Customer Reviews

Star Trek - the Next Generation: Dark Mirror (Star Trek Audio the Next Gen)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Easily one of the better entries into published Star Trek, the Next Generation fiction, Dark Mirror does a much better job, er, 'mirroring' the feel of the original Star Trek episode, by leaving enough familiar for us to be truly appalled at the different turns characters with the fundamental abilities of the crew could take. The characters, in both senses, are written very real and very strongly, with even Troi being an interesting character (on both sides of the mirror), and Duane shows her usual flair for creating societies, both in terms of the Mirror Empire, as well as a few new types from in and around the Federation. This book can't carry a higher recommendation, being a mix of action, discovery, and the old Star Trek hope for a better future.

Way back when this book first came out I very nearly bought it, greatly intrigued by the idea of Picard grappling with the "evil Spock's" universe. But Diane Duane put me off; I thought her Romulan Way novel was overblown and she'd turned an amusing idea into garbage in Doctor's Orders.

My fears were unfounded however. True, Duane wrote this one with a dictionary (for example, Geordi uses the word "collimated" in casual conversation), but in between the spelling bee words we have an intense, powerful drama that makes Dark Mirror among the best Trek books ever written. Picard, Geordi, and Deanna must deal directly with the evil Enterprise while concealing their activities from their counterparts. Tension is high, emotions are powerful, and the evil Troi is incredibly, powerfully, evil. There are many moments here worth savoring, including the evil universe's versions of The Merchant of Venice and The Iliad, and Duane's theory of what became of evil Spock.

Duane's account of the mirror universe is, to my mind, much more compelling than the "official" take we got in DS9, which seemed to too often fall into parody rather than horror (Kira wanting to seduce herself? Yuck.). I have not read Shatner's version, so can't compare. I will say that Dark Mirror is a very powerful read, that rarest of Star Trek books that is an excellent novel in its own right.

Once again, as with her back-history of the Romulans, Diane Duane has the misfortune of writing an excellent book about a subject which subsequently is treated differently onscreen, thereby rendering her version of events non-canonical in retrospect. This book, written before the airing of the DS9 episode "Crossover", is a sequel to the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror". As such, it details what has happened in the mirror universe between Kirk's time and that of the later Trek series; unfortunately, her back-history is radically different from that in the canonical DS9 episode. So what we clearly have, is a DIFFERENT parallel universe. Different from the one in the DS9 series, and different from the one in later novels, notably William Shatner's trilogy, "Spectre", "Dark Victory", and "Preserver", as well as the "Dark Passions" duology by Susan Wright, all of which follow the canonical DS9 history. If one accepts this concept, then the story works just fine. It is well-written, well-concieved, and well-executed, and is excellent in its own right. Granted, I find the concept of a parallel universe extremely dubious; every time someone does something different, it would alter the path of history a little bit, and soon it would be so different that there would be no parallel. But granting the basic concept for the sake of a good story (and I'll admit that it's a fascinating concept, even while it is ridiculously implausable) the writing here is excellent.

Highly recommended.

This is a very good tie-in novel. It takes the basic alternate-universe premise and creates a strong story. Evil fails and good succeeds, but we get the delicious thrill of watching our favorites behave very badly indeed, often with the sexual threat that for some reason is always part of Star Trek alternate universes (e.g., evil Kira).

Other reviewers have suggested this book violates "canon" as established in Shatner's books. I have no respect for Shatner, but it also violates "canon" established in the Deep Space 9 TV show; after more than 30 years and hundreds of writers, to expect total continuity would be unrealistic (whatever that means -- we're talking about Star Trek here). If you like, call it another alternate universe in itself, like Diane Duane's Rihannsu novels.

Diane Duane's first foray into writing Next Generation was the script for a memorable early episode called "Where None Have Gone Before." This is her first TNG novel. As the title suggests, this is a sequel to the fan-favorite TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror." The writing of this novel predates Deep Space Nine's own canonical sequelization(s) of "Mirror, Mirror," the first of which was quite good -- but this is better. Duane's broader canvas lets her explore levels of opposition between our familiar characters and their counterparts... Mirror-Troi, for example, is the political officer of her Enterprise, is the most feared officer on the ship... Not someone you want "empathizing" with you... Worth the price of admission is one brilliant scene where Picard discovers the differences between the works of our Shakespeare, and his Mirror-Counterpart's... Great stuff!

Diane Duane is one of Star Trek's best and most celebrated authors. She also has the distinction of being one of the most contradicted authors by later, "on screen" episodic canon; both in her version of the Romulans and in the mirror universe. In a way though, her work stands on its own, in her own "mirror universe" of a sort in Star Trek fiction.

Capitalizing on The Original Series episode, "Mirror, Mirror," "Dark Mirror" gave Star Trek readers something that many fans had been looking forward to for quite some time, a return to the mirror universe to see what happened after Captain Kirk's accidental but historic "crossover."

Although I am a huge fan of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and from the very first episode in which they visited the mirror universe and the following shows once every year for the remainder of the series, in a way, I liked Diane Duane's version better.

The cover art for this hardback and paperback serves the novel quite well, showing the faces of the two, quite different, Captain Picard's.

The premise:

In one of Star Trek's darkest, yet most intriguing stories, author Diane Duane takes us back to mirror universe - I love the opening chapter of this novel in which the Enterprise is in interstellar space but they're between "spiral arms" in the galaxy where there are no stars and it seems to be having an effect on the crew.

Before long the crew finds themselves and the Enterprise having been dragged through the "looking glass" and they're now in the mirror universe where they soon learn that their doppelgangers are on a mission to replace them. What is so interesting about this novel is their doppelgangers from the mirror universe and the complete twist in the characters, especially Deanna Troi and her extremely powerful mirror universe counterpart.

Captain Picard and crew find that in order to save the ship, themselves and the Federation from an all out invasion by their power hungry counterparts, they must infiltrate their ship on a mission of intelligence gathering and sabotage.

What follows from there is, as stated above, one of the most intriguing and alluring Star Trek stories to date, and in no small measure, deserved of the rare hardback version it was printed in. I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of the genre and even more so if you can find the hardback version of it!

As a side note; the audio tape version, read by "Q" himself, John De Lancie, makes for an excellent three hour diversion while driving down the highway. I've listened to this one more times than I can remember. {ssintrepid}

Well, as is said in several other reviews, this novel does not follow what is "cannonical" Star Trek. Anyone familiar with the DS9 Episodes and William Shatner's later extension of those premises knows that in "Official History" The Terran Empire fell to its own corruption and greed, perhaps assisted by Shatner's Kirk-centeric view of things focused on the evil Emperor Tiberius AKA evil James Kirk.

You have to remember when this lovely novel was written. It was published in 1993, at the end of Next Generation's TV run. That was a year before the DS9 Episodes first aired, and a decade before Shatner's novels. It's not unusual for books to be contradicted by the series, and this is an example.

The book begins slowly, with a wordy introduction about quantum physics and an overly descriptive introduction to the floating dolphin scientist. This character could have been so much more than just a gimmick alien, but it was still nice to experience a non-humanoid alien. Soon, a strange intruder is found on the ship, and he appears to be a doppelganger of a crewmember; a twisted and paranoid one at that.

Picard and company find the ship is transported to a mirror universe, with a hideously beweaponed mirror of their ship, and a truly evil crew. As they struggle to thwart an invasion of their own universe, they encounter grotesque caricatures of themselves.

With Crusher as an abused "kept" woman, and Troi the deliciously power-hungry dominatrix, we get great incites into two of the lesser known characters via this plot device. While the ending relies heavily on Treknobabel and Treknology, the meat of this story is great reading. The author crafts masterful doubles that don't stray too far into the absurd in their inverted personalities.

This review is for the Abridged Audio version (2 tapes, 3+ hours). Let me start by saying that John De Lancie has a great gift for reading audio books and replicating all of the characters very well (even the women!). If it had not been for him, I would have rated this book three stars. The premise was a little vague. On the one hand there were the physical limitations of how much matter could exist in the alternate universe, but on the other the Enterprise crew was trying to stop an invasion? Perhaps some of the story ended up on the cutting room floor? It seemed very weak to me. Also, the crew does the usual pulling an improbable series of miracles out of a hat in order to win the day. Predictable. I enjoyed the special effects, quite good; they did not drown out the narration at any time, and added much to the story. Hmmm, in retrospect, perhaps the story would rate two stars, and De Lancie actually brings it up to a 4? If you like De Lancie, then buy this audio book, if not then the story is not worth the purchase.

This is my second favorite ST:TNG novel and I always wished they'd made a movie or a multi-part story arc when the show was still in syndication. How interesting it would have been to see the TNG actors portray such opposites of their normal characters, most especially Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). This novel returns us to the Dark Mirror Universe featured in one of the better Original Series episodes ("Mirror, Mirror"), this time with TNG charcters. Diane Duane, author of the great Spock's World, treats us to a rolicking good time. Deanna Troi uses her telepathic skills as a form of torture, Dr. Crusher is a vindictive kept woman, and Worf is the noble hero. A great read! This would have been a much better way to end the movie series than with the lame "Nemesis."

This is an excellent, well-written story of trying to get home from an alternate universe. I espically appriciated the attention to technical detail and keeping in line with the show, and with the ST:TNG technical manual. This author has obviously researched extensivly before writing this book.

We watch..(read about)...Captain Picard, Councelor Troi, and Commander LaFordge as they switch places with thier counterparts, and must avoid dectection or face horrible consequences. We travel with them as they contemplate the true horror of the possibility that they could have turned out so different, yet still be so similar in this alternate universe. A truly riviting story right to the end.