By Erin Kirsten Stein
Arizona Daily Wildcat
December 1, 1997

A fix for your X-philia

Arizona Daily Wildcat "Antibodies:" The new X-Files novel.

I'll read anything with David Duchovny on the cover. But I would have read the new "X-Files" novel anyway.

Based on the TV series, Antibodies (HarperPrism) is the fifth "X-Files" novel so far and the third by author Kevin J. Anderson. The first two books, Whirlwind and Goblins, were only released in paperback and were by some other guy, Charles Grant, who kind of sucked. He didn't keep up the integrity of Mulder and Scully; the books' characters weren't consistent with the show's characters.

Anderson took over and made the "X-Files" novel his area of expertise. These are not those dumb junior high novelizations of the episodes you can get now. These novels have original stories and, basically, one book equals one episode. The first chapter is always a teaser. Each book is self-contained, but they do not operate in a separate universe from the TV series. They're quick and simple reads, much like a script of the show. Anderson focuses on small objects with description and then backs away, like the camera, to give us the whole scene.

This book is up-to-date with the show, as far as Scully having cancer, but Cancerman hasn't been shot yet.

In Antibodies, the construct is easy - Mulder and Scully are good, the government is bad. It's your classic first-season independent episode, plain and simple, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for you die-hard fans out there.

There's a burned-up medical facility where researchers were looking for a cancer cure. The government was funding it, of course, and when things got too hot they eradicated the research. Or so they thought.

The researcher in charge had a kid with cancer, and a dog, both of whom are already infested with the "cure" which consists of "nanocritters" that work inside your body to repair damage. But there's this other guy who has prototype nanocritters without all the bugs worked out (pun intended) and who is all gross and slimy, and if you touch him, you get gross and slimy too. Oh yeah, and you die.

This sounds really stupid, but it's actually a pretty good read. Ground Zero (no relation to this arts section) and Ruins (Anderson's first two "X-Files" novels) were better, but maybe that's because I read them during the peak of my "X-Files" obsession.

Anderson is so cool because he really captures the feel of the show and the characters. It feels like you're really watching an episode, but you're reading it.

And of course, the twisted sense of humor is there.

The victim's skin rippled and bubbled ... and Dorman could see swollen growths, pustules, tumors, lumps.

The usual.

The best part of the book is a scene in which Mulder is in the Hoover Building, the one they always show on TV, and he's looking at a Kodiak bear confiscated from a drug lord.

Why is this my favorite part? Because I've seen that bear! I went to Washington, D.C. over the summer and visited the FBI and the bear is really there. So it was a cheap thrill to read about it in a book.

I even visited the Hoover Building on David Duchovny's birthday. Spooky? Yes. Relevant to this review? No.

So, if you're suffering from middle-of-the-week "X-Files" withdrawal, Antibodies is the perfect cure.