Do you want more than MSR romance and you have read every X-files book in print. Try these: Here are some non-XF works that still fit into the spirit of the series, and can impress friends, colleagues, family and professors at the same time! Oh, and just so you know, this list has a decidedly 'Shipper slant, but since none of these are actually books about Mulder and Scully, NoRomos should be safe. They'll just have to find different reasons than I did for them being on this list! :-)
Allusions (novels and other literary works the series has alluded to)
The Bible
--This has been alluded to dozens of times, in titles, in episodes, and in the fact of Scully's faith. Now, even the aliens are reading it, so shouldn't you as well? :-) Plus, see what Scully meant about the Millenium group mangling Biblical prophecy!
The Cabala
-Want to know more of the story behind "Kaddish," so as to be better able to nitpick it? Well, here's the volume at the heart of Jewish mysticism, containing among other things the real story of the Golem.
The Koran
--The sacred book of Islam, which also made an appearance on the ship of those very literate aliens in "The Sixth Extinction."
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
--The XF writers chose well when they chose this work as the primary literary allusion of the series, although QueeQueg doesn't look a thing like a little fuzzy Pomeranian! See if you can find Mulder's favorite line; I couldn't.
The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
--If I'm remembering correctly, the "Grand Inquisitor" scene in this inspired the scene between CSM and Jeremiah Smith in "Talitha Cumi."
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
--Not directly alluded to in the series, but there is a definite Quixotic flavor to Mulder and Scully's quest.
"Tithonus" by Alfred Lord Tennyson
--A poem based on the Greek myth of the man who could age, but could not die, which also inspired the episode of the same name.
X-Files (works involving the paranormal, supernatural, conspiratorial and spiritual)
By A.J. Holt Watch Me
--Very welll written but sometimes overly-graphic novel about a renegade FBI agent who works in the basement and has trouble following procedure. Only this one doesn't just profile serial killers...
Catch Me--A sequel to Watch Me.
I haven't read it yet, so I can't really say anything about it.
Dracula
Believe it or not, there is a lot more to this book than Bela Lugosi! It's not quite the gothic erotic horror that the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" made it out to be, but it is a sharp, intelligent supernatural fable.
The Jewel of Seven Stars
This one is out of print, but if you can find it, read it! I was in a play version of it called "Who Walks in the Dark" and enjoyed it immensely. A horror story involving a mummy, a curse, a crazy archaeologist, a rather pathetic romance, and a suffragette.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The original alien invasion, even involves disease as a major factor!
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
By Connie Willis
Doomsday Book
Hugo and Nebula Award Winner. A time traveler gets trapped in the era of the Black Plague and struggles to fight against an invincible enemy, the disease.
To Say Nothing of the Dog
A light-hearted companion to Doomsday Book about a rip in the fabric of time and the power of the universe to heal itself.
Lincoln's Dreams
A young woman is dreaming about the Civil War as vividly as if she were there.
Impossible Things
What if dogs became extinct? What if we met an alien race so different from ours that communication became nearly impossible? How far is too far to take political correctness? Speculative short stories from the Hugo and Nebula winning author.
"The Anastasia Syndrome" by Mary Higgins Clark
--A chilling story of the power of a soul that refuses to die.
Firestarter by Steven King
--The perfect novel for an XF fan, it involves covert government experiments, pyrokinesis, and the abduction of a young girl. Sort of "Eve" meets "Emily" meets "Fire" meets "Little Green Men." And it's written by the author of "Chinga."
TickTock by Dean Koontz
--Very likely the most absurd thing this author has ever written, but delightfully absurd. Features a doll coming to life in a rather menacing fashion, alien abductees, and several references to the main character's life being somehow incomplete because he is foolish enough not to watch XF. :-)
Partnerships (literary predecessors and/or kindred spirits of Mulder and Scully)
Tommy and Tuppence Beresford created by Agatha Christie
The Secret Adversary
Partners in Crime
--Tommy and Tuppence pose as private investigators to catch a spy and solve cases in the style of their favorite detectives along the way.
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Postern of Fate
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane created by Dorothy Sayers
Strong Poison
--Lord Peter must prove Harriet's innocence when she is arrested for supposedly poisoning her ex-lover; this is their first meeting.
Busman's Honeymoon
--What are the chances that a famous literary detective and his new bride could have a relaxing honeymoon? Might as well expect Scully to take an uneventful vacation! :-)
Juvenile Fiction
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
Young Adult Fiction
By L.M. Montgomery--
Emily of New Moon Emily Climbs
Emily's Quest
Among the Shadows
--A book of ghost stories.
Jane of Lantern Hill
--Jane tries to solve a mystery that will let a restless spirit move on and reunite her separated parents.
By Richard Peck
The Ghost Belonged to Me
Ghosts I have Been
--Psychic pre-teen Blossom Culp does a little time travelling and ends up on a doomed ocean liner (in this case, the Titanic). Sound familiar? :-)
The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp
--Blossom Culp time travels again, this time into the future and meets a young computer genius (future Lone Gunman?).
