Mirror Universe books

[garoo1980]

I haven't read any of these but as the Typhon Pact books still aren't out I'm having to try some other forms of ST to get my fix.

I remember the TOS episode Mirror Mirror really well and I'm aware of the DS9 episode although I've not seen it. Can I just dive into these books anywhere and be ok or should I start at the beginning?

 

[Christopher]

I remember the TOS episode Mirror Mirror really well and I'm aware of the DS9 episode although I've not seen it. Can I just dive into these books anywhere and be ok or should I start at the beginning?

Most of the MU stuff is pretty standalone, although it would be a good idea to read The Sorrows of Empire before you get to the Shards and Shadows anthology (or Rise Like Lions, the January 2012 book that will wrap up the arc).

Also note that there are various different Mirror Universe continuities in the books. The big current one consists of the three anthologies and Sorrows (and Lions eventually), all of which have Mirror Universe on the cover at part of the title. There's also Dark Mirror, a pre-DS9 MU novel assuming the Terran Empire survived into the 24th century; the Dark Passions duology, which is a different, incompatible take on the MU before the DS9 episodes; and a trilogy of William Shatner novels that deals with yet another alternative version of the MU.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Dark Mirror was great fun. It's standalone, and (as Christopher said) postulates that the Terran Empire survived to the 24th century and pits the Enterprise-D against...the Enterprise-D. Dum dum duuummm!

Invasion plots, body-swapping spy missions, fillings - what more do you need?

I suggest you don't read the Dark Passions duology. IMO it sucked.

 

[JD]

Since most of the characters in the non DS9 or TOS MU stories never appeared on screen, I think you'd be ok. Just keep in mind that the TOS and DS9 stories do build off of the episodes.

 

[Thrawn]

Honestly, I'd get Shards & Shadows as well as the other collections at the same time, and I'd read everything in chronological order, switching between the novels and short stories. (Including pausing the expanded Sorrows Of Empire to read the Vanguard story in the middle where it fits, but not including the novella version of Sorrows. The expanded replaces it). I think that would be the way to get the most out of it.

 

[JD]

You know that's a good idea, I might have to do that when I go back to reread the MU stuff.

 

[srs1701]

Honestly, I'd get Shards & Shadows as well as the other collections at the same time, and I'd read everything in chronological order, switching between the novels and short stories. (Including pausing the expanded Sorrows Of Empire to read the Vanguard story in the middle where it fits, but not including the novella version of Sorrows. The expanded replaces it). I think that would be the way to get the most out of it.

That's exactly what I started doing recently. I'm up to about 2375 having read all the MU stories up to that point in chronological order. There are definitely some stories in there that aren't exactly pivotal to the ongoing development of the MU, but if one is just looking for some interesting reads, they fit the bill.

On a related note, did anyone else notice that...

Spoiler: Click for OA and SaS Spoilers

Selar was seemingly captured and killed alongside that Tellarite during the mission with Vash in "The Worst of Both Worlds" but showed up alive and in deep cover with the Romulans with no explanation in "Homecoming?"

Hooboy, hope I didn't just butcher those spoiler tags. Long-time lurker, first time poster, yada yada yada.

 

[Thrawn]

^ I think those two stories were handled by different editors, and that kind of mistake is hardly unprecedented.

It is pretty funny, though.

 

[Greg Cox]

^ I think those two stories were handled by different editors, and that kind of mistake is hardly unprecedented.

It is pretty funny, though.

Clearly one of the two

Spoiler

was an imposter!

 

[Trent Roman]

On a related note, did anyone else notice that...

Spoiler: Click for OA and SaS Spoilers

Selar was seemingly captured and killed alongside that Tellarite during the mission with Vash in "The Worst of Both Worlds" but showed up alive and in deep cover with the Romulans with no explanation in "Homecoming?"

I had the same thought, so I checked my copy of Worst of Both Worlds...

Spoiler: MU Spoilers

Selar is injured, stunned, and captured, but never killed 'on-page'--which leaves room for her to escape or be rescued, particularly as I believe the two stories are several years apart.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[captcalhoun]

yes, they are.

 

[srs1701]

^ I think those two stories were handled by different editors, and that kind of mistake is hardly unprecedented.

It is pretty funny, though.

Definitely not unprecendented and completely understandable given the nature of the business. It is unfortunate though that, three volumes into the first concerted effort to create a cohesive, continuous MU in the expanded universe, and we've already got a contradiction like that.

I'm the kind of person, and I know there are plenty here who don't think like this, that likes to see "fixes" in the literature. Maybe we'll see a "no-prize" type explanation down the road. As Trent pointed out, there's some wiggle room to make it happen. I wouldn't mind reading that story, I think.

 

[Unicron]

You might also enjoy DC's Mirror Universe Saga comic, which is currently being reprinted by IDW in the "Best of Alternate Universes" trade paperback. It was originally published as part of DC's comic run and was intended to be a sequel to "Mirror, Mirror."

 

[neogothboy74]

I remember TOS episode Mirror Mirror really well and I'm aware of the DS9 episode although I've not seen it.

There are actually 5 DS9 Mirror Universe episodes. There are also 2 Enterprise Mirror Universe episodes.

Dark Mirror was great fun.

I suggest you don't read the Dark Passions duology. IMO it sucked.

I had the opposite reaction. I thought Dark Mirror was crap but enjoyed Dark Passions, though I felt the story was too short and should have been 1 book instead of two - I actually prefer the stuff there to the Voyager installment by KRAD (which is unusual for me as he's usually a favorite of mine).

I did love "The Sorrows of Empire" though and I'm really looking forward to the followup novel.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I thought Dark Mirror was crap

I loved it, probably helped that Sydney fandom's resident Marina Sirtis lookalike was way too similar to the dark mirror version of Troi from that novel. Hilarious stuff as my club went through its own political upheavals at the time.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

I liked it quite a bit as well. But I also liked Dark Passions at least a little.

 

[Janos]

Since the DS9 relaunch thread has become a potpourri ST thread, I thought I'd respond to a MU (non-DS9 arc) comment in this thread which seems to be a MU thread. Hope that is ok.

However, it is fair to say that Dark Mirror is inconsistent with the canon established on DS9 TV and, I believe, the MU that is most (if not always) used in ST lit is the MU that builds on the TOS/DS9 version.

Well, Dark Mirror came out years before DS9, so it might be more accurate to say that the DS9 version of the Mirror Universe was inconsistent with it.

I used to feel that way, but on another forum several years ago I was chided about "canon" and that whether it came first or not, "canon" is determined by the TV/movie stuff.

And yes, the MU books that have come out after DS9 have been consistent with its version of the MU, because naturally all tie-ins are obligated to follow the lead of screen canon. The tie-ins aren't necessarily consistent with each other, but they're all consistent with the shows. For instance, the Dark Passions MU, the more recent Pocket MU, and the MU seen in IDW's Mirror Images miniseries are all consistent with the show but incompatible with each other.

I'd have to reread Dark Passions. I really enjoyed them as they were quite fun. Too bad they aren't consistent with the new MU narrative in DS9 relaunch and beyond (I'm not there yet in my DS9 reading though).

Mirror Images was fun too. Do others around here get the ST comics from IDW? Anyone else read Mirror Images?

 

[JD]

I read the first issue and thought it was pretty good, but I never got a chance to pick up the rest. It is one of the miniseries I plan on finishing up on my PSP, though.

 

[F. King Daniel]

All I remember about Dark Passions was Indendant Kira leading Seven around, near naked, on a leash.

...there's a sentence I didn't think I'd see (much less write) outside of weird fanfic forums.

I thought that duology was awful.

 

[Christopher]

^Well, I've found that when people focus on the lurid/sexual portions of Dark Passions, it gives the impression that it's a lot more explicit than it actually is. Aside from references to or implications of nudity, the duology doesn't really get any more graphic than you could get on TV. There's a lot of implied sex going on, but it's off-camera. I doubt most slash fanfic would be so discreet.