Is there anything quite so satisfying as a tattered paperback, read many times, well-loved; each time you open it you get a snootful of that heady aroma: memory. Where you were when you first read it … how it made you feel. Things you saw the second time that you missed the first.
This old chestnut is a particular favorite. When I recently pulled up sticks and moved across country, I was forced to donate or otherwise part with about 2000 of my least-favorite books. Some got donated by accident; much-loved volumes, even a few autographed for me by the authors. It was tough, but I have to move on. Fortunately, Zombies of the Gene Pool made the move.
It’s cross between a mystery, a cult classic, and *almost* sci fi, because it’s ABOUT sci fi, and even though nothing happens that couldn’t happen to you or me (no alternative universe, no time travel, or dragons or spaceships), you feel that you are immersed in a sci fi universe. This is actually the sequel to the equally marvelous Bimbos of the Death Sun, in which an unlikely couple (English professor and electric engineer) end up at a sci fi con, and find a killer by playing Dungeons and Dragons. That might not sound like it makes much sense, so I advise you to read it yourself, it’s available on Kindle or paperback from Amazon.
The plot, ostensibly, of ZotGP, is that a group of sci fi writers from The Golden Age, who co-habitated in the backwoods of Tennessee, buried a time capsule of original stories and assorted ephemera, back in the 50s, before the whole area was buried under a man-made lake. (This concept appeals to me particularly, since I live a mile or two away from an enormous man-made lake, and can’t stop wondering what it buried down there.) In the 90s, when the book was written, the group, now geriatric, decide to dig up the time capsule and sell the stories for big bucks.
It’s a great setup, and I won’t give any of it away, because if you are a fan of sci fi you should read it yourself. But the story isn’t why I’m writing about it. It’s a book ABOUT sci fi fans, FOR sci fi fans. Of which I am one. If you didn’t know that already.
In fact, there is so much that I want to say about fandom, the particular addictive fandom that the book eulogizes, that I am going to continue the topic in my next post. In the meantime, get your hands on a copy of BotDS and ZotGP buy Sharon McCrumb.