Customer Reviews

Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a fan of Star Treks Mirror Universe, it was definitely a no brainer for me to grab a copy of David Macks "The Sorrows of Empire". The novel centers around Commander Spock as he rises through the upper ranks of the Imperial Starfleet **general spoilers follow**

Sorrows is actually an expansion on Macks original Mirror short story that appeared in the "Glass Empires" collection, and it was great to get the full length novel treatment for the original short story.

The novel jumps from year to year to year, and at times this might be a little disorienting for some readers. However, Mack totally keeps you interested with the Mirror Universe political goings on as Spock rises through the ranks. Not many of the Trek authors get a "handle" on the Mirror Universe, and David Mack seems to be one of them!

Many characters inhabit the pages of this book: canon and non-canon characters from the other Trek novels. It was a nice blending, giving the reader a sense of the universe and how the Mirror universe plays out over a period of years with the various officers and civilians jockeying for power, or just trying to survive. I loved the glimpse into the Starfleet cadets as they are put through their paces, and overall the novel offers a lot of little things for the Mirror fan.

Marlena Moreau is brought to life in Macks novel treatement, and that's awesome.

My only complaint (not really) is that a certain favorite main canon character of mine was again knocked off by way of Xenopolycithimia as he was in the original short story; I was kind of hoping Mack would keep him around in the novel treatment.

Good Mirror Universe entry! And, if you are a Spock fan, go for it.

I had expected this book to be like the previous mirror universe books, containing short stories which provide a brief glimpse into the life of the those living at the time. I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a thorough novel of the before mentioned rise of Spock and the demise of the Empire he eventually took over in the aftermath of his encounter with the Kirk of "our" universe.


It is difficult to write about this without giving away a lot of the plot. Let us just say that the ambitions and goals of Spock are bold and influence the events of his region of space for more than a century to come, with a specific outcome in mind. Everything he does happens for specific reasons, and are directed towards that outcome.


It has been a while since I've read a Star Trek book which made me want to keep reading to find out how it eventually ends. If this is the sort of quality tptb can come up with, then I'm looking forwards to more from them. I'd especially like to read about the Mirror Universe even beyond TNG time, to when the Humans and Vulcans eventually throw off the yolk of Klingon and Cardassian tyranny.


Would I recommend this book? If you're a Star Trek fan- definitely yes!

Challenged by James T Kirk of the Federation to change the course of the Empire, Mirror Spock is going to do just that. He knows the Empire will collapse in two hundred years, so he carefully plans to bring about the downfall and subjugation of the Empire in just under thirty years. This might seem odd to the reader, but his reasoning is this: freedom that is given is neither appreciated nor treasured; freedom that is fought for is cherished.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sorrows of Empire for several reasons. One was the characters. The story is focused on Spock, true, but the author also brought in many characters you will recognize from various episodes and movies,and not just from the original series. And, it was great fun to see Amanda, Uhura, Sulu, and McCoy as their mirror selves. As for Scotty- he loves his engines no matter the universe he's in.

But, be warned: you must remember that this is NOT the characters we know from the Federation, but characters raised and living in an entirely different culture and universe. They may behave differently from what you would expect.

The plot was well done, too, moving along with twists that makes the reader not want to put the book down. I think this is the sort of book that when you go back and read it again (and again) you will discover more to the story. The plan is laid out step by step, nearly year by year, so we see how it evolves over time. This was well done.

The end is rather bittersweet and sets us up for the sequel. Sorrows of the Empire ranks as one of my favorite Star Trek TOS novels and I would recommend it to any Star Trek fan.

This is a Mirror Universe book that is as good as I expected a work from David Mack to be. It has strategy, a little science, a couple of twists to keep the read good, and overall "The Sorrows of the Empire" is a good Star Trek read, and very worth the time and money. The book brings out the best in Spock, and does a very good job of meeting all the loose ends from the other MU books. It's a worthy read, and if you are an avid reader of ST books, this is a "don't miss".

I am still looking forward to a mirror universe book that contains "Q", since "Q" would not necessarily change between universes. Anyhow, you'll love this book.

Hope you've been keeping up on your ST reading, otherwise, half this book will make NO sense whatsoever.

I loved the author's take on the Mirror Universe in "Glass Empires," and this novel is simply a fleshed-out version of the story in that book of the same name. If you have "Glass Empires," you can safely skip the first 2 chapters. You've read them already. ****SPOILERS AHEAD****

I always did wonder why all the Satos were named "Hoshi." Well, now we know that she had herself cloned. The last clone is the one offed by Saavik (along with four platoons of the Imperial Corps) with the Tantalus Device, which is the one action that solidified Spock's hold on power.

Saavik is different in this book than we knew her; when hit with an agonizer, she fantasizes about killing the one using on her, and the thought makes her happy.

Spock takes the throne with the best of intentions; however, within a little more than a decade, he's become the very thing he tried to destroy: a genocidal tyrant. A monster worse than Hitler or Stalin.

The one and only Trill symbiont to survive him is Dax. CURZON Dax reminds Spock of another Earth tyrant who was eventually assassinated for his actions, then asks Spock why Spock chose to keep Dax alive.

"Your life is the whisper in my ear."

He tells Marlena what he's done, and she asks him why. His answer is this:

"To remind me of what I have become."

Enjoy. ;-)

After returning from a mirror universe, where Earth and Starfleet is ruled by a peaceful democracy, Spock makes a decision to change his universe. Formulating a plan, along with the help of Kirk's former consort and a secret weapon, Spock wants to overthrow the current tyrannical Empire and pave the way for democracy.

The story of Spock's rise to power is told over the course of almost 30 years. The mirror universe Spock is similar to the original in that he is just as logical and brilliant, plotting out a seemingly-impossible dream that won't come to fruition until years later. But this Spock is also brutal, willing to kill to justify a free society for future generations. For him, the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or one" and plenty suffer for his ideals. Unfortunately, he seems to feel little remorse for all of the atrocities that are done in his name. He literally becomes the thing he hates most. It's certainly an interesting take on a parallel Spock -one we barely have a glimpse of in the original series show.

Mack has done a wonderful job of showing us an expanded Mirror Universe, where Starfleet is a harsh and feared military regime and Earth is governed by a cruel Empress. It's a gripping story, full of suspense, danger and intrigue. A surprisingly quick read, I finished it all in one afternoon. You may not agree with everything that Spock does, but it will certainly make you think about how he rationalizes that the ends justify the means. Is he a brave idealist? Or a single-minded murderer that should have found a less costly way of paving the way for freedom? The challenge that is set forth is certainly compelling.

Back when I was a teen, I greedily devoured the fiction that was generated by the original Star Trek television series. It didn't matter if they were good or bad, I was still smitten by them, and it helped to breach that wide gap between when the original series aired, and when the franchise was revived in the 1980's. Looking back, I can see that most of them were pretty bad. But every now and then, a gem sneaks on through.

One of my favourite episodes in the original series was Mirror, Mirror written by Jerome Bixby, which explored an alternate universe where the Federation never came to be, replaced instead by a brutal Empire that uses torture and conquest to expand their rule. It's a savage place, and one where assassination of one's superior officer was the way to move up in the ranks of Starfleet.

Which is precisely what Spock is doing as the book opens. He's taking Kirk out by the simple, but very effective method of strangulation. Along with a cadre of loyal crewmen, he takes command of the Enterprise for himself, and starts on the long treacherous road towards changing the Empire towards the brief vision that he has had of the Federation. Along with the rank of captain, he also acquires the beautiful Marlena Moreau as his 'Captain's Woman' and the technology of the Tantalus Field.

With Marlena, Spock finds someone that he can trust, a very rare commodity in the Empire, and ever odder for him, a mate. In this place and time, it's a good match, with two very lonely isolated people finding in each other that they can be more than what they think they can be. But will it be enough to topple an empire and bring about lasting change?

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Author David Mack takes a throwaway statement from an episode of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and expands it into a believable, expansive story that covers several decades, and draws on characters from both the various series and the films. We get to see the alternate universe's Carol Marcus and her son David, Saavik, Spock's parents -- who are very different in this universe -- many of the major and minor crew members of the Enterprise. What I found interesting about it all was that I could easily believe these characters and why they were doing what they were doing -- you might not care at all about their schemes and plotting, but it all made sense as to the why.

The hardest thing about the novel, well two, but I'll get to the other in a moment, is that it's really not a very coherent one. Each chapter is just a few pages long, and the point-of-view jumps from character to character, often quite suddenly, and often there will be years between what happens in each one, but all in all, it made a very satisfying arc from beginning to end.

What really got to me, was that while you darn well suspect what is going to happen by the end, and what this alternate Spock is forced to become to meet his grand dream of change, you also feel very very sympathetic for him. Even if he is someone who will murder, torture and sacrifice entire ships to the overall goal. He's not at all the civilized Spock that most of us grew up with, this is a man of great appetites and ambitions, and he's also damn ruthless, even when it comes to his family. But I think that's part of the appeal of this character to me -- I've always felt that the most fascinating people in literature are those heroes with the dark streak to them, and seeing if they will or will not succumb to the demon within.

I also had a dark chuckle at what Mack creates as to the real reason why the Klingon moon of Praxis blew up. I was rather more disappointed with the chapter that had Saavik in Starfleet Academy, as it's pretty much like any other military story about initiation into military life -- been there, done that, thank you.

While some purists may get upset at this universe and its inhabitants, I still found this to be quite a read. Sensitive readers may want to skip this one as there are quite a few scenes of sex and bloodletting here, and not at all for the squeamish in spots. I hope that Mr. Mack will continue on this line of writing -- it will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Four stars overall, recommended.

David Mack's story, "Star Trek Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire" was included in another Star Trek Mirror Universe anthology. When the incidents that took place in the Classic Episode, "Mirror, Mirror" occurred, it appeared that the Alternate Mr. Spock accepted the advice from the Captain Kirk of this universe. When the Alternate Captain Kirk returned to the I.S.S. Enterprise, the Alternate Spock took care of him according to the rules of the Terran Empire. I don't want to give away too many spoilers if the people reading this review has not yet read this novel. I can say, you will NOT be disappointed! I wasn't!!

I've read all the orignal series novels and this is best ever. I took the book to Cancun with me and was upsetting my wife because I couldn't put it down. Interesting from start to finish.

this book begains right where mirror, mirror ended. it coinsides with the the other mirror universe shows as well.
every question ever asked about how the empire fell, or how spock; as great as he is, could of destroyed the empire. this book was very well writen, and has all your favorite charectors from the mirror, mirror to star trek 6. this is diffently a must read.