My Story
The novel grew from a question that speculative fiction has always asked better than any other form: what does it actually cost to live inside a system that was never designed with you in mind?
Arlow's background in learning technology and human development informs the architecture of the JNA's world. The surveillance infrastructure, the efficiency scoring system, and the mechanisms by which citizens come to believe they freely chose their circumstances are drawn from close observation of how real systems shape behavior without appearing to force anything at all. The horror in The Algo is quiet and procedural. That was intentional.
The trilogy's first book establishes Jordan Reese's world, her complicity in it, and the first fractures in her certainty. Books two and three follow the consequences.
For more on CJ Arlow, visit cjarlow.com.