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Fringe #2
The Burning Man
The critically acclaimed Fringe television series explores the dramatic and grotesque as impossible crimes are investigated by the government's shadowy Fringe Division, established when Special Agent Olivia Dunham enlisted institutionalized "fringe" scientist Walter Bishop and his globe-trotting son, Peter, to help in investigations that defy all human logic - and the laws of nature.
Author Christa Faust (Choke Hold, Supernatural) is working hand-in-hand with the television writers to create new adventures uncovering the secrets of the series. The first novel revealed how Walter Bishop and William Bell discovered the drug Cortexiphan--and the alternate universe! Book two will explore how Olivia Dunham first was subjected to Cortexiphan experiments, with catastrophic results.
Faust has been given unprecedented access to stories that have not been told on-screen, but weave directly into the series canon, much as Joss Whedon's Buffy graphic novels continue that series' official storyline.
Copyright © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. FRINGE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Author Christa Faust (Choke Hold, Supernatural) is working hand-in-hand with the television writers to create new adventures uncovering the secrets of the series. The first novel revealed how Walter Bishop and William Bell discovered the drug Cortexiphan--and the alternate universe! Book two will explore how Olivia Dunham first was subjected to Cortexiphan experiments, with catastrophic results.
Faust has been given unprecedented access to stories that have not been told on-screen, but weave directly into the series canon, much as Joss Whedon's Buffy graphic novels continue that series' official storyline.
Copyright © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. FRINGE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
24 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
About the author
Christa Faust
79 books400 followersChrista Faust is an American author who writes original novels, as well as novelizations and media tie-ins.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
March 26, 2018
This was a hard one to rate.
If I based the rating on how close the story stayed to the tv series. Then I would have to rate this 1 or 2 stars. This book was suppose to give us more background on Olivia Dunham, but it didn't make any sense if you've watched the show. I can't go into detail because it would spoil later seasons on the tv show. Reading this book made me wonder if the author had even bothered to watch seasons 4 & 5.
So that's one way to rate this book, the other way is to just rate it as a standalone Science Fiction novel. If I did that this book is a 4 star book. The story is fun and flushed out. I liked the characters and found them all believable. At times it was a bit soap opera-ry but even that I could live with.
I decided to split the difference and go with 3 stars. About halfway through I stopped connecting it with the show and was just able to enjoy it on its own merits.
No rec.
Book riot 2018: A Sci-Fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author.
If I based the rating on how close the story stayed to the tv series. Then I would have to rate this 1 or 2 stars. This book was suppose to give us more background on Olivia Dunham, but it didn't make any sense if you've watched the show. I can't go into detail because it would spoil later seasons on the tv show. Reading this book made me wonder if the author had even bothered to watch seasons 4 & 5.
So that's one way to rate this book, the other way is to just rate it as a standalone Science Fiction novel. If I did that this book is a 4 star book. The story is fun and flushed out. I liked the characters and found them all believable. At times it was a bit soap opera-ry but even that I could live with.
I decided to split the difference and go with 3 stars. About halfway through I stopped connecting it with the show and was just able to enjoy it on its own merits.
No rec.
Book riot 2018: A Sci-Fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author.
August 12, 2013
I'm a huge fan of the series Fringe and I would imagine anyone buying a Fringe novel would be too. A casual viewer isn't likely to pickup a novel for a television series that ended and for that reason I was disappointed by the characterizations and storyline that didn't fit the series. Had the novel been written with original characters and offered it's own story without the use of putting Fringe on the title, then perhaps it would be a three star book. It was okay reading, the pacing at times was a little off but I did finish the book.
I pre-ordered the kindle edition and started reading it the first night it was released. From the very beginning of the novel, it's evident that the story will not follow the character of Olivia Dunham that we know from on screen. I recognize there were some errors (Olivia's mothers name) which a copy editor or beta reader that follows Fringe would have easily picked up on. There were bigger inconsistencies as well: Olivia being a sharp shooter (which would be alternate Olivia's personality), Olivia having the use of her abilities throughout her childhood, Olivia having no family (she had an aunt that she was sent to live with and an uncle that was mentioned in the Pilot episode) and being sent straight to boarding school from a scholarship she didn't apply for (I would have been okay w/this detail had it incorporated her aunt that she did live with). Most of these items were mentioned within the first 20 percent of the book. It's a lot thrown at you at once.
As for the plot of the story, there were moments that I cringed, thought grotesque and that I wouldn't let anyone under sixteen read. I wish we would have read about Nina Sharp being at the facility that Olivia was eventually "taken" too. Even if she wouldn't have been introduced directly to Olivia, it would have fit the story. The same for the epilogue with an agent that we don't know. An introduction to Charlie Francis would have been both nice and appropriate. Instead it was an agent that as far as I can tell, didn't exist in Fringe (albeit later she is introduced in the second epilogue to John Scott).
I pre-ordered the kindle edition and started reading it the first night it was released. From the very beginning of the novel, it's evident that the story will not follow the character of Olivia Dunham that we know from on screen. I recognize there were some errors (Olivia's mothers name) which a copy editor or beta reader that follows Fringe would have easily picked up on. There were bigger inconsistencies as well: Olivia being a sharp shooter (which would be alternate Olivia's personality), Olivia having the use of her abilities throughout her childhood, Olivia having no family (she had an aunt that she was sent to live with and an uncle that was mentioned in the Pilot episode) and being sent straight to boarding school from a scholarship she didn't apply for (I would have been okay w/this detail had it incorporated her aunt that she did live with). Most of these items were mentioned within the first 20 percent of the book. It's a lot thrown at you at once.
As for the plot of the story, there were moments that I cringed, thought grotesque and that I wouldn't let anyone under sixteen read. I wish we would have read about Nina Sharp being at the facility that Olivia was eventually "taken" too. Even if she wouldn't have been introduced directly to Olivia, it would have fit the story. The same for the epilogue with an agent that we don't know. An introduction to Charlie Francis would have been both nice and appropriate. Instead it was an agent that as far as I can tell, didn't exist in Fringe (albeit later she is introduced in the second epilogue to John Scott).
September 14, 2013
This was a bit disappointing. I think I had issues with the continuity. This was more like a mash up of Olivia and alt-Olivia's past. I don't think the author paid enough attention to details like what happened to her growing up from the show to make a convincing background in the book. The story itself was ok and kept me reading it. I sort of had to accept it for what it was seperately from the show. Olivia's personality and motivations were there but the rest was not so believable as a tie in.
November 10, 2021
Apparently, this book is based on a TV series which was very good. I did not think this book was very good. Styled as science fiction, it had not got so much as a HINT of sci-fi by the time I gave up (1/3 or the way in, no less). A bit of PSI weirdness in the beginning followed by pages, and pages, and pages of meh. The back of the book promised that Olivia Dunham had been part of Walter Bishop's secret experiments and that there would be unlocked abilities that were explosive and deadly. But I am one third of the way through this thing and there is no mention of experiments and the only thing deadly is the boredom.
To me, it feels very YA (is it meant to be YA??) and I am giving up at page 100 because I really am not in the mood for a high school narrative or teenager angst. I was bored with it much earlier on, but limped along hoping for some of the 'brilliance' apparently involved in the show to creep in.
It is not BADLY written, if you don't mind teenage protagonists and a very... uneventful plot, just very superficial. I mean I can see it is trying to work up to several great crescendos, but I am entirely indifferent to these people, ANY of these people, so I don't much care what eventuates. Hot, teenage, blond, heroine, in incredibly exclusive school, from tough background (yawn). Mad ex-police man obsessed with hot, teenage, blond, heroine? Double yawn.
One hundred pages of this is more than enough.
To me, it feels very YA (is it meant to be YA??) and I am giving up at page 100 because I really am not in the mood for a high school narrative or teenager angst. I was bored with it much earlier on, but limped along hoping for some of the 'brilliance' apparently involved in the show to creep in.
It is not BADLY written, if you don't mind teenage protagonists and a very... uneventful plot, just very superficial. I mean I can see it is trying to work up to several great crescendos, but I am entirely indifferent to these people, ANY of these people, so I don't much care what eventuates. Hot, teenage, blond, heroine, in incredibly exclusive school, from tough background (yawn). Mad ex-police man obsessed with hot, teenage, blond, heroine? Double yawn.
One hundred pages of this is more than enough.
August 27, 2013
There will be some serious spoilers in here, I'm afraid, but they're necessary to tell you why Christa Faust's "The Burning Man" was so disappointing.
"The Burning Man" is a tie-in book for the TV show Fringe. Yes, it's odd to have a series of books come out after a TV show ends, but it's seeming less and less odd now that I'm reading them and they're just not very good.
These posthumous tie-in books seem to all be about the characters before they joined the Fringe team and showing early experiences that shaped their future. I can roll with that.
But what makes "The Burning Man" a botched effort is that the author totally ruins any chance of verisimilitude by making the main character--a teenaged Olivia Dunham (who later becomes the cool-tempered, badass FBI agent)--go through experiences so outrageous and bizarre that they would have totally colored her later behavior on the TV show.
Ostensibly, the book is about Olivia being tracked down by a psycho ex-cop (formerly a dirty, murderous cop) who has a mental link with Olivia because he was maimed by her while she was still a child. Experiments done on her with a drug called Cortexiphan (a large part of the Fringe mythology hinges on Cortexiphan) as an even younger child gave her mental powers that only manifested under extreme stress, including pyrokinesis (Firestarter, anyone?). So, once Olivia is an orphan, Massive Dynamic--the uber-corporation at the center of the Fringe universe--swoops in and makes sure Olivia and her sister have schooling and lodgings and are kept under close watch.
The psycho ex-cop is freed from the mental hospital he ended up in--ranting about a demon child who burned your arm off is a way to end up locked away, it seems--and goes north from Florida to track down and destroy Olivia, whom he thinks is a demon.
Okay, this is a workable premise, I suppose. Not too original or exciting, but there's some good basis for a story. I think the previous Fringe novel--The Zodiac Paradox--had a much more interesting and exciting premise (the Zodiac Killer was a radioactive man from another dimension) even with some narrative flaws and missteps along the way.
A lot of background is presented for Olivia and her sister Rachel here. A fair amount of it is more fan service rather than being integral to the story, but Olivia's first love is an important part of both stories in this book.
Both stories? Yes, both stories. My main bone to pick with this book is that about two-thirds of the way through the book, Olivia has her climactic confrontation with the psychotic, one-armed ex-cop. Not only is their final battle anti-climactic, it only seems to serve as a stepping stone for a serious flight of fancy (and a total trip off the rails) by the author.
The psycho ex-cop survives the final battle, but with brain damage that makes him think Olivia is dead. Such a lame outcome after a long buildup. But in order not to totally frustrate the readers, the one-armed psycho is dealt with in one of the two "tacked on" epilogues that try to get the story back towards something related to the TV series. Too little...too late.
The latter third of the book is about Olivia being held prisoner in a "special" hospital for Cortexiphan kids who have become dangerous to society by using their psychic powers. The facility is under the aegis of Massive Dynamic, but run by a smirking, pervy, weirdo mad scientist (whom I pictured as Cary Elwes) who wants to make super Cortexiphan mutant babies with all his teenage female patients.
While that portion of the story is interesting, it totally ruins any chance for believability. There is no way Olivia Dunham would not have been shaped or scarred by this hospital experience and not investigated who held her captive and ultimately come up with Massive Dynamic. That would have significantly changed her dynamic (no pun intended) during the show.
In other words, the author made the "formative" incidents of this book far too weird and wild. Therefore, they interfere with the "canon" of the show instead of enhancing it. There's no way Olivia wouldn't mention being held in a hospital with kids who have bizarre mental powers and that she was nearly impregnated before being rescued (by her teenage first love, whom she later kills accidentally--told you there were spoilers) and that during that rescue they come across some serious monster type of human mutants (we're talking creatures that would make John Carpenter wet himself) created by mad science.
Not only is that a total failure of the narrative, it's just plain insulting to the fans of Fringe.
I gave this book two stars because the writing itself isn't bad, it's the thinking behind the writing that needs a serious overhaul.
Needless to say, I'm thinking the third book, starring Peter Bishop, will probably be as bad or worse than this one. I may not even read it. We'll see if I have anything better to do, I suppose.
"The Burning Man" is a tie-in book for the TV show Fringe. Yes, it's odd to have a series of books come out after a TV show ends, but it's seeming less and less odd now that I'm reading them and they're just not very good.
These posthumous tie-in books seem to all be about the characters before they joined the Fringe team and showing early experiences that shaped their future. I can roll with that.
But what makes "The Burning Man" a botched effort is that the author totally ruins any chance of verisimilitude by making the main character--a teenaged Olivia Dunham (who later becomes the cool-tempered, badass FBI agent)--go through experiences so outrageous and bizarre that they would have totally colored her later behavior on the TV show.
Ostensibly, the book is about Olivia being tracked down by a psycho ex-cop (formerly a dirty, murderous cop) who has a mental link with Olivia because he was maimed by her while she was still a child. Experiments done on her with a drug called Cortexiphan (a large part of the Fringe mythology hinges on Cortexiphan) as an even younger child gave her mental powers that only manifested under extreme stress, including pyrokinesis (Firestarter, anyone?). So, once Olivia is an orphan, Massive Dynamic--the uber-corporation at the center of the Fringe universe--swoops in and makes sure Olivia and her sister have schooling and lodgings and are kept under close watch.
The psycho ex-cop is freed from the mental hospital he ended up in--ranting about a demon child who burned your arm off is a way to end up locked away, it seems--and goes north from Florida to track down and destroy Olivia, whom he thinks is a demon.
Okay, this is a workable premise, I suppose. Not too original or exciting, but there's some good basis for a story. I think the previous Fringe novel--The Zodiac Paradox--had a much more interesting and exciting premise (the Zodiac Killer was a radioactive man from another dimension) even with some narrative flaws and missteps along the way.
A lot of background is presented for Olivia and her sister Rachel here. A fair amount of it is more fan service rather than being integral to the story, but Olivia's first love is an important part of both stories in this book.
Both stories? Yes, both stories. My main bone to pick with this book is that about two-thirds of the way through the book, Olivia has her climactic confrontation with the psychotic, one-armed ex-cop. Not only is their final battle anti-climactic, it only seems to serve as a stepping stone for a serious flight of fancy (and a total trip off the rails) by the author.
The psycho ex-cop survives the final battle, but with brain damage that makes him think Olivia is dead. Such a lame outcome after a long buildup. But in order not to totally frustrate the readers, the one-armed psycho is dealt with in one of the two "tacked on" epilogues that try to get the story back towards something related to the TV series. Too little...too late.
The latter third of the book is about Olivia being held prisoner in a "special" hospital for Cortexiphan kids who have become dangerous to society by using their psychic powers. The facility is under the aegis of Massive Dynamic, but run by a smirking, pervy, weirdo mad scientist (whom I pictured as Cary Elwes) who wants to make super Cortexiphan mutant babies with all his teenage female patients.
While that portion of the story is interesting, it totally ruins any chance for believability. There is no way Olivia Dunham would not have been shaped or scarred by this hospital experience and not investigated who held her captive and ultimately come up with Massive Dynamic. That would have significantly changed her dynamic (no pun intended) during the show.
In other words, the author made the "formative" incidents of this book far too weird and wild. Therefore, they interfere with the "canon" of the show instead of enhancing it. There's no way Olivia wouldn't mention being held in a hospital with kids who have bizarre mental powers and that she was nearly impregnated before being rescued (by her teenage first love, whom she later kills accidentally--told you there were spoilers) and that during that rescue they come across some serious monster type of human mutants (we're talking creatures that would make John Carpenter wet himself) created by mad science.
Not only is that a total failure of the narrative, it's just plain insulting to the fans of Fringe.
I gave this book two stars because the writing itself isn't bad, it's the thinking behind the writing that needs a serious overhaul.
Needless to say, I'm thinking the third book, starring Peter Bishop, will probably be as bad or worse than this one. I may not even read it. We'll see if I have anything better to do, I suppose.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2014
Although I really, really enjoyed this book. I thought it could have been better. I loved the idea of it, finally a back story for Olivia! But I didn't like how it was executed...it was like reading two separate stories actually...first she *SPOILER!!* puts down an arch enemy from her childhood (but doesn't kill him - for the second time), then she has to escape a government run facility (a seriously freaky one too...) and all the while she doesn't really remember this stuff? I mean really, she has no clue that she has abilities? Maybe that is her character but I don't necessarily buy it with all the freaky stuff that happens around her.
I think the author had some good ideas and a few very good scenes, but she just crammed it all into one book. Not cool. This could have easily been two separate stories...and wth is with the ending? I mean, I know Olivia has problems with relationships but damn...it was like a soap opera!
Anyway, I liked the concept because Olivia is my favorite character. I like to see where she has come from, but it wasn't very well executed. Overall, I would give it 3.5 stars, because I hate giving low ratings.
I think the author had some good ideas and a few very good scenes, but she just crammed it all into one book. Not cool. This could have easily been two separate stories...and wth is with the ending? I mean, I know Olivia has problems with relationships but damn...it was like a soap opera!
Anyway, I liked the concept because Olivia is my favorite character. I like to see where she has come from, but it wasn't very well executed. Overall, I would give it 3.5 stars, because I hate giving low ratings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2022
Well no way to sugarcoat it. This book is TERRIBLE. which is beyond just disappointing, it's insulting quite frankly. Fringe is one the greatest TV shows ever created and I'm mad that this has the audacity to try to associate with it.
Olivia is 16 in this book, and there's a lot of gross uncomfortable sexual references, and various references to sexual assault (of other characters, but even she is placed in some very awful positions). I'm not sure why this author wrote all of this in here; fringe is not nearly this sexual at all.
I understand making a book on Olivia's back story would be challenging, as the show covers most of it and doesn't really leave gaps for any new exciting material. But this??? Not only doesn't not feel like a plausible connection to the Olivia of the show, but the plot is just weird, violent, and disturbing-- and not in the fun way that the show did their episodes. The first half of the book involves a psychotic criminal who is obsessed with trying to kill Olivia because he thinks she's a demon, and the second half involves a really messed up laboratory and a disgusting doctor trying to do experiments. It's icky. I would have much rather read a book on Adult Olivia becoming an FBI agent, maybe even describing how she fell in love with John Scott considering that's a back story that the show didn't explore. This author shouldn't have bothered trying to make the Cortexiphan plot work when it just wasn't possible.
The few things (all of which referenced the show directly) thatI liked:
- Olivia being called "han" by her classmates
- the reference to meeting Peter in the field of white tulips
- the scene where Olivia shoots her abusive stepfather
- how much Olivia loves her sister
Ultimately all I have to say is: don't bother with this. Just rewatch a Fringe episode and spare yourself the disgust.
Olivia is 16 in this book, and there's a lot of gross uncomfortable sexual references, and various references to sexual assault (of other characters, but even she is placed in some very awful positions). I'm not sure why this author wrote all of this in here; fringe is not nearly this sexual at all.
I understand making a book on Olivia's back story would be challenging, as the show covers most of it and doesn't really leave gaps for any new exciting material. But this??? Not only doesn't not feel like a plausible connection to the Olivia of the show, but the plot is just weird, violent, and disturbing-- and not in the fun way that the show did their episodes. The first half of the book involves a psychotic criminal who is obsessed with trying to kill Olivia because he thinks she's a demon, and the second half involves a really messed up laboratory and a disgusting doctor trying to do experiments. It's icky. I would have much rather read a book on Adult Olivia becoming an FBI agent, maybe even describing how she fell in love with John Scott considering that's a back story that the show didn't explore. This author shouldn't have bothered trying to make the Cortexiphan plot work when it just wasn't possible.
The few things (all of which referenced the show directly) thatI liked:
- Olivia being called "han" by her classmates
- the reference to meeting Peter in the field of white tulips
- the scene where Olivia shoots her abusive stepfather
- how much Olivia loves her sister
Ultimately all I have to say is: don't bother with this. Just rewatch a Fringe episode and spare yourself the disgust.
April 4, 2025
I was a huge fan of the TV series when it first aid - the combination of conspiracy, mystery and science fiction. So when I discovered there was a trilogy of books based on the 3 main characters I could not help myself (sadly it appears I picked up the middle book in the series however it would appear they are not connected).
The story itself is rather strange in that you feel like you know where it is going and then suddenly you don't. I would not say that it is jarring but it definitely benefits from picking up a lot of back story (even though you could call this an origin story of sorts) from the TV show.
However I would say it does read like the show - almost to the point where you can spot where the episode ends and the next one begins. However do not take me wrong it is still Fringe through and through and for those who love the series (like I do) will really enjoy it
The story itself is rather strange in that you feel like you know where it is going and then suddenly you don't. I would not say that it is jarring but it definitely benefits from picking up a lot of back story (even though you could call this an origin story of sorts) from the TV show.
However I would say it does read like the show - almost to the point where you can spot where the episode ends and the next one begins. However do not take me wrong it is still Fringe through and through and for those who love the series (like I do) will really enjoy it
September 2, 2019
Much like the first book, I'm not sure if this is based on the show or just the idea of the show. Like, one of the *other* alternate universe versions of the people involved.
March 8, 2024
Good spin off if you've watched the original series.
April 10, 2020
So how does this tie-in figure as far as relation to the TV series. So this book is nice but the backstory for Olivia is different if we compare it to the TV series as TV series did cover lot of back story for olivia especially in 4th and 5th season.
This tells olivia's story from when she was 5 years old to her being 16 years old and how difficult her childhood has been. oh well it's a well told story but doesn't gel well with the series it's supposed to be based on but it does show us a young Olivia Dunham working towards being an FBI agent.
So focus on reviews or don't because actually it's much better to form your opinions so read it and then keep on reading.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
This tells olivia's story from when she was 5 years old to her being 16 years old and how difficult her childhood has been. oh well it's a well told story but doesn't gel well with the series it's supposed to be based on but it does show us a young Olivia Dunham working towards being an FBI agent.
So focus on reviews or don't because actually it's much better to form your opinions so read it and then keep on reading.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
August 14, 2015
There were some really horrific moments in this book. Lots of unnecessary death, though, I guess it wasn't technically unnecessary because it did a great job of making the bad guy seem bad.
The last part of the book was lots of gore and disgusting Sci-Fi stuff. Not what I normally like to read to be honest, though it's normal for the Fringe universe.
I didn't find this book as interesting as the first one. It was well written and seemed in character, but it was somehow more graphic. I felt helpless a lot of the time while reading, there was so much bad going on and none of it was being resolved.
The epilogue brought closure and picked up shortly before the TV show started. I'm curious to see what happens in Peter's book, but I'm not in a hurry to read it.
3.5/5
The last part of the book was lots of gore and disgusting Sci-Fi stuff. Not what I normally like to read to be honest, though it's normal for the Fringe universe.
I didn't find this book as interesting as the first one. It was well written and seemed in character, but it was somehow more graphic. I felt helpless a lot of the time while reading, there was so much bad going on and none of it was being resolved.
The epilogue brought closure and picked up shortly before the TV show started. I'm curious to see what happens in Peter's book, but I'm not in a hurry to read it.
3.5/5
June 24, 2016
I bought this books because I'm a fan of the TV series and Olivia is by far my favourite character. This is part of three book series, but each story is stand-alone so they can be read invidually. I thought I would be reading a story about Olivia Dunham, FBI agent but instead I got a tale from Olivia's childhood and teenage years when she knew nothing about her special abilities that were explored in the TV series. It does feature Olivia solving a mystery and exposing a group of teenage rapists at a boarding school. Later in the book there are some Fringe-like elements when she is kidnapped by shady group of scientists who wish to exploit her mental powers. Not what I expected but not bad either.
September 7, 2013
I was excited to read this one at first, expecting to learn more about Olivia's upbringing. And we did get some of that, but then it took this dramatic swing towards the whole hunter/prey dynamic that took up most of the narrative. Then out of the blue that plot line just ended abruptly and it became all "Girl, Interrupted." It was all just very disjointed, and really out of place from what we know of Olivia Dunham's history from the show. Why was none of these events mentioned? Seems like a major life event to be simply forgotten.
I hope the 3rd novel is better handled.
I hope the 3rd novel is better handled.
October 28, 2018
much better than the last fringe book (the zodiac paradox) but I may be biased since Olivia is my favorite character. the book covers her childhood/teens: her school life, her relationship with her sister and her friendship with a nerdy boy. there is some morbidly grotesque bits near the end of the book which might gross the heck out of some. (I did for me a little) it was an interesting read and I would recommend it to any Fringe fan who wanted a deeper look at Olivia Dunham and how she became the person we see on the show.
February 8, 2014
As a huge fan of the show, I was thrilled to find a book to continue reading about Olivia's life, even if the pages focused on her sad young abusive life. However, readers get to see her relationship with her sister Rachel and believe-it-or-not, you are rooting for her first boyfriend (you will even get past the fact that he's not Peter). Christa Faust did a great job of writing a book that is character driven and less science heavy.
October 15, 2014
i really wanted to love this book considering that i am a huge fan of the tv series Fringe but i just couldn't get past the continuity issues. As for the book itself, it was great until the "Burning Man" story seem to fizzle out and the rest of the story involving the lab, the testing on Oliva, and the Escape seemed like filler. Like the author didnt seem to know what else to do with the story.
November 7, 2014
"I'm not a superhero," says Olivia Dunham at one point in this novel. But I beg to differ. Her Cortexiphan-induced powers give her the ability to cause electrical disturbances and fires when emotional distraught. Plus she holds the key to an alternative universe. That sounds like superhero stuff to me.
Full review here: http://superheronovels.com/2014/11/07...
Full review here: http://superheronovels.com/2014/11/07...
October 6, 2015
I got sucked right into Olivia's story, however it is supposed to be part of the Canon.. And sometimes it felt a little like it couldn't have happened, not with what is shown in the TV series. So while I absolutely loved reading more about Olivia Dunham, I am not sure how to fit it all in the larger story.
November 23, 2015
Very easy read but a very poor representation of the show. I can't believe this book supposed to be canon to the show and I have a hard time acknowledging it as such. Any die-hard Fringe/Olivia Dunham fan can probably skip this one. I haven't read the other two books Faust wrote for Fringe and judging from this have no desire to.
June 3, 2017
Saw this in a used book store and, being a fan of the series, thought what the heck.
Started out bad and didn't get any better. If you're a fan of the show, you'll hate it and see it as nothing more than trying to capitalize on the name. If you don't know the show, you won't understand some of the references. All in all, not good.
Started out bad and didn't get any better. If you're a fan of the show, you'll hate it and see it as nothing more than trying to capitalize on the name. If you don't know the show, you won't understand some of the references. All in all, not good.
August 16, 2017
I'm a fan of the TV series, but I somehow missed the book tie-ins. Too bad, because this would have been a great read between episodes, especially in Season Three.
Nearly everything is prior to the start of the show, but the two epilogs have characters you'll immediately recognize or remember. The smile will be on your face before you realize it.
Read it!
Nearly everything is prior to the start of the show, but the two epilogs have characters you'll immediately recognize or remember. The smile will be on your face before you realize it.
Read it!
August 20, 2013
Meh. I'm a die hard Fringe fan and read Zodiac Paradox as soon as it came out and was impressed. This one was definitely not as good, the plot was messy and there were not enough tie ins to the show. Holding out hope for the next one!
November 14, 2017
For a book I picked up at the dollar store, it was a much better read than I expected. I had a hard time putting it down. It took a bit to get into it, but I ended up wanting more. Also, I wanted to go back and re-watch the show.
March 19, 2015
This is the 2nd in the Fringe series. I enjoyed this book. It was ok, not earth shatteringly wonderful but a good read. I really enjoyed most of the TV series. These books are prequels to the show.
November 1, 2017
Not sure it entirely fits with the Olivia personally known from the show, but it is an interesting & fun little read.
December 6, 2017
Second of three Fringe novels by Faust, this one concerns Olivia Dunham's life before becoming a special agent. Pretty good story showing her initial contact with Massive Dynamic.
March 26, 2018
I've always liked the character of Olivia Dunham in Fringe, so getting some of her backstory is nice.
June 25, 2022
One of the most interesting parts of Fringe was the science. It was, of course, stretched beyond what is possible due to the instability of their reality due to the tear between universes, but it was always based in real theories and hypothetics. This novelization threw all that out the window in favor of plots and monsters that would feel more at home in . . . I don't know, something else.
The first novelization with Walter was at least somewhat believable as a younger version of the character we knew, but the way Olivia is written in this is insulting. We've seen young Olivia in the show, we know what she's like, we know the woman she grows up to be and how she talks about her past. The blonde girl in this story does not resemble her in the least.
If the characterization wasn't bad enough, the book felt poorly plotted out with the the first and second half focusing on too completely different conflicts. Yes, they are connected, but the hard turn into the second half was too jarring.
And then there's the utter lack of canon. I don't expect every novelization to tie in perfectly into the main story, but if they're going to bother selling these novelizations to fans, then they need to be doing something other than ripping us off. I know Olivia has memory issues due to the experiments and her own trauma, but there's no way she forgot all this. The age she is when this story happens and the way the book is left off with her finally capturing her obsessed killer . . . how did she not mention any of this when she brought up her past, especially the story about shooting her father.
I know novelizations can give authors the freedom to explore new horizons with the characters, especially ones with memory issues like Olivia, but that doesn't given you the license to just do whatever you want with the story. Like I mentioned in my review of Walter's novelization. I think these stories go way to big too soon before the main story kicks off. They're so excited to tie things together and bring in the craziness of the show without realizing that Fringe was a slow burn of a story that explored character more often than it did big scifi nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I love both the characters and the big scifi nonsense, but the show built things up and dug its heels into every one of it's narratives while these novelizations feel like soulless knockoffs.
The first novelization with Walter was at least somewhat believable as a younger version of the character we knew, but the way Olivia is written in this is insulting. We've seen young Olivia in the show, we know what she's like, we know the woman she grows up to be and how she talks about her past. The blonde girl in this story does not resemble her in the least.
If the characterization wasn't bad enough, the book felt poorly plotted out with the the first and second half focusing on too completely different conflicts. Yes, they are connected, but the hard turn into the second half was too jarring.
And then there's the utter lack of canon. I don't expect every novelization to tie in perfectly into the main story, but if they're going to bother selling these novelizations to fans, then they need to be doing something other than ripping us off. I know Olivia has memory issues due to the experiments and her own trauma, but there's no way she forgot all this. The age she is when this story happens and the way the book is left off with her finally capturing her obsessed killer . . . how did she not mention any of this when she brought up her past, especially the story about shooting her father.
I know novelizations can give authors the freedom to explore new horizons with the characters, especially ones with memory issues like Olivia, but that doesn't given you the license to just do whatever you want with the story. Like I mentioned in my review of Walter's novelization. I think these stories go way to big too soon before the main story kicks off. They're so excited to tie things together and bring in the craziness of the show without realizing that Fringe was a slow burn of a story that explored character more often than it did big scifi nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I love both the characters and the big scifi nonsense, but the show built things up and dug its heels into every one of it's narratives while these novelizations feel like soulless knockoffs.
May 5, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐Only because I got a small glimpse of the adult Olivia ( the only part that made much sense to be honest)
The rest of the story, I found it to be mix and match between timelines from the series ( was uncalled for)
The writing was captivating enough to continue the book and be shocked every once in a while
The rest of the story, I found it to be mix and match between timelines from the series ( was uncalled for)
The writing was captivating enough to continue the book and be shocked every once in a while
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