| Title | : | The X-Files: Stolen Lives (X-Files, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Audible Audio |
| Number of Pages | : | 4 |
| Publication | : | First published October 3, 2017 |
"In a world filled with shades of gray, we have to carefully choose which cloak we wear...."
Out of the ashes of the Syndicate, a new, more powerful threat has emerged. Resurrected members of this fallen group - now shadows of their former selves - seemingly bend to the will of someone, or something, with unmatched abilities and an unknown purpose. As those believed to be enemies become unlikely allies and trusted friends turn into terrifying foes, FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully become unknowing participants in a deadly game of deception and retribution, the stakes of which amount to the preservation of humankind. Based upon the graphic novels by Joe Harris - with creative direction from series creator Chris Carter -adapted specifically for the audio format by aural auteur Dirk Maggs (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Alien: Out of the Shadows), and directed by William Dufris of AudioComics, Stolen Lives further explores the sonic landscape of Mulder and Scully's paranormal investigations while continuing the epic storyline begun in Cold Cases.
Demonic possession. Flesh-eating swarms. Mind-altering hallucinogenic trips. Listeners experience it all alongside Mulder and Scully in this original dramatization that reunites Duchovny and Anderson once more with fan-favorite characters: Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis), and the Lone Gunmen (Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood).
The X-Files: Stolen Lives (X-Files, #2) Reviews
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I was so hyped!
Couldn't wait to dive in! Yes, not even full 4 hours but who cares!?
It's the X-Files!
So many flashbacks of my childhood. I wanted to listen at twice the speed just to absorb the book faster!
It. Was. Awesome!
I was barely 12 when I first saw X-Files on TV, back in 1993. Secrets, conspiracies, aliens! All the mind food a teenager would need and want.
Now that you're clear on the level of hype I was experiencing you'll understand better why the low rating. I initially marked this book 2* on Audible, but 3* is what it got due to my mistake.
Listening through, the fact that I was making a tragical mistake didn't dawn on me. Did you notice that X-Files #2 in the title name? I didn't... fml 😣
I got it on an Audible sale. The app never said the book was a sequel.
Never in the book did the narrator state that this is a second part. Just X-Files. Stolen Lives. Episode 1. How was I supposed to know!?
Read Goodreads, for example. That's what I get for insta-buying and reading, instead of making an informed decision.
Anyway, it started great. "Starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson". Hell, yeah!
As soon as I heard them I felt like a kid again. Onward, mysteries!
And then they screwed up.
David screwed up, to be exact. While Gillian didn't exactly pour heart and soul in this, she was good. Really good. David, on the other hand, was literally reading the script with a deadpan voice.
This dude does it better!
I could almost see them, standing next to one another in the deaf room, just shuffling the papers and reading from them like they see the story for the first time.
How can this even be? Ever since I realized it, I could hear it everywhere! I chose to believe David had a bad day, rather than taking the money and milking the X-Files franchise until it drops dead. I want to believe.
Yeah, I just got pissed off again, re-living the entire experience. Reducing the score from 3* to 2* again.
The order in which I read the books shouldn't matter. There are 2 books, 5 mini-stories each. Some are barely 10 minutes long, and non-sensical, but let's not go there, shall we, "Chitter"? And now the stories are supposed to be somehow connected and read in order?
Well, since they chose to publish the second book starting with "Episode 1", I'll use my voting power to tell them what I think of this bullshit.
Assholes. Ruining my X-Files...
Episode 2, the dreaded "Chitter", started without me even realizing the Episode 1 ended. I either dozed off as it wasn't so interesting, or it wasn't so interesting that I dozed off.
Episode 3 wants to be Supernatural so badly, it hurts. You can't do this Harris! That's not how it works!
At least in Episode 4, we get The Lone Gunmen! Familiar voices, yay! 🤗
And then Duchovny delivered yet another phone-book reading session.
I cringed.
Again.
That would have been a good drinking game.
Episode 5 deals with the aliens and basically picks up where the series ended 15 years ago. (I don't count the last two seasons. Didn't watch them. Now too afraid.)
Loved the story, though, although it was too pleasing. "Look, we can write good things, please buy more of our books!"
The worst thing? I bought the prequel! Brace for the flood of disappointment which leaves only the resentment in its wake...
I sense X-Files being forever ruined for me.
"This book was adapted for audio." By Dirk Maggs. Dirk, my friend, there is a reason why unabridged audiobooks are a thing. A good reason! So people like you cannot cut all the good stuff out!
I feel I was too harsh to Harris now, knowing what a hack-job Maggs did. But they were in this together anyway. No brownie points. Bastards.
However, hearing Duchovny saying "Moderately-godless heathen requesting permission to enter the sacred ground" was a "that's it" moment for me. That's the type of humor I remembered and expected here. That's the emotion I wanted from him. But it was too few and far between.
Some of the banter between the spooky duo made things better, but couldn't save the book.
Scully: There something about Pastor Jones that doesn't add up for me.
Mulder: Give him hell!
Scully: Not funny, Mulder
Morales: There are jurisdictional and ethical issues here. We need to tread lightly.
Mulder: Tread lightly. That's us.
Scully: That will be a day...
These are all the good jokes. You don't have to read through now.
But if I'd have to pick one good thing about the book, that would be the scene announcer. No idea how that role is called - it's not the narrator.
Announcer: Great Smoky Mountains. North Carolina. 9:56 AM.
That voice belongs to Laura Lefkow. She wasn't credited here and has apparently narrated only one other book. It's a shame.
Got her name from the closing credits. Stayed and listened through the forest of names just to find out who that voice belongs to.
In the process, I heard at least 20 names of producers and executive producers. Fucking Holywood. Everyone wants a piece of the pie. Doesn't matter if they ruin it in the process. Vultures.
And stay out!
That's it. Rant over. Thanks for sticking with me.
I love you more than X-Files: Stolen Lives ❤️
And it got a far longer review than it deserves 😣
The X-Files: Stolen Lives (The X-Files #2)
by Joe Harris (Author), David Duchovny (Narrator), Gillian Anderson (Narrator), Mitch Pileggi (Narrator), William B. Davis (Narrator), Tom Braidwood (Narrator)Verdict Just don't.
Runtime 03:42
Overall
Performance
Story -
Not as good as the first installment Cold Cases but still entertaining. As with any thing having to do with The X Files you do get answers just more questions.
I still loved that these audiobooks are performed by the cast of The X Files(including some unexpected people). I loved hearing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's banter and you can still feel the chemistry between those two.
Recommended for The X Files lovers who miss it and still Want To Believe. -
I didn't like this one as much as the first, but hey, I got to hear the original actors read new x-file stories so I'm happy.
Here is my rundown of the episodes from this audiobook:
Spoiler alert!
Episode 1 Abortion clinic is bombed by some kind of demon that's possessing someone and leading a group of people to leap off a cliff. I don't know. It was hard for me to follow.
Episode 2 Scully meets The Chitter God?
Episode 3 Monica and Doggett are found - the shape-shifting alien keeping them hostage runs off/killed? (I was drifting in and out in this one also) No answers are given as to why they were taken. This episode has connections with the first audio book.
Episode 4 The Lone Gunman make an appearance! They explain what G23 is, and how it causes hallucinations and just how Mulder's dad is involved. Mulder and Langly go on an alien acid trip. What could resurrected Spender (CSM) want by giving Mulder this trippy breadcrumb? Is he just using him...
Episode 5 Episode is called Elders. The longest story at a little over 90 minutes. Clones. Mulder kidnapped. We get an appearance from The Lone Gunmen. Along with a surprise cameo from Gibson Praise. Ends on a cliffhanger so I suspect we will get a volume 3 to this. Yay! -
The final, and longest episode here is worth the price of admission for X-Files die-hards, fitting in with and expounding upon the show's mytharc and giving us some answers on the ultimate fate of the syndicate. With memorable appearances from the smoking man, the lone gunmen, and a surprise guest from the show's past who plays a shocking role. Like everything X-Files, the ending is left wide open for speculation and future stories.
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The one thing that I find very frustrating about X-Files is the lack of closure. Nothing ever seems to come to a conclusion, satisfying or otherwise. That's true for this Audible original, too, and aside from the final "episode" in this book, this was a two-star listen. The last episode brought the rating up significantly, and would be great if it were expanded into a full novel or movie.
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This is definitely the next best thing to having the TV show back on the air. All the characters are back. All the intrigue. The writing is unchanged. Great stuff. Love this Audible original.
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Stolen Lives continues the story from Cold Cases. So definitely listen to that first. Otherwise, you may get a bit lost.
This audio adventure was an experiment for me, one that didn't fully work out.. but it wasn't awful, either. I still struggled to concentrate without having words in front of me at times, but I found listening to it while cleaning helped a bit. If I'm doing something completely mundane, perhaps I'll be able to slip into the story more. Audiobooks are hella demanding!
I preferred the first installment to this one, but there were still some slimy, creepy crawly, fun parts throughout Stolen Lives. Anderson and Duchovny are great (THAT CHEMISTRY), but the secondary characters felt a bit off, for the most part.
These two audio dramas weren't bad, but the stories are a bit light on content. However, I will forever devour anything and everything X-Files!! -
Definitely recommend this to x files fans - not only do we get milder and scully but also skinner, cancer man, the lone gunmen and other old 'friends' - the last case is especially enjoyable :)
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If I thought Duchovny and Anderson were bored out of their skulls during the last audiodrama, I had no clue what wonders awaited me for this one.
The first story, "Immaculate", was a monster of the week story that on the surface dealt with abortion and religion and then took a turn to the supernatural. It would have been a great episode, and that's not a compliment I give lightly.
The second story, "Chitter", was another monster of the week story that was about 22 minutes long. It was kind of a Scully episode, but like anything that dealt with Scully in the show, it was very male-gazey and not fully fleshed out.
The third story, "Monica and John"was part of the mytharc, and dealt Agents Dogget and Reyes and their one year in captivity that started back in the first story in the first audiodrama. This story was 20 minutes long and by the end I still don't really know why they were held captive and how they really survived mentally being held captive for about a year. Like, they didn't need to be locked up and this story didn't need to happen. They could have been brought back into the story in a million other ways.
The fourth story, "G-23" was one of those humorous mytharc episodes and involves Langly and Mulder getting high. It's a filler episode that also helps moves the mytharc forward. it's kind of fun.
The fifth story, "Elders" gives the big reveal of who the ultimate big bad is. It's actually a well done reveal when it happens because there are little hints leading up to it. And if the reasoning and the follow-through was handled better, I would have loved it. But at the end, I was pretty much, "but why did he need to clone the syndicate and bring them back? Like, he gives a reason that doesn't really make sense especially knowing the scope of his power he didn't need to." I think I'm disappointed at how much better it could have been, but it terms of lost potential it's still not as bad as what the show did. So that's something.
Honestly, I think a lot of the main arcs were handled better than what we actually got from the season 10 revival. It was a lot fresher and willing to take risks, and I appreciate that. It was also more coherent structurally and didn't make me want to rip my brains out. I thought the execution was lacking in some of the stories. Dogget and Reyes' arc deserved a much better follow-up and conclusion. Chitter was an example of how they like writing Scully, they just don't know how to write her well - maybe shorter was for the best for that story. Unfortunately this series ends in a cliffhanger. While the season 11 comics exist, it never got made into an audiodrama. And with how much Anderson hated the revival and never wants to return to the series ever again, the audio cliffhanger will never be resolved.
In terms of the voice acting, all the professional actors were fantastic, as again, was William B. Davis. The Lone Gunmen and Mitch Pileggi were fine. Anderson had her moments, but Duchovny gave no fucks for quite a stretch. Thankfully, a lot more of the stories focused on the side characters rather than the two leads. Which made it bearable.
I think that once again, this is not for anyone except for X-Philes and a further caveat, for X-Philes who semi-enjoyed the first in this series. -
This definitely wasn’t as good as Cold Cases, and I probably would’ve rated this two stars if it wasn’t for the last chapter. Most of the chapters were quite hard to follow in audio format, and a lot of them were very short and didn’t have much of a plot.
Just like the last audiobook in this series, this is pretty much like a season of the tv show, taking place between seasons 9 and 10. Each chapter plays and sounds like an all new episode with stunningly produced sound effects and the original cast voicing their characters. I’m going to share a couple of thoughts on each chapter.
Chapter 1 - Immaculate: First things first, the plot for Immaculate was very, very... strange. It involved a girl possessed by the devil blowing up an abortion clinic and recruiting people for a suicide cult, which was quite messed-up, even for X-Files. I found the whole chapter hard to follow in audio format and very dark and depressing. Probably my least favourite of the bunch.
Chapter 2 - Chitter: A classic monster-of-the-week episode! This one I enjoyed but it was only about 20 minutes long and didn’t have too much of an actual story. It did have a unique monster and classic Scully-in-peril moments though so it won me over.
Chapter 3 - Monica & John: This chapter was alright as well, but just like a lot of the others, it suffered by being short and not having a proper plot. It also kind of sucked to not have the actual actors of Doggett & Reyes reprising their roles because the two voice actors that did do it really didn’t do the characters justice.
Chapter 4 - G-23: Another chapter with a strange concept that was hard to follow in audio format. Basically, Mulder and Langly hear about a conspiracy involving a government-created hallucinogenic drug called G-23, they start to investigate it and then end up accidentally taking it. From then on, the rest of the episode is basically just one big trip, with both Mulder and Langly seeing a whole ton of random hallucinations, hence why it was hard to follow, what they were hallucinating didn’t transition into audio well and the descriptions didn’t come across clearly.
Chapter 5 - Elders: The conclusive mythology episode and the best of the book. Brings back a few surprising characters from the original show and actually has a really thrilling storyline. This chapter by itself was over an hour and a half which was pretty much more than triple the length of each of the others, making it feel almost cinematic in scope.
Just like the last audiobook in this series, I was blown away by the production quality of the whole thing, and the voice acting from the returning cast was great. I found myself laughing at Mulder’s quips and sighing at Scully’s scullyisms.
Unfortunately though, this was quite a big step down from the last one, and the pacing and clarity of majority of the book was a big letdown. Still worth listening to just for further adventures with the gang, but definitely not essential listening like the last one was. -
Immerhin liest Mr. Duchovny seinen Text nun nicht mehr nur lieblos ab! Auch wenn man wirklich Spaß hat, denn technisch sind das tolle Hörspiele, ist die Story doch wirklich arg hanebüchen. Viel, viel Freude machen natürlich wieder die Scully & Mulder-Momente, absolutes Highlight ist allerdings William B. Davis, der als Raucher in den Szenen mit dem Fox einigen Spaß daran hat, diesen aufzuziehen. Hach! Mich werden sie fortan in den Schlaf geleiten und darauf freue ich mich. <3
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Τώρα βιβλίο λογοτεχνικό δε το λες, μια ανάγνωση σεναρίου από πιθανά επεισόδια είναι. Πολύ πολύ καλύτερες από το πρώτο μέρος της σειράς αυτής οι ιστορίες, θα τις έβλεπα στη σειρά χαλαρά.
Χαμόγελο δημιουργεί η καχυποψία του Mulder και η ευπιστία της Scully.
Για τους x-philes. -
What even is this.
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1,5 stars . Overall still interesting , but not as good as the first one . I wonder if there will be more of these audiobooks 🤔
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I can't believe I spent a full Audible credit on this one. It was poorly written, even for a comic book, and the acting was only so-so. There was a potentially interesting story line developing, but it was handled so poorly that I lost interest.
On the positive side, this has cured me from buying any more X-Files audio books. It's probably cured me from downloading any more Audible originals as well (I'm currently listening to an "Alien" audiobook that was supposed to have been written by William Gibson and it makes the X-Files seem stellar by comparison). -
This was a great mythology story, with one bit that just didn't quite fit. Overall I very much enjoyed it.
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https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202... -
3,5
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B-
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I love it only because it is the X-files. If you’re not a fan I wouldn’t bother. I LOVE hearing all the familiar voices, and can picture each scene. The storyline is less than what I expected, and while I ordinarily enjoy the individual episodes on television, the voices and accents of the supporting cast, especially the supernatural ones, are subpar to the point they seem totally out of place in such an otherwise stellar production. I will continue to buy any in the series with the voices of the original cast. It’s the next best thing to the show.
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"No! Why did it have to end? And why did it have to end so soon? Another frustrating cliffhanger, and a pile of unanswered questions. Not fair.
Oh, well, I'll just read the rest of the Season Eleven comics then."
Stolen Lives consists of five episodes - two "monster of the week", and three mythology episodes. The new conspiracy that was hinted at in Cold Cases, gets further explored in this audio drama. Also, we get a new Big Bad.
Breaking with tradition, the creators decided to open the new season with a standalone episode, something they shouldn't have done because the standalone episodes in Stolen Lives are not very good. For instance, the season opener centers around the bombing of an abortion clinic. The topic is painfully relevant, and there is real potential to tell an interesting story, and ask some serious questions, but the story doesn't go anywhere, and the issue is never discussed. Understandably, the writers don't want to get into a serious discussion about something this sensitive. So why bring it up in the first place, if you won't follow through?
While the standalone episodes are quite disappointing, it's the mythology that makes Stolen Lives worth listening to. Firstly, we find out what happened to agents Doggett and Reyes, who went missing in Cold Cases. Secondly, the Big Bad of this new mythology finally reveals himself. And it ain't the Cigarette Smoking Man! We're talking about a nearly unstoppable evil genius, with an unlimited amount of resources, and a big chip on his shoulder. This villain is someone we already know from the original series, which makes him so much more interesting.
The mythology episodes are great, and for the first time I think that they could have done without the standalones. Mostly, it's because these particular standalones aren't that good. But also, it's because the main storyline isn't given enough time to develop. It's fast-paced, and suspenseful, but just as its starts gaining momentum, the cliffhanger happens, and the end credits roll.
What both the new TV-season, and these audiobooks do very well, is ask how Mulder and Scully's work fits in our day and age. This isn't the 1990's anymore. The political climate has changed, the world itself has changed (#waronterror, #wikileaks, #youtubeconspiracytheories). How fitting is it then that at one point in this series, Mulder finds himself at Guantanamo Bay.
The performances are all great. I love hearing the original cast again, especially Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis as Walter Skinner and The Cigarette Smoking Man respectively. The supporting cast deserves a lot of props as well. These voice actors give it their all. They bring life into the story, and they do a great job creating this high-strung, paranoid world around our heroes. This time, I started paying attention to all the sound effects, and the little details, that make the story more lifelike, and make this a more enjoyable experience.
Audiobooks are demanding, because they literally demand your full attention. And audio drama is more demanding still, because there is a lot that remains unsaid, and you have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks, and try and picture the scene in your head. Which is perfect for me, given how I have the attention span of a five-week-old kitten. These audiobooks help me work on my concentration. They challenge me, and I like a challenge.
So, another X-Files audiobook. I'm still not sure how this new storyline fits in the official X-Files canon, if it fits there at all. I like to think that these comics and audiobooks take place in some alternate reality. I like to think that I Want to Believe was so boring, that it literally made the X-Files universe split, creating two different timelines, where in one, Mulder and Scully meet the were-monster, while in the other, Mulder goes to Guantanamo Bay.
Stolen Lives is not the "non-stop thrill ride" that Cold Cases was. However, it's still a very entertaining, and damn well-executed audio drama. It's suspenseful, and chilling. Plus, there's one episode with all those bugs, and just thinking about it now, makes my skin crawl. Between this Audible original series, and the new TV-seasons, it's not a bad time to be an X-phile.
My Rating
Plot: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Delivery: 5 stars
Average: 4,25 stars -
Originally posted on
Creature From the Book Lagoon.
Once again, Audible Original delivers us an X-Files story in the form of an audio drama. The cast from the TV show comes back and delivers another nice set of mini "episode" stories for us to enjoy. I liked this almost as much as I liked the first book in the series, Cold Cases. The voice acting felt like I was listening to an actual episode of X-Files.
There are 5 stories, or "episodes", in Stolen Lives. The first story was a pretty entertaining demon possession story. The second story dealt with a serial killer who controlled a man eating bug army. Both of these stories dealt with your typical type of X-files cases. The rest of the stories all dealt with the over all story arch of the new threat to Mulder and Scully, as well as picking up loose ends from Cold Cases. Story 3 shows us what was going on with some missing FBI agents from the first book. Story 4 is is a flash back story about the drug G23 from the cancer man. The drug was briefly touched on in the previous book. We get to hear how it is made and see some of it's effects in present time, but it didn't feel like this story was fully finished. Story 5 dealt with finally learning who the main bad guy, the prime elder, was. I personally had a really hard time following this story. When they revealed the identity of the prime elder, I had no clue who that was. The writer tries to clue us in by explaining who and where this guy came from but I still was just like "......................who?". Also, I had a really hard time understanding WHY this guy was doing all this stuff? I mean.... I guess to get back at Mulder.... for ..... something? But, like.... this was a LOT of work and..... for what? I just didn't get it. This story was the least explained, not just story, but also the effects we heard or the actions the characters did. Like, there would be a noise, and instead of cluing us in to what was going on, the writer kind of left it open to interpretation, which instead just made it hard to figure out what happened. This was the longest story out of all of them, but it felt vague and not fully fleshed out.
Aside from the 5th story, this was an excellent book 2. I was really, REALLY enjoying this. But then that 5th story was just not good and hard to follow. I was really disappointed with that last story, but I'm trying not to let it ruin the whole book. It was too bad they finished on that one. The very end did seem to be a set up for a book 3, but I can't seem to find any info on if there will be another book in the series. Does anyone know? -
Can my rating just apply to the last chapter of this book? (Oops, I mean episode.) If so, 4 stars it is. 1–2 for the rest.
Take for example: there’s case of the week, and then there’s “Monica and John.”
And don’t get me started on the G-23 episode. What is it with sending Mulder on drug trips? “Kill Switch”… okay. “Field Trip”… yes. But the one in season 10 was the single worst part of the miniseries. At least this one has 1) Langly and 2) no visuals to go along with it.
But that last episode, i.e. the 1 1/2 hour bulk of this production. There’s a big reveal in the mythology that’s WHOA. I love it. [Mild spoilers to follow that still don’t give it away.]
It’s— dare I say?— brilliant. Makes so much sense and I did NOT see it coming. That’s how I like my X-Files mythology.
Stray observations:
• I have no idea why all non-essential personnel sound like Foghorn Leghorn.
• FOWLEY? Uh, no. At least it’s only in the mind trip episode and quickly dismissed as ridiculous, but no.
• The start of that G-23 episode was so promising. Sign me up for the CSM/Bill Mulder flashback hour.
• Ditto for CSM: The Clone Wars. Outside of the David/Gillian chemistry, the luckiest break this show ever got was William B. Davis. He holds this audiobook together.
• “What I did to protect Fox Mulder all that time has been yours to either recognize or deny for years now, Agent Scully.” Heh heh heh.
• I had wondered if the fact that my name begins with a “J” and ends with a “Harris” meant that I was eligible alongside Joe Harris to write this series. But no. Because if they give me the prompt “Mulder and Scully play hooky at the county fair,” I’m spending an hour on that, and it’s going in a whole different direction. See: fifteen years of my fanfic.
• “You left him to his own devices while the pair of you were playing house behind a white picket fence. Can you doubt he would grow up to bear grudges?” I tell you, that last episode. It’s hit or miss like the rest, but when it hits, it hits big. -
Signs of an X-Phile:
1. Not understanding what the hell is going on.
2. Waiting for any scrap of Mulder and Scully interaction.
This is a difficult review for me. Difficult in the sense that I don't really know what to say about Stolen Lives. I enjoyed it overall, I think. DD and GA are doing their thing, but I think they're phoning it in. I'm not sure if the problem is the audio format, or if they're just acting by rote now(and that's something that's difficult for me to say. I felt that way in moments of the televised Season 10, too. Only time will tell if that continues in Season 11.)
I now know that these audios are based on the comics, and I'm wondering if that's the source of the jerky, weird connection these stories have. It's a good idea to have Gibson Praise come back as an adult, and his interactions with Mulder and Scully are fascinating. He views them as parental figures, yet is completely insane, so his idea of 'protecting' them is out there in the stratosphere.
This audio ends on a major cliffhanger(the X-Files can't seem to avoid them.), so I'm sure they'll be more. I hope Mulder and Scully will be in the same room for more than five seconds, though. I don't hold out too much hope, though, given the end of Stolen Lives.
That would be my one major complaint about this series. The X-Files is built on the back of the chemistry between Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. If Mulder and Scully are apart for the majority of the story, the tale is less satisfying for me. -
I love the X-files and when I saw this new installment I jumped right away at the chance to get some more of the show I practically grew up watching and being terrified of. Well, times change and I am not so easily scared now, but everyone should admit that these stories can make your skin crawl. I saw quite a number of people liked the first part more appealing, but I disagree. This was far more exciting than the previous one.
The first story was kind of a Supernatural one, I didn’t exactly have the X-files feels, since it was a story about a demon? I prefer the weird sci-fi alien stuff when it comes to my X-files, I suppose. But it still had that creepy vibe that I never associate with Supernatural, but with this show. Maybe it is due to the fact that I was really scared, yet intrigued when I watched the TV series as a child.
My personal favourite out of the five cases, is perhaps the one about G23, because it was mainly a play on the imagination, it was all hallucinations. It just has this strange type of charm that the brain has the ability to see and believe even the weirdest shit.
I love, love, love full-cast audiobooks! It was as if watching the show, but on some kind of brain-theatre, instead of on the telly. Can't wait for the next installment, since this one finished on a cliffhanger! -
Much the same as the last one; super fun to hear everyone, the radio-play format had really grown on me by now so it was a lot more fun, and the presence of the Lone Gunmen in general is a priceless treasure. Added a star for improvement on the racist-nonsense front this time, took one off for the fact that once again we are on a (honestly kind of egregious) Gunmen cliffhanger WHEN CAN THEY/WE REST? I MUST have a book #3, if only to confirm that they really are okay after [REDACTED]. I’m a bit jumpy about them after all this time lmao.
Best lines:
Mulder in a very Crucifix-y trailer park: “HELLO, MODERATELY-GODLESS HEATHEN REQUESTING TO ENTER THIS HOLY GROUND??”
Mulder, same culty episode: “Give ‘em hell, Scully!”
Scully: “Not funny, Mulder”
Langly, Happily High AF: “Am I being abducted?? WOWZERS!!!” (Also “oh noes!” was said out loud at some point. I’m so glad Dean Haglund had fun.)
Frohike: “What’s the matter, star child?”
Langly: “Ugh don’t call me that, Frohike :<“
Frohike, audible trollface: “Cut your hair, then I’ll call you Langly~”
Byers, in the fondest drag: “Who’d have thought Mulder could send us a letter and spell most of the words correctly?” -
Darn it, full cast audiobooks are really not for me. I have tried the two Audible Original Alien audiobooks and now the two Audible Original X-Files audiobooks. And I always have problem following the story. I have to quit everything I am doing and concentrate fully on the narration. Did that for this book. I even kept noting down the gist of the story every few minute. And yet, I think I missed multiple plot points. I'm not buying any full-cast dramatized audiobook ever again.
As far as stories go, all the episodes in this book are stand alone stories. Episode 3 has a slight connection with the previous audiobook though. Episode 4 got a little confusing and I couldn't follow what was reality and what was hallucination. The final and longest episode was the most difficult to follow. I had to pause, rewind and re-listen multiple times. When the clones melt down, their dialog are impossible to hear. At the end, I was just relieved that it ended. -
When I saw the xfiles audios weren't being done by Big finish I was quite dubious about them. But when I got some free audible credits I decided i would try them. The sound quality was better than I was expecting, but they were clearly adapted from the comics too closely and not tempered for audio enough. The varying story lengths were very odd. I have to say Gillian sounded a bit bored for the first half, David more into it. Maybe that was just because I couldn't see their facial expressions. But it was a little dry. Still it was worth a listen for free. I did like the last story the best if only for the clone explanation of WHY on Earth CSM kept coming back! Which was probably handled better than in the 2017 tv series.
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Just like the last book
The X-Files: Cold Cases, this was frolickingly good fun, and a nice teaser for the new Season 11 due in 2018. High production values and excellent storytelling for this audio book immerse you fully into The X Files mythology, with all your old favourites. David and Gillian get some great lines (spoiler alert: they even pash at one point - woo hoo!). Wonder how closely these stories will mirror what's in store for the new season? If this is any indication, it's going to be a superb one (hopefully making up for the patchy Season 10). Stolen Lives is only 3 and a half hours long, making it a great lazy weekend read. -
So... I listened to this one today.... and like the first, still not sure what I totally think about it. And like the first part, it's very much like most X-Files episodes after watching them the first time - parts were great, Mulder and Scully were mostly fun or good, but not entirely sure what just happened overall. It answers a question or two from the first part, but leaves off with a huge cliffhanger, leading one to thing that there was a plan for a third one of these, but who knows. So, sure, it was great hearing more Mulder and Scully (and still some LGM too!), so if nothing else, there's that to listen for!
