Randomize: Forward collection

Randomize: Forward collection by Andy Weir

Quantum computing has made casino's random numbers predictable. The only solution is to install a quantum computer. However, the wife of the installation tech has entangled the long term storage, allowing her to know the values the casino uses. She plans to make off with a fortune. Alas, the casino checks her background and plans to arrest her. She tries to talk her way out of it by offering to partner to sell tech to other casinos. It ends with her getting escorted to her room. Was she really set free? Or is there more to come. Quantum computing can really cause issues with the security we currently rely on.

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

A man wakes up without knowledge of who he is or what he is doing. His memories gradually filer back in bits. The story unravels with his current condition as well as flashback to the past. We realize that he is on a mission to outer space to save humanity. The others on his mission have died. He previously taught science to children and did research on mysterious "astrophages" on the side. This small organisms can suck enormous amounts of energy from the sun. This will lead to massive global cooling in short order. He is on a mission to space to attempt to find something to counteract this problem to allow humanity to survive. 

In space, he meets another alien whose society is in similar circumstances. The other alien has also had his crew wiped out. As the last member of the crew, they only survived because the astrophages being attended had served as a radiation shield. The two of them join together to try to find a solution. They discover a natural predator to astrophages and then attempt to breed it to properly inhabit the local conditions. There are a number of crisis, but eventually they send a message back to earth. The human is on the way back to earth when he encounters a issue. He realizes this will also endanger the alien, so he goes back to help the alien ship. He ends up helping him and going to the alien planet. There he lives a somewhat comfortable - the aliens are excited to have an extra-terrestrial and help him to adapt.

The book has a positive story of encounter with existential threats. The survival of humanity does depend on a single person making good decisions. The right decisions were made. Earth appeared to survive. He thinks that it was what he did that lead to the success. It was not quite clear to me why both lifeforms seemed to travel to the same area in space to look for a solution. How did they know? And did they think they could really get a message back before the earth totally turned on itself with warfare? It did seem to work, but there did seem to be many close calls.

The Martian

A Martian storm requires a space crew to rapidly depart. One astronaut was injured and his vital signs show that he is dead. Following policy, they leave him there. Alas, he is still alive and must now fend for himself on Mars. 

He uses his skill and training to survive on Mars. He is a trained botanist, and uses his skill to create a Martian greenhouse. He ransacks the available supplies and equipment to help ensure his survival. Mission control on earth eventually discovers that he is alive by through evidence in satellite imagery. He even finds ways to initiate two-way communication via some other equipment that is left.

The entire earth becomes captivated by his fate and the quest to bring him home. (Though they wait some time to alert the other astronauts.) Many people work hard to help bring him back. At times, he tires from the attention. While the narrator has plenty of obscene words to describe his situation, he seems to be generally upbeat regardless of the circumstances. There are a number of different challenges and a few false starts, but the story eventually reaches a satisfying conclusion.