I'm a massive fan of The X-Files and so I jump on any new literature related to the show. Earlier last year, just before the new movie came out, there was an 'official' release, titled The Complete X-Files: Behind the Scenes, the Myths and the Movies which turned out to be something of a disappointment. It was nice to have an official summary of every season, and have an insight into I Want To Believe, and the hundreds of photos were great. Aside from the many editorial problems with spelling, miscaptioning of photos and general mistakes when referring to specific episodes, I enjoyed the book, but it gave short shrift to many episodes in its discussion of every one of them. Some merely received a sentence or two synopsis with no behind the scenes insight or critical evaluation. Still, it was the first new X-Files branded product for years and I lapped it up - I won't be shelling out for the 'special edition' re-release version that Amazon.co.uk has listed at £123 though!Wanting to Believe is a fantastic read, and by the very nature of it being an unofficial guide, Robert Shearman can provide a much more objective critique of the series than any official guide could ever produce. I especially liked the fact that the guide covers Millennium and The Lone Gunmen as well, as there has never been a guide to either series (not that the latter particularly needs one). I've only seen Millennium in its 3 season entirety once and I enjoyed it, despite the rather varied approaches to each season, and after reading the guide I'd like to revisit the series once more. While The X-Files and Millennium believably inhabited the same fictional world, The Lone Gunmen all too often played for laughs and is the weaker relation, its inclusion in this guide makes more sense for completion's sake. Chris Carter's other series, Harsh Realm, doesn't get a mention, but that was set in a dull virtual reality setting and was just poor, so it makes sense that Shearman doesn't cover it.
It seems a bit odd reviewing a book of reviews, so there's not much I can say about it other than the man talks sense! It's not often that I totally disagreed with his assessment of an episode, but Shearman makes his points very clearly, and I was never in doubt as to what he felt were a show's flaws or stand out scenes. Reading the reviews of every season of The X-Files and Millennium together makes for some interesting conclusions about how each series developed and what the story arcs and themes seemed to be, and I was forced to reevalute some of my own thoughts on the shows - perhaps I've been too quick to like nearly every episode! It's also interesting to read reviews of seasons 8 and 9 in particular as the 'official' guides ended at season 7, and I've not read an unofficial guide that ran past season 5 (except online, of course). Season 8 was a stronger series than many would think - particularly those who'd lost faith with the show by that point and given up. Season 9 was pretty poor, but there were some flashes of greatness here and there, but they were hard to find.
After this guide I don't think I need to read another X-Files guide* as this was very comprehensive. I'd recommend it to anyone who loved the show.
*(Of course, I'll read any new X-Files book that manages to get published!)
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