Mirror Universe Chronology Question

[BritishSeaPower]

Hey there. So I did a quick search of the forum and really didn't find an answer. Or at least, not a satisfying one.

As some of you may recall, I've been working my way through the TNG movie-era novels and the DS9-R. It just so happens that I've come to a good "break" point in that reading order, I just finished the A Time To... novels and the Worlds of DS9 books, so I figured I'd dip my toe into the Mirror Universe books, and read all the way up through the DS9R Mirror Universe Trilogy. Anyway, I got it in my head to read through the MU stuff in chronological order. I know it's pretty self explanatory, but I wanted to make sure I'm doing it "right". I know that's subjective, but hear me out. Since there's so few episodes, I also thought it would be fun to watch the episodes with the books. Here's my attempt at a chronology and I want to see if I can get a yay/nay from the lot of you before pursuing it. It wasn't as obvious about where to put some of the Stories around the DS9 eps. Thanks for you help, folks!

ENT/TOS ERA MIRROR U
A Mirror Darkly Pts. 1 & 2
Age of the Empress
"Nobunga"
"Ill Winds"
"The Greater Good"
Mirror, Mirror
The Sorrow of Empire (Full Novel)
"The Black Flag"

TNG/DS9/VOY ERA MIRROR U
"The Traitor"
"Freedom Angst" (From Seven Deadly Sins)
Crossover
Through the Looking Glass
The Worst of Both Worlds
"The Sacred Chalice"
The Mirror-Scaled Serpent
"Bitter Fruit"
Shattered Mirror
"Family Matters"
Cutting Ties
"Homecoming"
Resurrection (I know, I know...)
The Emperor's New Cloak
Saturn's Children
"A Terrible Beauty"
"Empathy"
"For Want of Nail"
Warpath, Fearful Symmetry, Soul Key
Rise Like Lions

Does NF: Turnaround really fit in or does it just take place in *a* MU?
I know it doesn't quite work but I was thinking of putting that Tim Russ-penned DS9 comic that takes place in the MU in here as well.

[David Mack]

^ That looks pretty solid, as far as I can tell.

And I was not able to incorporate the events of Turnaround intothe backstory of Rise Like Lions, so that comic miniseries is not in sync with the TrekLit MU continuity.

[Christopher]

There are also some continuity issues with "Freedom Angst" that I discovered when I read it as part of a rewatch/reread of the whole MU saga prior to reading Rise Like Lions. It's hard to reconcile its portrayal of Ben and Jennifer Sisko's backstory and relationship with how they were portrayed in the onscreen episodes, and the stated time frame of 2369 contradicts Jennifer's statement in "Through the Looking Glass" (from 2371) that she hadn't seen her husband in five years. I think there's also a discrepancy between "Freedom Angst" and some later work in the MU series where Janel Tigan's fate is concerned. So maybe "Freedom Angst" is one of those Mirror Universe stories that takes place in a different version of the MU than the rest of the above listed stories (or even the episodes) do.

[ryan123450]

David Mack wrote:

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^ That looks pretty solid, as far as I can tell.

And I was not able to incorporate the events of Turnaround intothe backstory of Rise Like Lions, so that comic miniseries is not in sync with the TrekLit MU continuity.

Wasn't your issue there one of the timing of events and not the events themselves?

[BritishSeaPower]

Awesome. Thank you David and Chris. I thought it was fairly straightforward, but you never know when someone might have a better sense of it. I'll probably still give Freedom Angst a read through even if it's a little fast and loose.

[Christopher]

Sure, I'm not saying "Freedom Angst" isn't worth reading. After all, there are a lot of different MU interpretations in prose and comics that don't fit with each other but are still entertaining, like Dark Mirror, Dark Passions, DC Comics' Mirror Universe Saga, Marvel's Mirror, Mirror one-shot, and IDW's Mirror Images. But I think it might make the experience a little smoother if you read it separately from the main MU prose continuity.

[David Mack]

ryan123450 wrote:

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Wasn't your issue there one of the timing of events and not the events themselves?

It was a bit of both.

[tomswift2002]

Not to mention that Shatner's Mirror Universe trilogy was also very good, and it is set during DS9's run (I think "dark Victory" even mentions that the E-E just returned from the Briar Patch), but it involves an alternat Mirror Universe.

[chris_masters5]

Hi BritishSeaPower, I'm doing a similar thing - at the moment I'm up to Krad's Klingon Empire book.

As for the mirror universe stuff: Just for a completist point of view you could also watch TOS: 'The Tholian Web' before ENT: 'In a Mirror Darkly' to get the backstory of the Defiant. Also Stargazer: 'Three' features Gerda Idun Asmund (from the mirror universe) who is in 'The Traitor' (chronologically 'Three' occurs a few years before 'The Traitor', just after 'The Sorrows of Empire'). Talking about 'The Sorrows of Empire'; if I'm right in thinking 'The Black Flag' is placed half way through the story and can be read inbetween pages 162/163. David Mack might be able to clarify this though.

[JD]

I thought I read somewhere that Three wasn't consistent with the later MU stuff?

[BritishSeaPower]

Thanks Chris_Masters! I'm not a completist per se, just figured it would be to be as chronological as possible. I actually purposefully avoided watching Tholian Web because that's immaterial to the MU. They don't know about that, so I won't! It's kind of fun in that way. I actually just watched IAMD and started in on Age of the Empress.

While I thank you for the chronological placement of "The Black Flag," I'm not really the type to cut from story to story.

As JD said, I didn't include Three because I've been told it's largely inconsistent.

[chris_masters5]

BritishSeaPower wrote:

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I'm not really the type to cut from story to story

I wouldn't normally either - but I remember reading somewhere that 'The Sorrows of Empire' refers to 'The Black Flag' before and after the event takes place. I haven't read it yet; could someone who has, explain if it's worth reading 'The Black Flag' in the middle or would it be better for the flow of 'The Sorrows of Empire' to read it after?

[Christopher]

I think I did read "The Black Flag" in chronological order within TSoE when I did my read/watch-through, and I felt it slotted in fairly well as an "extra chapter." But YMMV.

[Sci]

chris_masters5 wrote:

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I wouldn't normally either - but I remember reading somewhere that 'The Sorrows of Empire' refers to 'The Black Flag' before and after the event takes place. I haven't read it yet; could someone who has, explain if it's worth reading 'The Black Flag' in the middle or would it be better for the flow of 'The Sorrows of Empire' to read it after?

I would advise you to read The Sorrows of Empire by itself, and then to read "The Black Flag" afterwards.

[ryan123450]

While I would think it would be interesting to try it in the middle.