Book Review: Fringe – The Burning Man
The bad news is that the sci-fi show Fringe is over. However the good news is that it recently received a second life through Titan Books. So far, the publisher has released two stories set in the program’s universe, with a third on the way for 2014. Titan’s novels are written by Christa Faust and provide backstory for your favorite characters: Olivia (Anna Torv), Walter (John Noble), and Peter (Joshua Jackson). Each book features a single character on the cover and concentrates on him or her, like Faust’s tale Fringe – The Burning Man, which takes place during FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham’s childhood.
Starting with an incident during Olivia’s early years as a test subject for the drug Cortexiphan, The Burning Man quickly introduces us to the substance’s mysterious supernatural effects on her. Then we move forward a bit, to the events that cause her to shoot her abusive stepfather, and to her ensuing encounter with a man named Tony, who forms a bizarre physiological attachment to her. Driven to madness by this condition, Tony is locked away in an institution, although eventually he’s released and sets out on a quest to kill Olivia. By this point, she is at a New England boarding school with her younger sister Rachel, who Olivia realizes she must also protect from this psychopath. Can the lone teenager save her sister and herself though?
What’s great about Christa Faust’s Fringe – The Burning Man, is that it provides depth to Olivia’s past that the show often could only accomplish entirely through exposition. It’s intriguing to uncover more details behind her traumatic relationship with her stepfather and to discover how she became a career-driven crime fighter. You receive deeper insight into her troubled relationships with men and the reason for her emotional reluctance with romantic entanglements as well.
Faust’s pacing is perfect, so her story moves quickly, similar to an episode of Fringe. Although the narrative focuses on Olivia, Faust shifts perspectives effectively between various characters to give you a full picture of the action. Like Dunham herself, Faust’s prose is efficient and descriptive, with no nonsense. Occasionally she veers into a pop culture reference or silly analogy, although her writing is otherwise straightforward. The only place where Faust’s voice feels off is in the book’s epilogue. With the adult Olivia, her words take on a hyper, stream of consciousness style that doesn’t match the earlier chapters. However given the book’s already quick rhythm, if the whole thing was constructed with this frantic voice, it could have been even more compelling yarn.
If you’re looking to get your Fringe fix, Faust’s novels from Titan are a good way to do it, but be sure to savor the first two outings, because the next one doesn’t arrive until March.
