The Enlightened

We live in a time where the battle lines have been drawn between believers and non-believers, where adherents of all religions have banded together against humanist atheists. All over the world, a battle is raging over truth and untruth, belief and doubt, life and death.

Through the destinies of multiple characters, The Enlightened paints a multifaceted picture of the new world order, of people trapped in a network of ideologies and dogmas. What gradually emerges out of this narrative is no less than the possibility of humanity’s shared existence.

The book can be read either as a utopia or dystopia, as an interweaving narrative, a mystery novel, or a collection of stories all dealing with the eternal question: Is there a God? The Enlightened is the tale of what happens when we try to answer that question—and when we try to answer on behalf of others.

Øystein Stene’s existential zombie novel, Zombie Nation (2014) received rave reviews when it came out, and was sold to the French publisher Actes Sud and the Polish press Zysk. In The Enlightened, the author again creates an alternative reality, a platform for the “big questions” about a topic that is relevant as never before.