When I was a kid, two of my older cousins introduced me to The X-Files during its inaugural season. I instantly fell in love, and it became my favourite show, not to mention a staple of my Friday (and, later, Sunday) nights. I collected the novelizations of the episodes, as well as the tie-in novels, which acted as stand-alone cases. You could say I was obsessed.
Due to family events, I started missing episodes near the end of the show and didn’t see how it ended. As such, I made a point to do a full rewatch on DVD. In fact, my first paycheque went to buying the seasons I didn’t already have, back when the big boxed sets were about $114.99 each.
As a diehard fan, I looked forward to the revival and watched the two additional seasons. I liked them, for the most part, though they could’ve been better and could have provided more of a resolution. I was hoping there’d be more, but we only got the one short season and one longer one, which ended on a pretty large scale.
Enter The X-Files: Perihelion; a recently released novel by author Claudia Gray. It acts as an extension of the show, as opposed to a stand-alone story, and does its best to provide an ending of sorts. However, the result is a book that is a mixed bag, and tries to do far too much.
We return to Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they’re attempting to live together again. They’ve bought a townhouse, but are still sleeping in separate bedrooms. That is, even though Scully is experiencing a surprise, geriatric pregnancy. As such, a lot of the book deals with both characters’ thoughts and fears about their forthcoming baby, including its origins, its potential differences and its safety. The two had another child named William, but he was the product of tampering by the Syndicate and the Cigarette Smoking Man. As a result, he was born with alien DNA, special powers and the revelation that he likely wasn’t Mulder’s biological child, all of which caused them to give him up for adoption.
Unfortunately, William died during the show, and our two main characters are still struggling with that loss, as is to be expected. This has bled into their new pregnancy, and has prevented them from being as happy as they could’ve been. So, too, has the unknown, meaning worry as to whether the government, healthcare professionals or shadowy figures contributed to this happening.
There’s a lot of talk about William, both between the characters and in their heads. Too much, to be honest. It gets very repetitive, and old hat. The author didn’t need to keep bringing him up so much.
At this time, Scully is working at a DNA/RNA/gene research company, while Mulder ponders his future and takes part in podcasts about the unexplained. The two end up being called back to the bureau, though, and not by Assistant Director Walter Skinner, who’s sadly in a comatose state in a special hospital. No, they are tasked with dealing with a new AD, and are unsure whether they can trust her or not. Either way, she reinstates them, and gives them two different cases. Mulder also meets a new informant, named Avatar, who likes pop culture as much as he likes aliens.
The X-Files: Perihelion begins with the murder of a pregnant lady, who’s walking to her car in a hospital’s parking garage. During this crime, a strange electrical event occurs, leading to it becoming an X-File. This acts as one of the two cases found inside this book, and it pertains to a killer known as Bright Eyes, who targets pregnant women, further worrying Mulder about Scully’s pregnancy and safety.
While the Bright Eyes case begins interestingly enough, it never amounts to anything noteworthy and ends in a really lacklustre fashion. It lacks depth and intrigue, and doesn’t compare to most of the monsters of the week found in the show itself. This was rather disappointing. Furthermore, it introduces an odd element to Scully’s character that I didn’t particularly like or feel fit in well.
The second case involves a killer who seems able to turn into smoke and disappear. It also progresses the story of the Syndicate, and what has followed. This plot line also bit off more than the author was able to chew, and almost raised more questions than it answered.
While the two cases were underwhelming, and didn’t do enough to tie up the storyline, Claudia Gray did do a good job of writing Mulder and Scully, themselves. A number of times, I felt like I was reading an actual script from the show, as pertaining to some of their dialogue, Mulder’s quips and things like that. However, too much was internalized, and far too much time was spent repeating the story of William.
Reading this book also made me feel bad for not remembering what happened during the show’s run as well as I would have liked to. Claudia Gray — who shares that she was an avid fan of the show, and wrote fan fiction as it aired — knows her stuff, and really nailed the lore.
I had a hard time evaluating this book, because a good amount of it was nailed, but the ‘new stuff,’ by way of characters, lore and cases left something to be desired. The author simply introduced far too much into one all too short novel, and failed to provide the depth and development it all required, partially because she spent too much time obsessing about William and Scully’s new pregnancy. Hell, there’s even a story arc about Scully looking into her DNA, and the alterations to global DNA/RNA that resulted from the Syndicate’s interference.
The X-Files: Perihelium is a relatively well written book, which does a good job of bringing two iconic characters back to ‘life,’ but it stumbles with the rest. As a result, it’s merely a decent effort, and not the great continuation (or conclusion) I was hoping it would be.
This review is based on a copy of the book that we were provided. Thank you to NetGalley and its publisher, Hyperion Avenue.