New X-Files book series will give Mulder and Scully origin stories

The X-Files might be ending its Fox mini-series on Monday, but the show is set to live on via two new YA novels that will give Fox Mulder and Dana Scully origin stories.

The two upcoming novels – Agents of Chaos and Devil’s Advocate – will be part of a new literary series: The X-Files Origins, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Both stories will be set in the spring of 1979, “when serial murder, the occult, and government conspiracy were highlighted in the news”. The novels will depict the “life-changing events” that led Mulder and Scully to become the FBI agents played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

Agents of Chaos focuses on the 17-year-old Mulder, while Devil’s Advocate follows a 15-year-old Scully’s story. Kami Garcia, best known for her solo series The Legion and co-penning Beautiful Creatures – which was adapted into a feature film – will write Agents of Chaos. Devil’s Advocate will be written by Assassin’s Code writer Jonathan Maberry, and both books will be released by Imprint/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

“As a diehard fan of the show, the opportunity to work with incredible authors on original stories about these characters is a dream come true for me,” said Erin Stein, Publisher of Imprint, in a statement. “Why did Mulder become a believer? Why did Scully become a skeptic? We get to tell those stories.”

Agent of Chaos and Devil’s Advocate are set for simultaneous release in January 2017. As for more X-Files episodes, the show’s creator Chris Carter hasn’t ruled out the possibility, saying during January’s TCA panel that everybody is on board, schedules permitting.