I think Claudia Gray did a fantastic job with the material she was given. I (like many fans, I think) was not a fan of the way the show handled the William storyline in the revival, and that storyline features heavily in this book. But it was great to see Mulder and Scully back in the FBI basement together!

Claudia Gray completely nailed Mulder’s and Scully’s voices. From Mulder’s sarcastic, droll comments to Scully’s incisive diary entries, the characterizations felt spot-on; it was like a welcome reunion with two old friends. This is clearly the work of a true X-Files fan (and the acknowledgments bear that out) - one who also happens to be a great writer.

As for the story itself, there’s a monster-of-the-week plot (a serial killer with possible special powers targeting pregnant women) and a mythology plot. I’ve always found the show’s mythology to be a little bit murky, but I thought Gray did well working within, and spinning off of, the parameters set up by the season 11 finale.

This book was well-paced, but things really heat up in the last 20% of the book: that’s when I really couldn’t put it down.

This is definitely a book I’d recommend to any X-Files fan, and I’m thrilled that the door seems to be open for further books - I’ll definitely be reading!

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are reeling after the death of their son William. They agree to help hunt a serial killer. Now they must be careful to keep everything they love safe. Will they be able to? An amazing story that keeps you reading.

Former FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are on leave, awaiting the official decision about the future of the X-Files. However, they are not enjoying their leave of absence terribly much.

On the plus side, Dana has discovered she is pregnant; on the negative side, this is happening while she is in her fifties and the last pregnancy she carried to term was actually the end result of a wicked man’s unwanted experimentation with alien DNA, using her womb as a Petrie dish. As well, her charitable work families of children born with debilitating diseases and genetic anomalies has resulted in a far too many cases of loss for her to process. However, the friendship she’s developed with fellow researcher Dr. Karen Jones may reveal some crucial information about Dana’s pregnancy that not even she has entertained …

Meanwhile, Fox has been trying to become a podcast celebrity, bringing the vast amount of cryptid and alien information to the masses. It’s a self-defeating process, however, because the audience is eager for cool ideas instead of rigorously explored truths. So, he’s getting burned out appearing with quacks and kooks. However, someone he meets at his latest (and possibly last) public podcast recording may have an angle on truths not even he’s aware of …

As the forces align to reinstate official explorations into the X-files and bringing back the two leading investigators of those cases, other forces are aligning in order to fill a vacuum left by the infamous Syndicate, a far reaching conspiracy that disseminated alien DNA into the human genome across the world before Mulder and Scully put a stop to them. When they were deposed, a lot of dangerous toys and plans were left lying around, so it seems only natural that another power hungry group would be interested in acquiring these thing. But do these Inheritors have something to do with either a maniac targeting pregnant women in the DC area (who might have the spooky power to cause strange electrical overloads) or an assassin who kills and then disappears (sometimes taking his targets with him) as a shadow or smoke?

In fact, these are the first two cases Mulder and Scully will be handling, hand picked by new administrator, acting Assistant Director Ruth Morrison. The reasoning behind these cases in particular is not necessarily obvious, but Mulder and Scully are both eager investigators, alternately applying clever data analysis and shrewd rational tactics in their search for the truth.

But will the truths they uncover destroy all they’ve worked for? Or will they set the investigators somehow free? Claudia Gray weaves character studies, plenty of TV show lore, and some wonderful new paranoid conspiracies in her media tie in novel, The X-files: Perihelion.

While the series slogan most often found on posters and peripherals is “The Truth is out there,” the real meat and potatoes philosophy of The X-files revolves around truth and consequences. The real statement of purpose isn’t a statement at all, but a question: When searching out the truth, who can you trust? Often, the answer to that question was no one but your partner, but Mulder and Scully made quite the team as both the intuitive believer and the rationalist scientist. They sometimes butted heads, but they always had each other’s back. Everyone else was suspect.

This is still the case in Claudia Gray’s novel.

One of the key qualities that is most exciting about the book is the author’s ability to stoke paranoia from mundane details. The conspiracies at play in the book (both what the reader sees functioning as well as those we can imagine by connecting some dots) are all orchestrated, assembled through data, cryptic conversations, some accessible to Mulder and/or Scully and some only accessible to us. There is a level of mystery, which Gray keeps up in order to properly obfuscate what’s happening. We get details but not enough, and long before the halfway point, we start to see connections where some or even none may exist. It’s not an easy path to follow for a writer, creating and maintaining such an atmosphere without lapsing into parody or much of a muchness. Best of all, Gray sticks the landing she sets up with a reveal that gives us a little of what we expect, a little of what we don’t expect, and a lot of what we want from an X-files story.

As well, her sense for how the characters talk, the use of jargon as well as wit (dry but biting for Mulder, logical for Scully) is on point. We can imagine the actors delivering these lines, which as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of media tie-in fiction can be difficult but is nevertheless crucial for maintaining the attention of a target audience for a well-known and, dare we say, beloved franchise. We know how these people talk, and we want to see words that won’t seem alien (ahem) coming from their mouths. As well, the new characters need to talk like other characters in the show. They need to sound like they are components in the world.

Where the book might throw a few people is in the way it sets up the reader.

As the book gets underway, we get several very different approaches to the storytelling. On the one hand, we have a pair of character studies about a pair of lovers who also happen to be troubled by some extreme weirdness. Both Mulder and Scully are grappling with traumas, particularly the loss of a child that was not actually theirs. They don’t talk, tend to harbor a lot of bad feelings and do their best to keep these buried. However, because we have full access to the inner monologues, the burial is not complete. As well, Scully’s concerns about her geriatric pregnancy are intricately tied to these traumas, making the new baby less of a happy occasion and more of an opportunity to reopen old, poorly healed wounds.

Tied to this is a much more plot-centric storyline about a couple of people trying to figure out if they really want to get back in bed with an administration that used, abused, and violated their trust before. In fact, the numbers of possible X-files have gone through the roof while the intrepid pair have been away, and although they cannot identify why, there does seem to be an overarching rationale for this … So, if Mulder and Scully don’t get back in the game, will the caseloads continue to multiply, unwatched and uninvestigated until reaching some kind of critical mass?

And tied to this begrudging return to work is a pair of cases that do not seem to be at all related except that they wound up in folders assigned to the unexplained phenomena side of the FBI, slapped with X-files logos and forgotten.

There is so much going on, that readers may begin to wonder if Claudia Gray is up to the task to rein in, bringing the novel to some kind of satisfying conclusion in the limited page count we have. In fact, when I got to the midpoint of the thing, I wondered if this was going to be the first in a trilogy. There are certainly enough balls in the air at that point to supply all the necessary components for such a lengthy project. It’s an overstuffed book, but the author does manage the seemingly impossible task of resolving many of the bigger pieces she raises, some threads in more climactic ways than others. Several of the smaller items are left dangling, of course, inviting future works in the franchise (including additional entries from this author).

If the book is not a perfect reading experience into this franchise, it is only because of repetition. Some of the author’s pet concepts find their way into the narrative and internal monologue a little too often for my preference. Reading the thing felt at times like retreading the same ground. Scully hits on William/Jackson Van De Kamp subject pretty regularly, using much the same language each time and she often dwells on her geriatric pregnancy in the same way. I’m sure Mulder has similar hobby horses, but they stand out particularly well with Scully (likely for the very personal reason that, while my wife and I had what doctors called a geriatric pregnancy, it was the doctors who obsessed about the concept, not us; so, my own experience in the area made this part a tad more noticeable). Some readers will mark this repetition as a bit of authorial laziness. I tend to believe it’s an attempt to humanize the characters—although Mulder and Scully have a pedigree in being solid case closers for the X-files, they are still human beings doing a job, and people will bring their personal baggage to work with them. Only after they can deal with the personal stuff can a worker get anything done.

The X-files: Perihelion is a book that benefits best from at least some understanding of the franchise many, many, many plots. It’s not really the best way to jump into the series cold, as the narrative overflows with explicit nods to the show’s characters, plots, season finales, and adversaries as it is. It’s possible to dive into the deep end, but readers completely unfamiliar with the intricacies of the various seasons may feel like they are drinking from a firehose. Gray is an obvious fan of this stuff, quite versed in the nitty gritty details. However, her talent as a writer is to synthesize some of this material and make it approachable. I was sometimes lost on the established worldbuilding details that showrunner Chris Carter and his cadre of writers and directors made for the show, but I always came back around for the major plot points.
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A special thank you to Hyperion Avenue Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Claudia Gray's The X-Files: Perihelion is the authors salute to a series that lasted for 9 seasons (from September 1993 to May 2002, as well as two movies). The series introduced the world to FBI special agents Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny). Mulder was a lover of conspiracy theories and the supernatural and had photographic memory, while Scully was a doctor and a skeptic, and together they investigated seemingly inexplicable events.

Mulder and Scully are still reeling from the death of their son William, but cautiously joyous about Scully’s unexpected pregnancy. Determined to raise this child together, Mulder and Scully struggle to find meaning away from the X-Files as they navigate the uncertain waters of their relationship. Scully is working in a genetic research hospital, while Mulder, after 30 years of paranormal research, and dealing with Cigarette Smoking Man and the Syndicate, is no longer at the FBI and one could say adrift at sea.

Then the FBI (Acting Director Ruth Morrison) asks for their help tracking down two mysterious serial killers: one who seems to be able to control electricity, and another who disappears from the scene of the crime in what witnesses describe as a puff of smoke. It’s enough for the Bureau to re-open the X-Files—if Mulder and Scully are willing. They reluctantly agree, cautious about what it might mean for them and their unborn child but determined to find justice for the killers’ victims.

But their return to the X-Files sparks the interest of a shadowy cabal, the heirs to the now-dead Syndicate called the Inheritors, and Mulder and Scully soon discover that their investigation is connected to a worldwide threat on an unprecedented scale one with their own future at its heart. 30 years ago, Scully and Mulder tried to save the world from an alien virus being released onto the world. They failed, and now the world is experiencing a full blown chaos with people waking up with new abilities, including Scully.

Meanwhile, Robin Vane is taking out former Syndicate members, leaving behind corpses dead by a single knife or gunshot wound, and witnesses seeing nothing but a bit of smoke behind. His partner, Charish Craddock, has the ability to raise the dead, and eventually brings Scully to Arizona where they hope she will join them. Mulder is given a new mysterious informant in Avatar, a spunky woman with her finger firmly on the pulse of pulp culture and who may be as obsessed with geekdom as Mulder is with little green men. One of Scully and Mulder's last allies, William Skinner has been in a coma for awhile now, and therefore is not fully present in the story.

Apparently, this story takes place right after Season 11, and while this may be considered to be season 12 of the series, I am left wondering why the author failed to wrap up certain plotlines that drove the story? Thus my rating. Will the author return with another installment? As someone who watched all 9 seasons, yes even the disappointed ones (Season 7), I would like the rumor to be true that there is a possibility of Scully and Mulder reuniting and an yet to be named reboot in the near future. We shall see.

I have to admit (I think I'm in the minority here and I'd never want to belittle the efforts of a fellow X-Phile), I struggled to get on board with the approach of this book and the believability of the plot. Do I care, though? No. I was happy to get someone's take on how to resolve the end of season 11 (or whatever it was)...this book does its best to undo some of the ridiculousness of it all. The X-Files is a sci-fi show, yes, but it always starts with something based in reality and I just wasn't buying this weird crime that drove the whole plot. It read like something written specifically to call attention to an issue (no spoilers, but presented in the final moments of the final episode) so it could do some damage control. The driving force of the antagonist, their motives and the subplots happening in and around everyone was just too much at once.

This author seems to know a good amount of X Files history, but I was kind of surprised to find out this is a fan who's seen every episode. I definitely didn’t have a bad enough of a time to stop reading it - I think it’s my personal devotion to Mulder and Scully - but I didn't feel like the author fully had a grasp on how to write these characters at this stage of their lives. I'm not sure anyone does, not even Chris Carter. Something about everything in this book just feels only skin deep.

There are so many plot lines going on as well - and none of it is fleshed out enough to make me feel anything about them other than kind of bored and annoyed that the story deviates from Mulder and Scully...and a plot is almost all that separates a novel from fanfiction, so this reads a bit like fanfiction trying to elevate itself to a novel...and it gets there, it's just a little flat.

Meanwhile…it’s nice to have Mulder and Scully around and to somehow try to roll back a bit of the nonsense the last season wrought upon the canon of such a beloved show. I almost don’t care that they only seem partially in their own characters because they’ve been gone, but they do feel familiar. The diary entries Scully makes read VERY much like the old ones from Memento Mori, though Mulder’s field reports are slightly less familiar. Mulder seems a bit immature in his opinions and Scully is a bit too quick with her denials of his theories…like a formula that’s been out the door since seasons 7-8ish.

Again, it was great to have Mulder and Scully back, I just wish they’d felt more like *them*. That said, if more are released, I’m sure I’ll wind up reading them, just as I did this one.

* Thank you to NetGalley and Claudia Gray Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers.

Perihelion was a delight. I’ve been a longtime fan of the X-Files and my favorites were always the conspiracy episodes. Watching Mulder and Scully return to the X-Files in our modern day was tons of fun and I hope there will be more to come.

I love scully and mulder! This brings me back to my childhood and being obsessed with this show and stories. This story is terrific and it was great to be back with them. Makes me want to go back and reread others and binge the show all over again. If you are a fan grab this one and be prepared to fall down a rabbit hole of nostalgia.

I enjoyed reading this book it was nostalgic for me. I was a fan of the show and and the movies. I would put it on the TV just for background noise. Reading this story made me feel like I was just watching another episode of the X-files. The relationship between Mulder and Scully was great it showed the good and the bad side and how they worked through thing as partners in life and their job. This book really makes me want to re-watch the series.

As a fan of the original X-Files show, I was curious to read this title, and I was not disappointed. Mulder and Scully are back and the doubting and sarcastic underdog duo are looking for the truth that is out there in a world where sensational clickbait is the norm and if you claim to have encountered Sasquatch, you probably have a podcast about it. There are people with strange powers. There is an all-powerful agency. Scully has her doubt and Mulder has his sarcasm. And I love the journaling, which adds great depth to the characters and their thoughts.


The only challenge I have with this story, and it is not the fault of the writer at all, is all the soap-oper-y elements of William and other ways the writers of the show really messed with these two. Gray includes this past because it's cannon, but seems a bit ridiculous in the first place. Again, not the fault of the person telling this story.

In short, this book is so good, you can almost hear the theme music as you are turning the page.

Are you a fan of X-Files? if you are, then you need to read no further, just go read the book! If you are on the fence, then read on.
Mulder and Scully are trying to find a path forward, both personally & professionally. When Scully finds that she is pregnant, she & Mulder decide to try moving in together and go back to the FBI to reopen the X-Files. Their discoveries can lead to their death or they may break open a new cabal. What will happen.... it's an X-Files story after all.

If you are a fan of the X-Files TV series then you will love this book. I recently started binging the X-Files and am enjoying the adventures of Mulder and Scully again , especially since I had missed several episodes in various seasons. So when I saw this that book was available I immediately requested it and liked it! The author does a good job describing the two main characters and the dialogue between the two characters is similar to the tv show. If you never saw the tv show you may be a little lost reading this book. But if you are a fan of the show then get this book -- The truth is out there

It’s not over. The X-Files universe is still alive and well, and Claudia Gray provides the next steps forward with her entry in the series, “Perihelion”. Mulder and Scully are back, and, more important, they’re BACK IN THE FBI. And they have a new ally—maybe—called Avatar. Not exactly Deep Throat, certainly not X, but with at least as much a shadowy background, she (yes, SHE!) adds a new and uncertain twist to the series. As does Robin Vane, an enemy hired gun of sorts who has a unique ability of being able to transport himself from one place to another simply by willing it. Hey, this is the X-Files; you should be prepared to suspend belief. The backstory of “Brighteyes” and the murders of pregnant women at times seem only filler…entertaining filler, to be sure, but filler nonetheless. But that’s okay. “Perihelion” hits all the right notes and even gives Director Skinner hope for continued existence. I hope the series continues…I mean, the Truth is STILL Out There.

I’ll start with a confession:

I had no idea there were X Files books lol. I am also about a million years away from the television series. I mean, I loved it. And then it ended and I didn’t really think of it again.

I was happy to say that the author’s writing put me squarely back into a once-favorite show. Mulder and Scully are very Mulder and Scully and there are soooo many things that have happened since the show. I was fascinated.

The plot itself was a good one, though it did take me about 25% of the book to be fully invested, and there’s a lot of heart and sadness in the book.

I really enjoyed it and, yes, I’d like another!

• ARC via Publisher

Claudia Gray’s “The X-Files: Perihelion” adds another adventure to the lives of Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. I’m a huge X-Files fan, having watched the entire series two or three times straight through, seen the movies multiple time, and read a couple of other books from different authors as well. I really looked forward to this read.

Now working for an independent genetics clinic that helps children, Scully finds she is pregnant again. She and Mulder move in together in an effort to finally create a normal family. Both are still mourning the loss of their first son, and Mulder is somewhat adrift when it comes to his career. When a mysterious assassin, who can disappear in a cloud of smoke, attracts the attention of the FBI, Mulder and Scully are called back to the agency. At the same time, however, a serial killer is brutally murdering pregnant women, and Scully has caught his attention. While torn between tracking down the two killers, Mulder and Scully also must address their relationship, their grief, and the strange new ability Scully seems to have acquired.

This book hits all the notes when it comes to the X-Files mythos. A lot of things readers expect to happen in an episode or novel set in this world do occur. Claudia Gray started out writing fanfic in this setting, and it’s clear she has a strong understanding of the tropes. The ending, however, felt abrupt and seemed to lack a satisfying resolution. Perhaps this is in expectation of a sequel?

I generally enjoyed the story, though I think it could have used a little more finessing. I do look forward to seeing what Claudia Gray will do when she has the chance to spend some more time in this world of the X-Files. I received a copy from NetGalley.

I picked this up because I’ve watched a handful of X-Files episodes and really liked what I saw so I thought this would be an interesting addition to that. I figured if this is a good story I should be able to jump into it and enjoy it regardless of how much of the show I’ve seen. (We’ll talk about that assumption later.) The story sounded super intriguing and I couldn’t wait to get into it.

This has two storylines that intertwine toward the end of the book: a killer that can vanish into smoke and one that may or may not have electrical powers that is murdering pregnant women. Smoke Killer has a way more intriguing story than the may or may not electrical killer. His story is much more fleshed out and you really get to know him as a person. I like how it ended much more too. I do really like how they ended up coming together at the end of the book. There are several side plots that I can’t really get into without major spoilers for the book but I greatly enjoyed all of them.

I really liked the relationship between Mulder and Scully. Like I said I haven’t seen much of the show but I liked reading more about them in this. There is a fairly large cast of side characters in this and I liked all of them too. Im especially intrigued by the new informant and I really want to know more of her story.

Remember how I said I’ve barely seen any of the show? If you’re like me prepare to be confused for some of the story. There are a ton of references to the show that you’re not going to understand if you haven’t seen every episode and possibly read some of the books about the show before this one came out. One point especially kept coming up that I had no frame of reference to but the book does a decent job of explaining it. I think.

Also the way this ends makes me think that there is going to be at least one sequel. I hope there is and I look forward to reading any and all follow ups.

Overall I highly recommend this to fans of the show and give a tentative recommendation to sci-fi fans in general. I loved this and I know fans of the show will too.

I smiled and nodded all the way through the acknowledgements in this book because The X-Files was my first online fandom, and this book reminded me in all the best ways of those days of sliding through website rings, from one site to the next looking for fanfiction to tie you over on summer hiatus.

When I saw Claudia Gray was writing X-Files I smashed that NetGalley request button so instantaneously! And this book did not disappoint. The plot is weird in places, but that is X-Files, and it is weird in the ways that track with the all over the place mythology of the show, including the new seasons. Gray clearly knows her canon. But if we were always here for Mulder and Scully (and we were), both are so beautifully written. As Gray did with Leia in her Star Wars novel, I feel as if she reached into my mind and heart and wrote the Scully I both wanted and needed and frankly deserve. Mulder likewise. I also appreciated the way she tracked the changes between the nineties and now, and shifted them into the conversations around the Internet and conspiracy theories in a way that honestly felt more grounded than what the most recent seasons were able to accomplish.

How satisfying as an MSR fan, to read this book. It was as good as I hoped that it would be, and in some ways felt as if it threaded the needle between the 90s and right now even better than the most recent seasons, while still incorporating the events of all of the above. I will be highly recommending this to all my X-Files friends.

It was wonderful to be back with Mulder and Scully in a brand-new adventure. There was even an appearance of Cigarette-Smoking Man. Claudia Gray is an excellent author of media tie-in novels. She takes the time to understand the world and the characters and what attracted fans in the first place.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well, that was a lot of fun, and a good balm for the frustrating elements at the end of Season 11. Perihelion is a promising new start into what I hope becomes a series of post-Season 11 X-Files books. Not everything is resolved at the end of Perihelion (there are just as many questions as answers), but I liked the direction Gray took the mythology plot.

Some things I really liked:

-Poor Scully has not been treated well in the show's canon, particularly Season 11 (which has always made me mad, as she's one of my favorite female characters ever). Gray does a lot to show her wrestling back some agency. Some of Scully's journal entries could be straight from the mouth of the fans, but they're also very character appropriate and work well.

-In Perihelion, Mulder and Scully are still figuring out what their relationship is and what it's going to look like going forward. No matter how much he wants to, is Mulder able to be a devoted partner if he doesn't have the X-Files to chase after? As much as my shipper heart would love for Mulder and Scully to go straight into happily-ever-after, it was worth it to see them go through this process.

-Gray really has down the characterizations of both Mulder and Scully. Some of the banter made me laugh out loud.

"The Truth Is Out There...But So Are Lies.

#1 New York Times best-selling author Claudia Gray extends the story of The X-Files beyond its eleventh season into thrilling new territory!

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are still reeling from the death of their son William as they struggle to find purpose away from the X-Files. Though their current relationship is tenuous, they hope to seize their second chance to be a family, despite the many questions surrounding Scully's pregnancy.

Then the FBI asks for their help on a case that hits all too close to home: a serial killer in the Washington, DC area who targets pregnant women. The killer appears to possess a mysterious, uncanny power over electricity, which is enough for the Bureau to re-open the X-Files - if Mulder and Scully are willing.

They cautiously agree, concerned about the safety of their own unborn child yet committed to finding justice for the killer's victims. But their return to the FBI sparks the interest of a shadowy cabal, the heirs to the now-dead Syndicate, and Mulder and Scully soon discover that what at first seems to be just another X-File is connected to a worldwide threat on an unprecedented scale...one with their own future at its heart."

If there's anyone I'd trust to continue The X-Files it's Claudia Gray. Heck, maybe if she'd been working on them longer we wouldn't have Scully pregnant. Again.

"The X-Files: Perihelion" is a new story for fans of The X-Files. This story picks up after the events of Season 11, with Scully pregnant and she and Mulder attempting to rekindle their relationship amidst all of their history. This is all while they are pulled back into their work directly with the FBI, and investigating a string of murders targeting pregnant women.

Let me say that this story was a welcome return to the Mulder and Scully we love, and with its medium, allows for more insight into both of their psyches as they navigate all of the above. Sometimes the plot seemed to drag, but I felt Perihelion tried to balance the old mythology with the latter seasons, along with posing The X-Files for newer canon. Overall, I enjoyed this, and would read more if this becomes just the first in a series of new X-Files installments!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for the review.