Agents of Chaos by Kami Garcia

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How did Fox Mulder become a believer? How did Dana Scully become a skeptic? The X-Files Origins has the answers.

The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos explores the teen years of Fox Mulder, the beloved character depicted in the cult-favorite TV show The X-Files. His story is set in the spring of 1979, when serial murder, the occult, and government conspiracy were highlighted in the news.

The book will follow Mulder as he experiences life-changing events that set him on the path to becoming an FBI agent.

Don’t miss The X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, by Jonathan Maberry, about 15-year-old Dana Scully.

I’ve been having a hard time with retellings lately. Every book that I’ve been reading has me thinking, but is this really Bruce Wayne? Is this really the voice of Belle? And then I’m usually yelling at the book, THIS IS NOT *MY* SLEEPING BEAUTY. However, hold your book fantasy horses, because Kami Garcia did it and got the voice of Fox Mulder down perfectly. This is honestly one of the best retellings/prequels in a TV/Movie character’s that I’ve read it, and I just want to bask in all the X-Files goodness.

The characters were amazing. Mulder’s voice is so spot on. Garcia didn’t just pay attention to his love for mysteries but she picked up on little traits that were particularly Fox. She got his obsessive need to dive full on. She got how he would want a waitress to skedaddle away when he was in the middle of telling his friend his story. She got his unrelenting need to find the truth – because, um, the truth is out there. She got everything about Fox, and this honestly could have just been an episode of young Fox Mulder written by Chris Carter. The other characters were great as well. I enjoyed Phoebe and Gimbel who were fun, funny, and wonderfully detailed sidekicks. I loved the Major. And the cameosssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. They were absolutely fantastic. I fangirled each time a cameo happened. Garcia did a fantastic job of balancing the original characters with new, intriguing characters that came from her imagination.

The plot was so interesting as well. I was definitely on my toes the entire time on what was really happening and where the story would go. I read this last year, and I couldn’t quite remember the final verdict of the story. I was still so intrigued to see what was coming for me at the end of the story. It was a true X-Files mystery as well.

Aurora is not too sure about aliens. But she’s sure this is a great story?

Garcia did an absolute amazing job of blending the original story elements as well as X-Files canon. This story was like the perfect prequel to Fox’s life on the X-Files. It fit so well with his psychology and how he would become the man he is. It explained how he became an FBI agent, his experiences with aliens, and how he could start the spiral with finding Samantha even more. It explained so much in parameters that just FIT. This story probably could be read as a standalone, but it really does mean a lot more if you know the X-Files since it’s little things that stand out that Garcia snuck in that just made my fangirling so on high.

This book was a surprising little powerhouse for me. I hadn’t quite enjoyed Garcia’s work before this book, but she completely knocked everything out of the alien ballpark in every respect for this book. I feel bad for books that are retellings/prequels of sorts now because it’s going to be ridiculously hard to live up to the standards she set. She created wonderful original characters while staying true to the ones already there, she created her own original mystery that would fit perfectly in a season of the X-Files, and she gave the proper Mulder love. This was everything I needed a Fox Mulder story to be. 5 crowns and an Aurora rating!

What do you think? What books have gotten it right on some of your favorite characters? Who would you like to see have a YA story based on them? Let’s discuss in the comments below!