From: potter@csusac.ecs.csus.edu (Carl Kolchak)
Subject: Re: Sharon <sic> McCrumb: Zombies of the Gene Pool
Followup-To: alt.dev.null
Summary:  following past performance
Keywords: hack, hack, hack, choke
Organization: INS, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 06:59:36 GMT

Carol Doms, bless her heart, commented:

> Article 9240 of rec.arts.sf.written:
> From: CDOMS@VAX1.UMKC.EDU
> Subject: Re: Sharon McCrumb: Zombies of the Gene Pool
> Date: 27 Jul 92 21:44:00 GMT
> 
> For those of you, who have read this, did you find the major historical
> blunder she made in this book?
> 
> The time capsule which contains items from 1954, also contained a 
> movie poster of "Forbidden Planet", a movie which came out in 1956.
> After checking her facts on where World Science Fiction convention
> was held in 54' and getting some other facts correct, you would have
> thought she would have checked the date on one of SF movie classic.
> 

"Sharyn McCrumb" is not noted for any great degree of accuracy or 
attention, and the kind of editorial attention (and competence)
she was getting at TSR didn't contribute to much improvement.
 
 On page 30 of "BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN," she has a putatively 
knowledgeable SF dealer identify "THE OMEGA MAN" as a "TV-movie 
starring Charleton Heston."  ("She" correctly identifies the 
original title later in the paragraph, but glosses over the fact
that "I AM LEGEND" was made into a B&W Vincent Price movie a 
decade before Heston's version, and seems unaware that "THE OMEGA
MAN" was made for theatrical release and spent a lot of time in 
movie theaters.)  This is not a mistake that particular character
would make, and I spent four chapters waiting to see him proven
to be a ringer, or camoflaged murderer who hadn't properly
studied up on his disguise ....

 Another such is the fub in the first paragraph of Chapter Four of
"BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN."    Appin Dungannon, the only interesting
and sympathetic character in the entire book, is doodling on his 
computer, and types in:
               /
       C = 1  / <checkmark> mu-sub-zero  epsilon-sub-zero    .
             /
This is a stab at expressing the speed of light in free space as a
function of the free-space permittivity constant and the free-space
permeability constant.
 
 Since it's actually
               /   _____________________________________
       C = 1  /  \/  mu-sub-zero  *  epsilon-sub-zero        , 
             /
this serves as a mathematical check on the quality of "her" research 
and "her" proofreading as well.   The confusion of the <check-mark> 
and a square-root symbol is understandable, but fairly obvious to
anyone who's taken high-school physics.  Since the repro system 
could manage Greek letters, it's relatively unlikely that a 
square-root sign was unavailable.
 
 When I pointed this out to a certain TSR editor who shall remain 
nameless, his reaction was that "The character who is typing in the 
formula is not technically competent, so even if he's making a 
mistake, it doesn't matter."   Well, it *does* matter; Dungannon
is the only character in the entire book with a classical education.
He hates the drelves around him, and himself, for having sold 
out.  It's part of his *character* to be well-educated, and lonely,
and if the book had been written competently, Jay O'Mega would have
found a detailed analysis of the math and scientific background
of his own novel in Dungannon's papers, evoking a tremendous sense
of kinship, and loss; the feeling that he and Dungannon could have 
been good friends, intellectual equals, and actively enjoyed each
other's company.  THIS would have provided believeable motivation
for solving the mystery; as it is, it's simply a minor intellectual 
puzzle which "McCrumb" ham-handedly batters into a D&D game,
for no very good reason.  (We're ignoring the TSR tie-in and 
distribution, here.)

  I've read several of "Sharyn McCrumb"'s books, and have not been
impressed with the quality of her research, writing, or execution.
She needed a couple of good writers' workshops to learn plotting 
and motivation, and she needed competent teachers in grade school
and junior high to help her learn which homonym to spell in which
location.  (She doesn't even spell all the "STAR TREK" characters'
names right, although she manages "Kirk" and "Spock." )  In this 
respect, she's even worse than Martin Caidin.

  "BIMBOS" won the '88 "Edgar" award for Best Original Paperback
Mystery.   I can only imagine how bad the other contenders must
have been.   (Most of the decent paperbacks in this genre tend
to be reprints of hardbounds.)

  "McCrumb."   A name to avoid while shopping.


-- 
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||  "C" gains much of its vaunted efficiency by employing a very     ||
||  powerful pre-processor, normally referred to as a "programmer."  ||
||  rem: "Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."       ||