Not bad, but derivative and poorly written in spots

Reviewed by Christopher Hivner, 2009-07-14

In Antibodies, Mulder and Scully are investigating a strange death at a burnt out cancer research facility. A man who it was thought had died in the fire is actually alive because he injected himself with nanomachines which were created in the lab. But the version he injected himself with is unstable and has made him infectious to anyone he touches. The man is searching for a young boy and the boy's dog who has the stable version of the cure in his bloodstream.

Antibodies is an ok X Files story. As with Ground Zero, the characters of Mulder and Scully are not represented very well. The plot hinges on nanotechnology which has been used as a plot device everywhere from Star Trek the Next Generation to Mystery Science Theater 3000. I generally find Anderson to be a good writer but Antibodies is forced at places. There are too many metaphors and similes used throughout and besides the sheer number of them, some of them are truly awful. I got some enjoyment out of Antibodies but it's not the most original or well written book.

Awesome Summer Read

Reviewed by Matt Johnson, 2004-08-18

Wow! I really like science fiction shows and if you like them too then I would greatly recommend this book. Antibodies is a sci-fi book filled with action, adventure, and excitement. This book is one of the best books I have ever read.

Once you start reading you can't stop. Yes, it is that good. Mulder and Scully are on the case again. Recently the Dymar lab for cancer research has burned down to the ground by animal rights group that seems to not have existed. When the rubble was cleared, all but one of the researchers' bodies was found. What were they really researching in Dymar? Is the government trying to cover it up? Read this awesome book!

Boy, I miss Mulder *sniff*

Reviewed by DogsDeserveCompassion, 2004-04-01

I can't even remember where I acquired this ABRIDGED auidobook but I just re-discovered it hidden way down in the bowels of the storage compartment in my vehicle while I was searching for a missing glove (which is, alas, still missing). It rates about a four for me for keeping me entertained while on my long drive to work. My drifty mind wandered only a few times.

The story reminds me very much of something Dean Koontz could've cooked up (I love the way the Koontz writes even when he gets over-the-top silly and meanders off into pages and pages of mind numbing description). This book is fast paced (this author apparently doesn't share Koontz's proclivity for longwindyness) and tells a story of a boy and his dog infected with a cancer, gun-shot wound, burnt to a crisp curing, form of nano-technology. Don't ask. My pea brain can't comprehend it. Anyway, one of the scientists who worked on this technology is also infected with these nano-critters. But he went and infected himself with the bad kind (duh!) and instead of fixing whatever ails him they make him break out with big tumorous lesions and whomever he touches dies of plague-like symptoms. Why? Ya got me. Plague-man is desperately searching for the boy and his dog because he believes their blood will cure him (boy, dog and their mom are hiding). Along the way he touches a few people and grossness occurs. Scully, Mulder and The Smoking Man make a few appearances but this story doesn't bring them to life in any exceptional way and it lacked Mulder's morbid sense of humor (the book would've rated much higher if these characters came alive a bit more). Overall it was interesting, a little icky and very sad at times reminding me of a classic X-Files episode without the Mulderisms.

Entertaining

Reviewed by Kevin Spoering, 2003-05-07

The subject matter here more appropriately should reside in the realm of science fiction, but here we are, taking a technology that will someday help billions of people, and complicating it with conspiracies and paronoia. But what else would a person expect, as this is THE X FILES and a lot of rationality is out the door anyway: give the audience what they want, mind-numbing entertainment. Regardless of this, the novel here is nevertheless well worth reading as it introduces the new science of nanotechnology to many people who have never heard of it before. The story is actually very well done in spite of it's sensationalism and exaggerations, with Mulder and Scully investigating the explosive destruction of a cancer research lab under mysterious circumstances. The plot developes superbly from there and is quite good to the end. However, if you desire to learn more about nanotechnology and what it can mean to you personally, read THE FIRST IMMORTAL by James Halperin, this is informed and well-thought-out science fiction, probably eventually to become science-fact in the decades to come.

Better than an eposide!

Reviewed by Anonymous, 2002-08-12

This book came over just like watching a great eposide. It has Scully and Mulder at their best.