When I first heard that the end of Fringe was going to be followed by a trilogy of prequel novels, I was quite excited.  While the series itself delved into a lot of the history behind the events depicted in the complicated mythology of the Bishops and Olivia Dunham, there were still plenty of stories to tell.  Prequels felt like the right way to go, if only because peeling back the layers of character histories felt more promising than a conventional “case of the week”.

My first impression of this novel is that it’s not what I was expecting.  From the perspective of a prequel, it definitely delivers on that promise.  This is the story of Walter Bishop and William Bell’s first experience with alternate dimensions, and how they were set on the path of the cortexiphan trials in Jacksonville.  Beyond that, the story is a bit far afield.

To be fair, there’s no reason why it should have been any different.  It’s been well established that Walter and “Belly” were heavily into psychotropic drug research, and had no issue whatsoever conducting that research personally.  The story logically takes place in the late 1960s and early 1970s, so the notion that Walter and Belly would be deep within the drug-fueled counter-culture is also in keeping with the established character beats.

What’s jarring is the intersection of those elements and the crossover of another universe’s Zodiac Killer.  It’s fairly clear that the Fringe Prime universe is not the same as ours, so the details don’t have to line up completely, but it feels like the author couldn’t figure out how to make psychedelic research into human psychic abilities interesting without injecting a serial killer into the mix.  As a result, it takes some time for the reader to reconcile all of the pieces of the puzzle as something that should fit into the Fringe mythos.

That said, the Zodiac elements, especially the connection that is made between him and “the boys”, adds an undeniable tension to the plot, and thus a reason for the experimentation to continue without appropriate caution.  When Nina Sharp is brought into the story, things take a new angle as she and Belly forge an unusual bond.

Yet there are still some nagging inconsistencies that bothered me.  Walter’s character arc is a huge part of the series; it’s well established that during the years before it all fell apart, Walter was often amoral in his scientific approach.  That was fostered by Bell’s own semi-sociopathic tendencies, but in this novel, Walter is the constant voice of caution and reason, overridden by Bell and Nina as they clinically use whatever resources are at their disposal to stop the Zodiac Killer.  One might be tempted to say that Peter’s eventual death changed him, but the cortexiphan trials on children in Jacksonville started before that.

A large part of the story depends on the notion that Walter and Belly discovered a precursor to cortexiphan, which based on a psychic resonance between individuals, could allow them to open a portal to another universe.  All well and good, since it was established that Olivia Dunham’s ability to do the same thing was initially fostered by her relationship to Peter Bishop.  But therein lies the problem: that ability to cross universes was supposed to be something special about Olivia!  Why, then, is it possible for so many gateways to form in this novel?  (Granted, one could argue stability of the portals as a distinction, but it’s still a bit of an inconsistency.)

It’s hard to say if this is the fault of the author or not; apparently she worked directly with some of the show’s writers to get details that were never shown or directly explored on-screen.  Since she is also writing the other two books in this prequel trilogy, it’s possible that some of the questions (especially those involving Olivia’s abilities) might be covered in the next volume.  Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m willing to wait and see; I doubt Olivia’s story will be tied to something quite so overtly designed to draw in casual interest.

As a final note, I was personally disappointed in how short and “shallow” the book was.  For all that it delved into plenty of different areas (and even had time for Walter to hang out with Violet Sedan Chair), it didn’t have the depth that I was anticipating.  Media tie-in novels aren’t particularly famous for their density, but there are plenty of examples of tie-in novels that approach their topics with weight and immerse the reader in the worlds created.  This novel didn’t quite do that, and as a result, it reads like a relatively mediocre Fringe episode.

Released: May 2013
Price: $6.39 (Kindle version)
Acquisition method: Amazon.com