

Praise for Absence

“Hudson (Our Shared Storm) gives a skillful metaphysical twist to a tale of apocalyptic horror in this strikingly original novel. Its setting is a near-future America devastated by “popping” . . . The thoroughness with which Hudson imagines how individuals and society would have to rewire themselves to contend with this bizarre phenomenon lends his tale impressive philosophical heft.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“A haunted story about unfinished lives, the persistence of hope, and the consequences of grief without end.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Compelling . . . The real question raised by Absence is not, as it turns out, what has caused Gradual Depopulation, or what happens after it. It is how we structure our world, and how we treat one another, when the certainties we had taken for granted no longer hold true.”
—Locus

“Unsettling . . . A measured meditation on belief and institutional strains.”
—Foreword Reviews

“Andrew Dana Hudson’s debut novel succeeds on every level—an original and compelling mystery, told with assurance, intelligence, craft, and all of it fueled by an extraordinary imagination.”
—Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

“A wild, inventive, and extraordinarily prescient novel, Andrew Dana Hudson’s Absence unspools a moody detective yarn that quickly vaults sky-high, weighing humankind’s slow numbing against daily horrors and faith’s struggle against the impossible. And yet most impressively, within its nightmare of spontaneous gradual depopulation, much is made clear of our species’ capacity for hope. There simply aren’t enough books like it.”
—Jinwoo Chong, author of I Leave It Up to You and Flux

“In this engaging, closely observed and intensely humanistic story that reads like Mulder and Scully collecting the immanent evidence of the end of the world, Andrew Dana Hudson helps us see how the real path to a better tomorrow is through rediscovery of the connection and community we have lost.”
—Christopher Brown, author of Tropic of Kansas

“Absence is fascinating, shiningly clever, and thought-provoking. A thriller wrapped in dystopian almost-horror wrapped in a perfect enigma, anchored by a grounded and methodic agent named Harvey Ellis. Brilliant!”
—Manda Scott, Edgar-nominated bestselling author of No Good Deed

“A moving, enthralling story, set in a fully realized, beautifully examined world. Don’t let this one get away.”
—Sara Gran, author of Come Closer and the Claire DeWitt mysteries

Praise for Andrew Dana Hudson

“Hudson has found a way to strike together all the various facets of our rapidly changing climate future, sparking stories that are by turns, and often all at once, ingenious, energetic, provocative, and soulful. He is the face of this new movement in science fiction, and we’re lucky to have him.”
—Kim Stanley Robinson, Nebula Award–winning author of Red Mars

“A fearless and funny and thought-provoking storyteller, interrogating our current social and cultural moment through a radical speculative lens.”
—Sam J. Miller, Nebula Award–winning author of Blackfish City

“A fascinating thought-experiment in imagining worlds to come.”
—Christopher Schaberg, author of Searching for the Anthropocene