#forward collection

Randomize (Forward Collection #6) by Andy Weir

4 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:

In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.

An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past.

Andy Weir’s Randomize is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. Audible narration by Janina Gavankar (True Blood).

My Review:

Enjoyable.

Forward Collection by (various)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've always preferred a long book to settle into, hundreds of pages to fully explore the concepts/world/characters in play, but lately I've been warming up to scifi short stories. Overall I quite liked this collection. In order of preference:

Summer Frost -- Consciousness, perception, love, life, the nature of reality. The way the ending paralleled the beginning was satisfying and actually surprised me. Covers the usual bases for AI stories, which at times made me frustrated with the protagonist not being entirely aware of the genre's tropes, but still provides rich fodder for contemplation.

Emergency Skin -- Refreshing to read a hopeful future, a utopian endpoint for our current dystopian trends. A bit obvious / heavy-handed, but thoroughly amusing all the same to follow the protagonist's discoveries.

Ark -- Quiet, contemplative. Best character moments, lovely celebration of the diversity/wonder of Earth and nature.

The Last Conversation -- Absorbing, disconcerting, kept me off-balance. I thought the ending was going to be much creepier than it ended up being, but still was affecting.

You Have Arrived at Your Destination -- Interesting thoughts on what makes a life worth living / preferable, the role of choice vs risk. However, the story seemed to go way out of its way to avoid the protagonist having a conversation with his wife which was really distracting -- completely bizarre that it's standard practice for the company to have a couple creating a child together go through the selection practice entirely separately. Had a hard time relating to any of the characters.

Randomize -- I feel bad putting this one last, because I always enjoy the enthusiasm in Weir's stories even when aspects fall flat, but ultimately it comes down to a) couldn't really follow the science explanations and b) couldn't suspend disbelief about the genius woman's incredibly dumb heist plan, that she wouldn't expect them to investigate her background when she won. Although I did really enjoy the negotiation process between her and the CEO guy, their long con plan seemed too risky with too easy connections for others to figure out their scam for me to believe they were as excited about its possibilities as they were.