Quantum Mechanics (Quantum Leap anthology by Jessica Farrow)

You may be looking for Quantum Mechanics (Quantum Leap anthology by Peg Kennedy)

Zine
Title:	Quantum Mechanics
Publisher:	Datazine Publications
Editor(s):	Jessica Farrow
Date(s):	1990
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Quantum Leap
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover by Rick Wawiernia

sample interior page

Quantum Mechanics is a 62-page gen six story anthology of fiction by Jessica Farrow. It contains no interior illustration.

Each leap is connected to the next.

It was one of first Quantum Leap zines written.

Seven-hundred and fifty copies were printed.

Author's Notes

This work is solely the property of the author and is not meant to infringe upon the copyrights of any person mentioned, real or imagined. Especially not Miles.

This publication is meant as a respectful and loving tribute. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mark Bradford and Diana Suiter, to whom fell the monumental task of editing and typesetting. And this time I only gave them a week. What troopers! Thanks to KathE and Steve, the world's most... unusual... publishers. Good friends as well. The printer has designs on their Vietnamese potbellied pig — but so far they've outmaneuvered him. No luau date for Ziggy the Piggy. Rick Wawiernia gave me yet another wonderful cover. Kiss kiss, Rickster. I must also thank Puccini, Midge Ure, Pete, SAC and David Byrne's Brazilian collections for the tunes — an important element to any project. And of course, there's the hubby. He's finally decided that my writing isn't such a bad idea after all. I've decided that marrying him wasn't such a bad idea either.

I welcome your questions and comments. Please send them in care of the publisher. Selima - Jessica Farrow

Contents

• Police Action (1)
• Dakota on Horseback (14)
• Birth of a Cliche' (26)
• Jinx (29)
• Walk With Me (42)
• All Things Equal (49)

Reactions and Reviews

1991

This was the first QL fiction zine I bought, the one that made me realize that there are fans out there who can actually write decent QL stories. In this case, all the stories are by Jessica Farrow. These are arranged as chapters of the zine, one leap and one story per chapter.

"Police Action" seems to provide real insight into the lives of the actual band Sam leaps into. I found it extremely interesting, although as leaps go it was difficult, maybe even impossible, to find a way for it to make sense. Sam's memory seems to say that the band became famous, and Al's original history seems to say otherwise. But hey! If you can explain why Buddy Holy needed Sam to help him with a song we already know he wrote, maybe you can explain this one, too.

"Dakota on Horseback" has no crossovers, either into fiction or real-life public figures. It's possible that this could be construed as "Mary Sue," but I wouldn't say that's a fair label for this truly suspenseful and entertaining piece.

"Birth of a Cliche" is a silly and gratuitous crossover vignette, and "All Things Equal" is a well-constructed Equalizer crossover (but I don't know beans about The Equalizer). "Jinx" is an extended Kiss With History, as is "Walk With Me" (sort of). But the latter leap, although it will no doubt annoy some skeptics, is the real standout of the zine. There is real horror and emotion from both Al's and Sam's point of view as Sam finds himself in the burning wreckage of United Flight 232.

Some of the prose bothers me a bit, particularly the opening few paragraphs of the zine, in which Farrow tries to describe the moment of leaping from Sam's point of view.

And the cover art isn't quite to professional standards, although I've certainly published far worse. But don't let these minor quibbles put you off. Quantum Mechanics is well worth reading, particularly with a long summer of tv reruns coming up. Buy it.

Quantum Mechanics is an all-QUANTUM LEAP zine of six consecutive stories (or Leaps) with one cross-over (THE EQUALIZER). The only art is on the cover — an all too-common plight today, alas. The stories are all by Jessica Farrow, who has a light, witty writing style I enjoy. One of the things I look for in zines is stories that 'resonate', stories with scenes or lines or bits of dialogue that give me the same feelings the show does. I expect this is a very individual response, but Quantum Mechanics has a good 'resonance factor'.

We all know that Bellisario's 'Laws of Quantum Leaping' are, shall I say, fluid. I'd always thought that the past Sam remembers is the past as it happened and he (or whoever is in charge) is trying to make it better than it was. Ms. Farrow has a slightly different angle on things in the first story, "Police Action." Here Sam finds himself a member of a rock band he remembers as world famous — only they aren't yet, and they won't be, unless he straightens things out. And he'd better do it quickly, because he’s supposed to be the drummer and this is one skill he never mastered! A1 delights in the London rock scene of the late 70's, but Sam seems a bit stressed out, and his methods of solving this problem are more direct than usual.

Fortunately for Sam's frayed nerves, his next leap is a vacation. Well, for a little while at least. "Dakota on Horseback" sets Sam up with a beautiful girl, clean air, good fishing, and no one else for miles — except Al, who pops up to warn him; 'It's up to you to keep these two alive!’ I think Sam's got to get a few days off sometimes, and Ms. Farrow wraps a story around this idea. Okay, okay, I admit it's got strong elements of Mary Sue, so if you hate all Mary Sues it's probably not going to do much for you. Mary Sues only bother me when they’re so badly written or the female character's so hopelessly perfect the story is inaccessible. The Mary Sue aspects didn’t bother me here.

I don’t think the cliche in "Birth of a Cliche" would originate quite so late in the run of the original STAR TREK, but I’m probably the only one who cares. Or who even noticed. It's just an excuse to get Sam on the STAR TREK set anyhow, so he can be a fan for a few moments. Maybe I should have called this one a cross over too, now that I think of it...

Next Sam plunges into a bit of cold war intrigue on a cruise ship passing Cuba ("Jinx"). Al can’t give Sam much information (for reasons explained in the story) and all Sam can figure is that it must have something to do with the Bay of Pigs — but what can he do on a cruise ship? I thought this one was a little slow at points, although everyone I know who’s been on one supports this view of a cruise ship — never mind THE LOVE BOAT, food is what everyone goes nuts about.

Now we come to "Walk With Me," the story I was most looking forward to when I got the zine. Al arrives to find himself in the midst of a horrible plane accident — and no Sam to be found. Back in the lab they're dealing with what appears to be a dead body. Unfortunately (for someone of my inclinations), the author doesn’t milk the situation for all the angst and smarm she could get. I thought the situation author doesn’t milk the situation for all the angst and smarm she could get. I thought the situation begged for all kinds of anguish and (hopefully) a reunion accompanied by deep personal revelations - or at least an 'I was worried about you, kid' sort of thing. Ms. Farrow took a different route with this story, viewing it on a more spiritual or mystical plane. Which is all very well, but not what I personally wanted. Drat.

The last story, "All Things Equal," is both my favorite and (oddly enough) the only one where I feel she really falters in her QL characterization. In this crossover with THE EQUAUZER, Sam finds himself alone in Robert McCall's apartment - and body. His initial assumption that McCall is a rich businessman or banker rudely shattered by the arrival of Mickey Kostmeyer. Ms. Farrow’s Mickey Kostmeyer cracks me up -the original does too, I admit I’m weird - and the ensuing scene is one of the best in the zine. Sam soon discovers this leap revolves around the issue of abortion. Which brings us to my one problem with this story. All the way through Sam keeps telling himself "I can't afford to get bogged down on Issues, I just gotta do my job." and Al blithely agrees with him. This doesn't ring true to me -in the show, Sam is always getting bogged down on issues, and Al lets him talk this out when their 'assignment' means Sam needs to do something he feels funny about. I suppose the author wanted to offer a few observations on a rather 'hot' issue without letting it take over the story completely, but I ended up with this vague impression that Sam and Al didn't agree on the issue without having any real idea what Sam actually believes. This wouldn’t have mattered much, except that Sam seems to be fighting strong feelings of some kind all the way through the story. The first time I read this story this vagueness drove me nuts. But after reconciling myself to this aspect. "Equal" is now my favorite QL zine story. Sam and Al’s bantering, Sam dealing with Mickey (who initially tags a 'borderline psychopath'), Sam thinking McCall's life is maybe even weirder than his — the story was full of 'glimpses' of what I love in the show. Somehow, despite the unevenness, the last two lines made me feel the friendship and hope behind QL at its best.

When Sam Beckett leaps into a body, what happens? Does Sam’s mind go into the person's body, and the person’s mind go into Sam’s body in his lab? Does that person’s body go to Sam’s lab? Does Sam’s body physically go back to a specific time and place?

In the fanzine QUANTUM MECHANICS, it is explained that Sam’s mind leaps into a person and that person’s mind leaps into Sam's body in a laboratory in the future. When he leaped into a ghost, Sam’s body was dead. Does the person wonder what they’re doing in a strange body in a lab in the future? No one has explained very clearly what happens when Sam Beckett leaps. This zine doesn’t, either.

I found most of the stories hard to buy. QUANTUM LEAP is a great show because they don’t fool around with famous people or famous events. I admit, I bought this zine because it has a picture of Sam wearing a STAR TREK shirt on the cover. It led me to believe this zine was about Sam leaping into the STAR TREK universe. I felt cheated when he merely leaped onto the set of the original series.

I found the story POLICE ACTION hard to buy because Sam leaped into a famous person—Stewart Copeland of the Police. Sam is there to set events into motion to help make them famous. DAKOTA ON HORSEBACK was the classic QL story; Sam is there to prevent a Canadian businesswoman from falling off a cliff. It was an excellent story.

BIRTH OF A CLICHE was the big STAR TREK story; Sam leaps into a redshirt and mumbles, "Beam me up, Scotty!" A script writer immediately scribbles it down. That line was never actually used on the show; it became part of the STAR TREK lore later on, like "Play it again, Sam" did for CASABLANCA. JINX was a great story. Sam leaped into a Soviet spy who is under cover on a cruise ship in the Caribbean in 1963. Though the author foiled around with a famous historical event, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, that didn’t detract much from the story, and Sam saved a life. ALL THINGS EQUAL was a good story. Sam was there to prevent a Right to Lifer from being assassinated so events wouldn’t be set in motion to restrict abortion and birth control. Again, the idea behind the series wasn’t to change history, but to better the lives of individuals.

This zine was rather unimpressive for the price. It was sixty-two pages of double-spaced Times Roman. If they wanted to eat up space, they should have used a larger font and single-spaced it; it would have been easier to read and looked more professional. When they have to double-space Times Roman, it’s obvious they’re wasting space so they can get away with charging twelve-seventy-five for the zine.

1994

Two out of five stars. A pleasant collection of connected leaps. 'Police Action' takes Sam to the London rock music scene in the 70's as a drummer with a band just starting out. On a more serious note, in 'Dakota on Horseback', he leaps into a wilderness vacation that originally ended in tragedy. 'Birth of a Cliche' is a short leap into a TV extra to say the right phrase to the right writer. 'Jinx', working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean in April 1961, Sam has leaped into more than a ship's steward. If he's the spy, which side is he on? 'Walk With Me', Sam leaps into United flight 232 crashing in Iowa, too late for the person he was to replace. The leapee died in the crash, is Sam dead or alive, wandering the cornfields? Al franticly searches through the flaming wreckage, but Sam can't communicate with him - out of a body, Al can't see him either. Sam can help the soul of the leapee move on, but may be trapped to follow himself. In 'All Things Equal', the one cross-universe story in this set, a bemused Sam finds himself in an elegant New York apartment, with an impressive arsenal hidden behind one wall. As Robert McCall, Sam has to stop an assassination. Since these are all by one author, there are references between stories much more than the show does. This zine was one of the first QL zines out so these stories were written very early in the series.