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Algorithms

This final novel in the acclaimed Seventh Flag Trilogy thrusts readers thirty years into the future—a dystopic reality of regional fiefdoms, marauding scavengers, and the quest for ultimate power: the Algorithms of everything, which have been secretly pilfered from an undersea Internet cable, stored on hard drives, and implanted in the last surviving blue whale.

Ademar Zarkan—the iconic and unlikely heroine of the American West, now a seventy-year-old woman—leads the Free People of West Texas in an alliance with Native Americans and the indigenous people of northern Mexico to retrieve the hard drives and to rescue her clairvoyant granddaughter from the radicalized Sisterhood and its merciless leader, Mother. But they aren’t the only ones in pursuit of the Algorithms.

Haunting and prophetic, Algorithms is a story of violent extremism, resilience, family, and, above all, the interconnectedness of humankind and the natural world.

Author: Sid Balman Jr.

Pub Date: August 1, 2023

BOOKSHOP
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
IBOOKS

Categories: ,

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“Breathless pacing and larger-than-life characters recall Western gunslinger dime novels and pulps of yesteryear mixed with some hot sex. . . . An engaging, action-filled tale of future savagery countered by an alliance of liberty lovers.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Big questions, grand themes, and prophetic warnings: all these characterize Algorithms. Another first-rate novel by Sid Balman Jr.”
—Robert Zorn, award-winning author of Cemetery John: The Undiscovered Mastermind of the Lindbergh Kidnapping

“The third installment in the Seventh Flag Trilogy, Algorithms, perfectly combines the excitement of a post-apocalyptic thriller with a poignant coming-of-age story featuring an engaging heroine facing a very different ‘American Dream.’ Indeed, a page-turner . . . an important read for any citizen concerned about the reality of where our culture wars and politics are taking American society.”
—Laura Payne, Dean, Jimmy D. Case College of Literature, Arts, and Social Sciences Sul Ross State University

“In Algorithms, Balman paints a vivid picture of an all-too-believable—and terrifying—future: a post-apocalyptic Western that is equal parts Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. Fans of . . . the Seventh Flag Trilogy—will enjoy this satisfying and entirely unexpected conclusion to the series. His research with the resilient indigenous people of Mexico and North America . . . lends an authenticity to what may be his main point: the survival of humankind rests on its indelible link with nature. In his vivid, descriptive prose, Balman captures the unique beauty of far West Texas as only one who has lived there could.”
—Jill Gibson, editor of National Security Science magazine

“Sid Balman’s Algorithms is a thrilling climax to his cross-generational West Texas saga. In the dystopian future, his tale of a technological and societal collapse is stunning, and—unfortunately—not implausible. The resilience of his heroes and the natural communities gives me some hope for our current times.”
—Chris Wolz, CEO of Forum One

“Orwellian in scope and rendered in Balman’s unique style, Algorithms balances a thrilling plot with deeper themes of resilience and universality. Balman is at his obsecrate best, weaving dire portents into a novel full of hardship, hope, and natural beauty. Algorithms is a captivating and fitting ending to the Seventh Flag Trilogy, sure to delight literary readers and dystopian fiction fans alike.”
—James Wade, Spur Award–winning author of Beasts of the Earth

About the Author

A Pulitzer-nominated national security correspondent and Writer in Residence at Sul Ross State University, Sid Balman Jr. has covered wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has traveled extensively with two American presidents and four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic missions. After leaving daily journalism, he helped found a news syndicate focused on the interests of women and girls, served as the communications chief for the largest consortium of US international development organizations, led two progressive campaigning companies, and launched a new division at a large international development firm centered on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments. In addition to his current position as Writer In Residence at Sul Ross State University, Balman remains a working journalist and magazine contributor. A fourth-generation Texan, as well as a climber, surfer, paddler, and benefactor to Smith College, Balman lives in Alpine, TX, and has two children and a dog.

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