TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by rfmcdpei, Feb 10, 2013.

?

Rate Dark Mirror.

  1. Outstanding

    25 vote(s)
    47.2%
  2. Above Average

    21 vote(s)
    39.6%
  3. Average

    5 vote(s)
    9.4%
  4. Below Average

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Poor

    2 vote(s)
    3.8%
  1. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Now that there're two review threads, which of the two polls counts overall?
     
  2. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Ooops, I didn't realize that. I honestly didn't even think to search for a review thread for this one.
     
  3. trampledamage

    trampledamage Clone Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Location:
    hitching a ride to Erebor
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Unfortunately, while I could merge the thread- you can't merge polls, so one would be lost.
     
  4. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    One does not simply merge polls.

    Into Mordor.
     
  5. E-DUB

    E-DUB Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2011
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Is that like "Don't cross the streams."?
     
  6. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    I don't mind losing this poll if the other one has more votes.
     
  7. trampledamage

    trampledamage Clone Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Location:
    hitching a ride to Erebor
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Very generous of you JD I'll look into sorting it out this evening.
     
  8. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2001
    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    I read the first part of this as a teenager a couple of times. I never finished it but would to like to revisit it. I'd enjoy an old fashioned TNG novel' right about now.
     
  9. trampledamage

    trampledamage Clone Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Location:
    hitching a ride to Erebor
    Re: TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane Review Thread (Spoliers)

    Okay, so a day later than I said I would, but the threads are now merged. It's the original poll at the top of the thread, so if you voted in JD's thread but not the first one could you re-do your vote?

    thanks!
     
  10. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    It's been slow going, but I finally finished this last night. I read this alongside a bunch of other stuff, and went days or weeks without reading a single page, so it took at least a couple months. It was worth it though, this was a great read. I've actually owned it since it was originally published, but it got shoved around and forgotten about until recently, but it was worth the wait.

    My review:
    I really enjoyed this one. It's a fun TV series era adventure. The only real issue with it is the fact that it is inconsistent with the version of the MU that we got in the DS9 and the recent novel series, but this is not it's fault since it was written before DS9 had even aired. But that aside this is a great TNG novel. The MU versions of the characters were good villains, with the standout being Troi, who is just plain evil. Duane also did a great job capturing the mid-series era feel of the TV series. I could easily have seen this as episode of the series.
    I voted outstanding.
     
  11. DS9forever

    DS9forever Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Wasn't Dark Mirror published a year after DS9 began?
     
  12. Tarheel

    Tarheel Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2014
    You are correct, but the hardcover was released in December 1993, still 5 months before the DS9 episode "Crossover" revisited the mirror universe.
     
  13. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    It could still be in-continuity with the current novelverse. Q & A confirmed there is more than one mirror universe. In one of these, the Terran Empire is still active in the 24th century.
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    The continuity issues with Dark Mirror apply to the Federation timeline as well. For instance, in the novel, the events of "Mirror, Mirror" are classified and need-to-know only, but in "Crossover," Bashir says he learned about them at the Academy. Also, DM says that the laws of physics would cause devastation on a galactic scale if any large amount of matter from one timeline stays too long in another, which is inconsistent with "In a Mirror, Darkly" vis-a-vis the Defiant, as well as the 2009 movie vis-a-vis the Narada, and probably a few other things as well (including my interpretation in Forgotten History of the origins of Miri's Earth).
     
  15. Enterprise1701

    Enterprise1701 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2014
    Location:
    Sol III, Sector 001, 2063 C.E.
    DS9: Fearful Symmetry and TNG: Q & A have cameos by alternate iterations of the mirror universe where the Terran Empire survived into 2377 and 2380, respectively. Given what MU: The Sorrows of Empire established about interstellar militaries and politics in the late 23rd century, I wonder how the aforementioned cameo realities could have come about. I conjecture that it would make for an interesting media project like the Abramsverse, but with the sheer amount of cruelty and killing that the Terran Empire entails, how could it live up to Gene Roddenberry's legacy?
     
  16. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    Easy. Only the heroes need to be examples of virtue fighting against the evil empire, e.g. exchange the crew but keep the cool mirror styles (Excelsior: Shattered Universe), have them survive against the mighty empire and feature trigger-happy but ultimately honorable Klingon warriors you earn as allies (cf. ENT "The Andorian Incident", Vulcan-Andorian arc) and overthrow/reform the evil Terran Empire in the third movie (cf. Star Wars, Rise Like Lions). Voilá.
     
  17. cbspock

    cbspock Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2001
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    It is a shame we never got a mirror mirror episode on TNG. I really like this book and the audio version is enjoyable to listen to as well.


    -Chris
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Jerome Bixby, author of "Mirror, Mirror," pitched a sequel to TNG, but they didn't go for it. I believe it was called "Broken Mirror." I wonder what his approach would've been. (I know about it because it was mentioned in Starlog, but I don't recall if the article went into detail on the story.)
     
  19. cbspock

    cbspock Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2001
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Any idea what Broken Mirror would have been about?


    -Chris
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    As I said, all I remember is the fact that it was pitched and what it was called.

    This older TrekBBS thread says that it would've brought back a TOS cast member, which was something the producers didn't want to do at that time.