Based on The X-Files series Chris Carter, series creator, illustrations by Kim Smith Quirk Books Fiction, Fiction, CH Media Tie-in/Picture Book/Sci-Fi Themes: Aliens, Cross-Genre ***
Description
Young Dana and her friend Fox are having a camp-out in her back yard when Fox's imagination runs away with him... or are there really aliens out there?
Review
As a former X-phile, I was curious about this title, and finally cornered it during some down time at work. Unfortunately, I just don't think it quite works on a number
of levels.
First off, there's the title, which is not only a spoiler, but irrelevant for most of the story. (It's such a disconnect that one is basically just tapping one's fingers
waiting for the title to make sense... and when it does, it's not so much an "aha" moment as a vague sigh.) Secondly, there's the concept of retconning Mulder and Scully
into childhood pals. This could've been a fun homage, with numerous opportunities for nods to the original series, but nothing much stood out. Plus, young Dana and Fox are
reading X-Files stories in their tent, which really warps a concept that already retcons characters. Either this was a very subtle nod to the show (which once had
characters watching Chris Carter's Millennium series before doing a crossover), or this thing wasn't even trying to be anything but a quick cash-in on the reboot
(or re-reboot, given that a second "special" season is airing in January 2018.) Then there's the matter of using an early-reader picture book to tie into a series that was
definitely not for the picture book audience. (What next, a pop-up book with a pull tab for the Flukeman to tear out a victim's liver? A See-and-Say toy for monsters?) I
know there are people who happily let their toddlers and kindergartners watch Outlander and Game of Thrones, but it still feels like brand confusion to me,
especially as there doesn't seem to be much here for the adult X-phile reading this to their kids. But even setting all that aside... something about the storyline, simple
as it is, just doesn't quite play out right to me - a feeling definitely not helped by a title that tips its hand before the reader even picks it up.
In the end, what could've been an amusing little outing for 'philes of all ages ends up feeling flat and forced. But I suppose all's fair if it earns more money for the
franchise owners...
Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand Harper Fiction, Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi Themes: Aliens ***
Description
For five years, FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully worked to uncover a global conspiracy aimed at enabling an alien invasion, investigating the so-called X-files.
After their office is burned and the X-files are shut down, they are reassigned to the anti-terrorist unit. Mulder and Scully stumble upon a major piece of the
alien/conspiracy puzzle in Dallas, when a bomb threat is called in for the wrong building. Playing a hunch, Mulder finds the real device, but barely gets the place
evacuated before the blast reduces the site to rubble. This is no ordinary terrorist attack, however. Bodies that were dead before the explosion, a dangerous mutation
of the "black-oil" alien virus, and yet more cover-ups and set-ups by the Consortium await the duo.
This is the novelization of The X-Files: Fight the Future, the movie based on the hit sci-fi TV show The X-Files. Chronologically, it occurs after the
Season Five finale.
Review
When I buy the written adaptation of a movie, I do so because a good book can do something a camera cannot: it gets inside the characters. Ideally, the book adds depth
and history, even if it's just by including what was left on the cutting room floor. (For instance, the novel of Star Trek: Generations included the torture scenes
wherein the evil doctor was proven to be evil, using an implant to stop and start LaForge's heart. The sequence must've been filmed and subsequently dropped, since there
are a few lines that made no sense in the movie until I read the book and discovered that they referred to those very scenes. But that's another universe altogether...)
At least, that's my view of the reason for novelizations: to enhance, not simply recount, the movie experience. Intellectually, I know that they're just another part of a
franchise's publicity/money machine, but that doesn't make them inherently bad. Apparently, my views aren't shared by everyone... such as the authors of this story. This
book reads like someone sat in the theater and took notes, then went home and wrote just what they saw. Only the shallowest stabs were made at tackling the thought
processes of the characters, and then nothing that wasn't immediately obvious. I almost got the feeling that Hand didn't want to modify or elaborate on anything which
Carter handed her, perhaps afraid of being accused of messing with his universe, so she just stuck to the script. Unfortunately, in a novel, a movie script isn't much
help. Authors can't rely on camera angles, background music, and skilled actors to breathe life into a story. They have to do that themselves, using just the English
language. Either Hand isn't the world's most dynamic writer, or Carter's ideas work far better as screenplays than straight written fiction. While this book is certainly
readable, it added nothing to my enjoyment of the movie or the franchise. X-philes should save themselves the time and money and just buy the DVD.
