X-Treme Possibilities: A Comprehensively Expanded Rummage Through Five Years of the X-Files

Rating:
Summary: All I ask is...
Review: As many of the previous reviewers stated, this book is the *perfect* companion to any X-Files fan. It makes me chuckle out loud each time I reread it, often with one eye tuned to the FX rerun of choice. I reference it constantly. And so, all I ask is, PLEASE do an updated edition! Four seasons short now, and there are a LOT of questions they could help answer...and it ought to be messieurs Cornell, Day, and Topping again, for their wit and insight are what made the book.

Rating:
Summary: All I ask is...
Review: As many of the previous reviewers stated, this book is the *perfect* companion to any X-Files fan. It makes me chuckle out loud each time I reread it, often with one eye tuned to the FX rerun of choice. I reference it constantly. And so, all I ask is, PLEASE do an updated edition! Four seasons short now, and there are a LOT of questions they could help answer...and it ought to be messieurs Cornell, Day, and Topping again, for their wit and insight are what made the book.

Rating:
Summary: A genuinely great book that doesn't toe the party line
Review: I can't believe some of the picky nonsense that some of the reviewers have said about this book. It's certainly opinionated (these authors specialise in writing these kind of books - their Discontinuity Guide, Shut It! and Slayer being other examples), and they also call a spade a sapde - and i don't always agree with everything they have to say (I *love* Redux, for instance), but all in all, this is a wonderfully well writte, entertaining book - and clearly the work of three people with a genuine love for The X-Files, albeit, three men who aren't prepared to put up with rubbish in the name of their favourite show. And that's how it should be. Chris Carter should have a copy of this book thrust into his hands as a reminder of what a great show the X-Files *used* to be...

Rating:
Summary: Fun Files for X-philes
Review: I found this book a blast! It got to the point that I was still reading it at 4:00 in the morning and it started making sense-gasp!- all of it. I'd entered the X-Zone. Everything an X-phile has ever thought about in her heart-of-hearts. Read it and wallow!

Rating:
Summary: :-)~
Review: I LOVE GILLIAN ANDERSON AND THIS BOOK IS JUST AMAZING.

Rating:
Summary: Some say they're picky ... but isn't that the point?
Review: I read the first edition of this book and it rapidly became my X-Files Bible. Just recently I found and read the latest version, covering thru Season 5 & the movie. Yes, these three authors are obsessed, complain a lot, and often have nothing nice to say. I completely disagreed with them on many occassions! I also found their personal opinions to be thought-provoking, or sometimes just plain provoking. But wasn't that their point? And, where else can one find an episode guide that is neither a mindless recital of dialog, nor a useless catalog of trivia? The extra bonus is the often hilarious information found in sections like 'Phwoar!', 'That's a Mouthful', and 'Don't be in the Teaser'. The fact that these three men made a truly heroic attempt to disentangle the show's Byzantine Mythology, even going so far as to retro-actively update what they got wrong the first time around, is what makes this book so special. For that alone, it's worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: Some say they're picky ... but isn't that the point?
Review: I read the first edition of this book and it rapidly became my X-Files Bible. Just recently I found and read the latest version, covering thru Season 5 & the movie. Yes, these three authors are obsessed, complain a lot, and often have nothing nice to say. I completely disagreed with them on many occassions! I also found their personal opinions to be thought-provoking, or sometimes just plain provoking. But wasn't that their point? And, where else can one find an episode guide that is neither a mindless recital of dialog, nor a useless catalog of trivia? The extra bonus is the often hilarious information found in sections like 'Phwoar!', 'That's a Mouthful', and 'Don't be in the Teaser'. The fact that these three men made a truly heroic attempt to disentangle the show's Byzantine Mythology, even going so far as to retro-actively update what they got wrong the first time around, is what makes this book so special. For that alone, it's worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: X-Treme Possibilites is more for the X-Treme viewer...
Review: I recently bought this book, and have spent three days muddling through the first season alone. It has so much information, it's difficult to digest it all in one sitting. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think it's more for the hard-core X-Files fans, rather than the casual viewer. There is indeed a little something for everyone, though. I'd reccomend it to just about any X-Phile fan who is looking for more closure than the series usually provides. Great explanations and lay out.

Rating:
Summary: a good (and definitely opinionated!) episode guide
Review: I think this book is very cool - I bought the first edition, and then bought this "expanded" version which includes everything up to the end of season 5, plus the movie. I'm not holding my breath for the authors to come out with an "even more expanded" version - they indicate on the last page of this edition that this is their last book, although they did say that in the first edition too! But if you love the first five seasons of the show this book is great - it's written with a lot of humor but nevertheless takes the show very seriously (you've gotta love the fact that these guys actually try to make sense of the "mythology", something I gave up on doing around the beginning of the fourth season).
The authors critique everything - the acting, writing, continuity, music, technical aspects - they even have a "science advisor" who consulted specialists on the many scientific subjects dealt with in the series to monitor the writers' accuracy. I like the way the book is structured: each episode is analyzed in various categories (and like the first reviewer here I'm curious about the meaning of "Phwoar"), and the three authors each give their review at the end. There are a few mistakes, some of which are unintentionally funny - on the "Jersey Devil" page they refer to Cirque du Soleil as "Circus au Lait", which in French translates as "circus with milk"! (if you've never heard of Cirque du Soleil by now you're probably spending too much time...watching "The X-Files"!) But all in all, the attention to detail is impressive.
You'll probably have one author out of the three that you tend to agree with the most - for me it seems to be Martin Day - but it's great that these guys all go for broke in venting their opinions. This book is a great companion to the show, but it's actually a really enjoyable read on its own terms too.

Rating:
Summary: a good (and definitely opinionated!) episode guide
Review: I think this book is very cool - I bought the first edition, and then bought this "expanded" version which includes everything up to the end of season 5, plus the movie. I'm not holding my breath for the authors to come out with an "even more expanded" version - they indicate on the last page of this edition that this is their last book, although they did say that in the first edition too! But if you love the first five seasons of the show this book is great - it's written with a lot of humor but nevertheless takes the show very seriously (you've gotta love the fact that these guys actually try to make sense of the "mythology", something I gave up on doing around the beginning of the fourth season).
The authors critique everything - the acting, writing, continuity, music, technical aspects - they even have a "science advisor" who consulted specialists on the many scientific subjects dealt with in the series to monitor the writers' accuracy. I like the way the book is structured: each episode is analyzed in various categories (and like the first reviewer here I'm curious about the meaning of "Phwoar"), and the three authors each give their review at the end. There are a few mistakes, some of which are unintentionally funny - on the "Jersey Devil" page they refer to Cirque du Soleil as "Circus au Lait", which in French translates as "circus with milk"! (if you've never heard of Cirque du Soleil by now you're probably spending too much time...watching "The X-Files"!) But all in all, the attention to detail is impressive.
You'll probably have one author out of the three that you tend to agree with the most - for me it seems to be Martin Day - but it's great that these guys all go for broke in venting their opinions. This book is a great companion to the show, but it's actually a really enjoyable read on its own terms too.