Customer Reviews

Dark Passions Book One of Two (Star Trek)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must say I love Pocket Books new daring take on the Star Trek franchise. The New Earth series, Millenium, Gemworld, Dark Matters, and now the latest the Mirror Universe duology Dark Passions. This book is filled with many of beloved characters, but with a charming dark twist. Politics is the game of the day and the characters shine with all the double dealing going on behind the scenes. Intendant Kira shines as much in the novel as she did when Nana Visitor brought her to life on Deep Space Nine. The story telling is tight, the characters believable, and my only complaint is that these two books should have been one novel, much like the SwordHunt duology should have been. Looking forward to book two!

Initially when I found out this was a two book series I was annoyed b/c I felt that it was really one book broken into two to increase revenue. After reading both, I realize that although this is partially true, the two books each have a very different flavor to them.

Book One really sets the tone with the mad rush for power in the former Terran Empire. In the beginning none of the charachters really came across as one of the "good guys" (or gals as the case may be) and it wasn't until about halfway through the story that it became clear who the protagonist was. There are lots of cameo's by charachters from NegGen, DS9, & Voyager who show up in some very unexpected places; I half expected Kirk or Uhuro to be thrown into the mix. In addition, there are also some very unlikely romantic pairings, which will keep the reader off balance - as one reviewer mentioned "this is not your father's Star Trek".

I can honestly say that the plots twists kept me guessing all the way through both books. Both of which are a quick read and lots of fun. Susan Wright left the door open for further books in this continuity, but these will be tough to top.

I loved it! We all adore Seven of Nine with her strong Borg identity but it is an even greater pleasure to read about her alternate character as an agent of the Cardassian Obsidian Order. And what an opening scene : to have her assassinate that Klingon in cold blood...immediately the tone is set for this series. Susan Wright is the next in line to write a very good novel about this merciless realm. It will certainly appeal to all readers who go for a little more "adult" adventures of our well known Star Trek characters. I am sure Susan had great fun in writing this story about the Mirror Universe and its wicked women who go boldly were no man has gone before! A Best-Seller!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great and the storyline progressed wonderfully. Now, not everyone who loves Star Trek will enjoy this book though. This book isn't full of a bunch of space battles and techno-babble. It's more like a political thriller set in the Star Trek mirror universe. So, if you like assinations and political intrigue with a sci-fi twist you'll love this book.

In this alternate universe Trek story, we get a conniving, power-hungry Deanna Troi--quite a departure from the warm earth-mother Counselor Troi. Keiko isn't the sensible schoolteacher wife of Miles 'Brien, she's Troi's personal maid. Seven Of Nine isn't a Borg--she's a human agent for Cardassian intelligence. Kira Nerys was always a tough cookie, but this Kira uses that basic strength in the manner of a loathed and feared tyrant. But will you get a load of this universe's Winn? We know her as a smarmy, two-faced religious leader--here she's a mid-level bureacrat trapped between the hammer of higher-ups who don't give a damn about her or her constituents, and the anvil of those constituents, who expect the moon and stars of her (and proabably sulk when they don't get it). Where "our" Winn patronizingly calls Kira "child", this Winn actually is a dedicated foster parent who has raised several waifs to adulthood. Author Susan Wright may have done a real number on the Troi that one website calls "Beloved Betazoid", but she has turned the slave-of-expediency Winn into a true woman of courage.

Wow. Thats the only way to describe this book. Ever since we've been introduced to the Mirror Universe in ' Mirror, Miror' with the Original Enterprise and then once again in the Deep Space Nine years, this version of space along with the people in it have always captured out attention and interest. As Voyager nears an end and a new movie and series are due out next year, this book just makes you wish you could see it on the big screen. A lot happends and a lot is just going to make you gasp and jump back in shock. The cover alone just captures your attention; Troi, Kira Nerys and Seven of Nine all in one book? Can it be done without turning it into a pretty big mess up? Well yes, most certainly. You NEED to buy this book. Here are just a list of some of the characters and situations. Agent Seven of Corps Nine is sent into the Klingon territory to kill off someone pretty important. She runs into trouble when she meets the Duras sisters. Intendant Deanna Troi of Betazed and her love interest Regent Worf make that nice ruling couple but when Troi doesn't get what she wants, she does some things that would make even her own counterpart back on the Enterprise jump back in shock. You have Troi meeting Winn from DS9, Leeta and Ziyal working with Seven and the Obsidian Order, Jadzia and Sisko teaming up, Garak and Tain and their odd father and son relationship and a lot more. The plot is not bad at all and this is one crossover book that you will want. But it. As Seven would say, your resistance in this case is futile.

Book 1 of two based on the Mirror Universe as established on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, this book and it's companion title are a very entertaining read. Set before the crossover episodes on the series, it's the story of the struggle for power within the Alliance. The story opens with Obsidian Order operative Annika Hanson on assignment to assassinate Duras. Let the political intrige, corruption and betrayal begin!

The story grabs you from the start and holds you enthralled. The characters are not just the ones you would expect to see in the Mirror Universe, such as Intendent Kira, Regent Worf and Sisko. Characters from TNG and VOY populate the story as well. Bottom line-fun for any trek fan!

Over the years, Susan Wright has proven herself to be an extremely reliable author in the Star Trek universe and this "Dark Passions" duology is no exception to that. I found the entire story to be thoroughly intriguing, extremely well paced and the characterizations to be perfect for what one might expect of these characters in the mirror universe.

With this small duology, Susan Wright took the rather apropos approach of building upon the known and unknown characters in the Star Trek Deep Space Nine mirror universe episodes and created an extraordinary story that actually takes place prior to start of the series, giving her the advantage of having all of the characters to use and giving her the opportunity to create a much more original story to include killing certain characters off. This is an extremely powerful story that involves the majority of the female characters in the current Star Trek universe, proving their "mettle" so to speak and using them to perfection.

The only true complaint I would lodge about this duology falls more into place with the decisions of those at Pocket Books than with the author and that is the fact that this "novel" was broken into two books. Considering the rather standard sized text and the fact that the first book is only 232 pages and the second is 200 pages, this could've and should've been one novel instead of an obvious ploy to ply an extra $6.99 out of "passionate" Star Trek readers; bad on the powers that be at Pocket Books.

The cover art for this novel makes this and the second novel that much more intriguing considering the originality of the story.

The Premise:

As it might spoil the story a bit I won't delve too deeply into the premise of this wonderful story. Suffice it to say, this story involves the majority of the major female characters from "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" in extremely enlightening roles carrying an extremely original story to fruition through healthy amounts of intrigue and action...

Overall, I highly recommend this and the second book in this small duology to any and all fans of Star Trek fiction and especially to those that thoroughly enjoyed the mirror universe episodes on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. {ssintrepid}

This novel is part one of a two book series. Remember the Mirror Universe from the classic episodes? Well folks, this is the Deep Space Nine version with Kira in command. She is the evil counterpart to the good Kira in the normal universe. This one has all the action of the "Crossover" episode of the series. I just wish it could have been condensed into one book. This series warranted one "Giant Novel" like the DS9 "Millennium" series. This series offers "Mirror" versions Seven, Dr. Crusher, Janeway,and Troi.

this book is about the alternate universe of deep space nine. it is really great to have all the characters that we come to know and love totally diffrent. it starts out with an assaisination of a high ranking klingon official by a deep cover cardassian who is disguised so that there is a lot of finger pointing trying to figure out who the cowardly assasin is. in the middle of all the confusion, the diffrent intendents have decided to vote for an overseer of the terran territories. gul

dukat thinks that he is an automatic shoo-in but when kira nerys wins the job he is beside himself. kira lets her presence as the new overseer be known almost immediately by upsetting a lot of contracts that the other intenents already have and this makes her a very unpopular person. several people get together to plan to assasin her and how that turns out is just too juicy for words. i won't ruin it by mentioning it, but this is a great read. all this happens in just the first book. imagine what happens in the second.