Although the title would (and should) scare anyone away from picking up this book, its worth it. A shockingly good book about the early days of Science Fiction Authorship. If you have ever wondered what Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlen were like in person, read this.

The world of science fiction fandom forms the background for this second outing featuring engineering professor/sf writer Jay Omega and his English professor ladyfriend Marion Farley. Invited by a colleague to an exclusive reunion of a once-famous clique of sf writers known as the Lanthanides, Jay and Marion uncover a bizarre mystery surrounding a 30-year-old time capsule and a twice-dead reunion crasher.

Classic SciFi!

I love Sharyn McCrumb.........you won't be able to put this one down!

my first McCrumb book will read more

In the 1050's eight young men, dreaming of literary immortality, buried a time capsule with their science fiction stories and cultural relics from the time. Now the capsule is being dredged up because a few of those men have in fact become very famous. As a result, the excavation turns into a multimedia event.....

Read All Book Reviews of "Zombies of the Gene Pool"

The book premise sounded intriguing but don't let that fool you. Who knew science fiction authors were such boring nerds? McCrumb couldn't have made these guys more boring if she tried. It's no wonder they didn't last as friends...they probably bored each other to tears. Up to page 58 is detailed background on each "member" and what he/she remembers from that time period. Around page 125 (of 208) the story finally picks up and was sort of interesting. Though certainly not worth the 6 hours it took me to slag through this book.

A time capsule was buried in the 1950s by a group of friends of Fandom (science fiction conference goers). Each "member" wrote a short story to be included in the time capsule. In the 1990s, these now semi-famous sci-fi authors are gathering to unearth the capsule amid great public expectations. A long dead "member" arrives at the reunion and is later murdered. The only mystery in the entire book was when they were trying to figure out who murdered Pat. These last 40 pages (or so) were cleverly done.

All in all, not worth the price or the time to read

This book was given to me by a friend, and I have not read it.

Read All Book Reviews of "Zombies of the Gene Pool"