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

[trekshark]

It's probably been 20 years since I read it but I remember liking it.
I always kind of hated that DS9 destroyed the terran empire
I realize Kirk's dialog to Spock set it in motion but I still don't like it

 

[Markonian]

It's probably been 20 years since I read it but I remember liking it.
I always kind of hated that DS9 destroyed the Terran Empire.
I realize Kirk's dialog to Spock set it in motion but I still don't like it.

There are many permutations of the mirror universe, at least two with a living, breathing Terran Empire. They even retain the cool yellow hull markings! (TNG novel: Q & A; Star Trek Online)

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ IIRC, one of the Sisko Emissaries in Fearful Symmetry was from a universe where the Terran Empire never fell, too. (Could be the same one as either the Dark Mirror or Q & A version, of course...)

 

[rfmcdpei]

yeah regardless of the outdated assumption - the underlying idea is fairly simple - that with current technology, the Empire is as big as it is going to get because of the practice problem of speed and distance.

Yeah, but in a different way -- in terms of running out of new places to go, rather than becoming so spread out that they couldn't control what they had. Basically, they'd nearly used up everything in their own territory, and they were running out of new places to replenish it from.

That existed alongside the belief that the Empire's forces were becoming too spread out to be able to enforce Imperial rule throughout. The two factors were both ones Picard was thinking of.

 

[tomswift2002]

^ IIRC, one of the Sisko Emissaries in Fearful Symmetry was from a universe where the Terran Empire never fell, too. (Could be the same one as either the Dark Mirror or Q & A version, of course...)

In Q & A we do know that Will Riker doesn't make it to 2380, as Lore assassinates Riker (I forget the reason for Data not appearing in "Dark Mirror", but if Soong did not exist or did not create androids in the DM MU, then Q & A's Terran Empire is from a completely different MU).

 

[Gaith]

Apologies for the bump...

I'm not a TrekLit guy - after the Shatnerverse Mirror Trilogy, this is the first Trek book I've read in at least a decade. But, it's been challenging me from the Screen Junkies set for a while now, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Fine, fine, I see you; heading to the library now...​

First thing: it's too damn long. The first third is mostly dry astrobabble setting up the cross-universe mechanism by way of mysterious natural interstellar strings, which, zzzzzz. It also spends a lot of time on a sentient dolphin character, who floats around on a levitating field of water, with robotic hands. What does this have to do with the Mirror Universe? Not much.

When the plot finally starts up, it's a slow burn even then. Only Picard, Troi, and Geordi actually interact with the Mirror crew, and then mostly separately. Indeed, dolphin character aside, the entirety of the action could easily have been an episode (probably a two-parter, but possibly a single one, with enough trims), leading me to wonder if author Duane (who co-wrote TNG 1x6, "Where No One Has Gone Before") was trying to pitch it as such, but it was published too late for that - maybe this was a re-use of a spec script? Anyhow, the story does eventually build up considerable tension, with the standout character being the terrifying and sexy Mirror Troi. And then things conclude with a lengthy starship chase, which, for unconvincing reasons, threatens to destroy either the Mirror or Prime galaxies. (The idea is that imported mass from another reality, if left around, will cause a cosmological apocalypse within a century or so, but it's hard to believe that there isn't enough natural cross-universe particle migration to have done that already - and the ENT ep "In a Mirror, Darkly" shreds that idea anyway.) The chase on its own would have been just fine without that extra element.

Conclusion: the latter middle half and climax make the whole thing worthwhile, but it could have stood to lose a good third of its volume in editing. And while I wouldn't call it mindless, there's really only one mirror character that the heroes make an effort to reach out to, and it's an interesting choice. That Mirror Troi, though...

B-

 

[WARLOCK1965]

Diane Duane's 1993 Dark Mirror is one of the select Trek novels to have its own Wikipedia article. That speaks to the high quality of this novel, the first to take a look at (a) Mirror Universe in the 24th century.

Dark Mirror is set largely in the mirror universe of the original series, where the benevolent Federation was a genocidal Earth-dominated empire and the personalities of the crew were twisted to match. Deep Space Nine took the mirror universe in a rather different direction from Dark Mirror, what with Earth by the 24th century being a conquered holding of the joint Cardassian-Klingon hegemony and all. In Dark Mirror, the empire is quite intact, thank you very much, having spared the Klingons to serve as warrior slaves (but as we learn in passing, having obliterated the Romulans and countless other unmentioned species). All of the crew of the Enterprise-D save Data (Soong died in a purge) have their counterparts on the I.S.S. Enterprise, and yes, they are very twisted, as our Picard discovers to his horror when he reads this ship's record (the destruction of an alien lifeform menacing Farpoint Station, the prejudicial terraformation of the Ferengi homeworld, the sterilization of Ligon II's secondary continent in response to an attempted hostaged-taking, et cetera). Oh, and the Empire is looking to our universe as ground for conquest, and has abducted the Enterprise-D.

Dark Mirror depends on a single twist for much of its effectiveness: What would the characters we know from ST:TNG be like if they were evil? It's proof of her genius that Duane makes the evil be the product of some of their good versions' personal aspirations. Does Deanna Troi wish she had stronger telepathic powers? She does here; what she does with them, now ... Do fans wish that Crusher and Picard had a relationship? They do here; what happened to Jack, though ... Are Deanna and Riker together? Yes, and they're horrible together and to each other. Is Geordi a powerful figure commanding respect? Yes, and he's a monster. Probably the most compelling of Duane's alternate-universe characters is the amiable monster Picard, the Worf who quietly maintains as much dignity as he can in trying circumstances, and the Security Officer Deanna Troi whose inquisitive steely viciousness prefigures Deanna's televised appearance as an undercover Tal Shi'ar officer. (I read somewhere that Duane received multiple requests from fans asking for pictures of her mirror universe version of Deanna.) Duane's original character on our side, the dolphinoid scientist Hwiii, did work for me, although friends have told me otherwise.

The broader plot, depicting the skill and bravery of the Enterprise-D's crewmembers as they infiltrate their Imperial counterpart and foil their dastardly plans, is equally entertaining. Somewhat surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the technobabble: the depiction of the multiverse as a sheaf of universes moving at varying speeds in relation to each other, some easier to reach than others, sounds plausible, while mining the idea of cosmic strings likewise worked for me.

Dark Mirror doesn't fit in with televised canon on the Mirror Universe--the Terran Empire that was crushed by the Klingon-Cardassian alliance thrived here--while the physics of interuniversal transfer and the consequences likewise differ. More subtly, knowledge of the Mirror Universe is much more widely known in the televised canon than in Dark Mirror, where knowledge of the Mirror Universe has been strictly classified for a combination of strategic and ethical reasons. That still doesn't mean Dark Mirror mightn't be wedged in. There's a very large number of universes out there, after all, including multiple iterations of the Mirror Universe, while the specific mechanics of interuniversal transfer chosen by this universe could well be much more traumatic. Even if it isn't, Dark Mirror still stands as a very good novel written by a talented novelist at the height of her powers.

(I saw a 2009 thread talking about Dark Mirror, but no ratings thread. I thought it was about time.)

It can tie the Kirk comic book were the empire is still there and the mirror counterparts cross over Kirk mirror can get revenge on Kirk prime and the U.S.S. Excelsior is used in the mirror were the I.S.S. Excelsior was having trouble working and with Kirk prime going to the mirror universe with it the I.S.S. Excelsior get into working order. And the Two Excelsior face off . And in the end the mirror Kirk and company are in a shuttlecraft and are killed off by the I.S.S. Nixon. They are many possibilities unverses and some of the other unverses could have the main characters of the story to be of different backgrounds or different sexs too. With all of the possibilities out there and then add in unverses being at different speeds. It would overwhelm anyone who tries to fit all together.

 

[Jinn]

It can tie the Kirk comic book were the empire is still there and the mirror counterparts cross over Kirk mirror can get revenge on Kirk prime and the U.S.S. Excelsior is used in the mirror were the I.S.S. Excelsior was having trouble working and with Kirk prime going to the mirror universe with it the I.S.S. Excelsior get into working order. And the Two Excelsior face off . And in the end the mirror Kirk and company are in a shuttlecraft and are killed off by the I.S.S. Nixon. They are many possibilities unverses and some of the other unverses could have the main characters of the story to be of different backgrounds or different sexs too. With all of the possibilities out there and then add in unverses being at different speeds. It would overwhelm anyone who tries to fit all together.

What was the name of the comic?

 

[WARLOCK1965]

What was the name of the comic?

If I remember it was the Mirror Saga by DC or Marvel Comics I came across if in 1990's

 

[Jinn]

If I remember it was the Mirror Saga by DC or Marvel Comics I came across if in 1990's

Thanks I'll look that up.

 

[WARLOCK1965]

Thanks I'll look that up.

IN 1991 the Mirror Universe Saga by DC Comics it was from DC Comics 1984 9-16

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Funny... of all the fanmade Star Trek ships out there, it doesn't seem as though anyone ever did art of the Dark Mirror E-D, beyond someone taking an AGT E-Dreadnought and coloring it grey. (I believe the configuration is different, and I remember the saucer section being described as thicker and possibly curved differently as well.) That's too bad.

 

[WARLOCK1965]

Funny... of all the fanmade Star Trek ships out there, it doesn't seem as though anyone ever did art of the Dark Mirror E-D, beyond someone taking an AGT E-Dreadnought and coloring it grey. (I believe the configuration is different, and I remember the saucer section being described as thicker and possibly curved differently as well.) That's too bad.

True one would think that the mirror universe ships could have more firepower and others might be more peaceful and have less firepower

 

[Doom Shepherd]

True one would think that the mirror universe ships could have more firepower and others might be more peaceful and have less firepower

I'd just like to have an image as a visual aid for my multiverse campaign. Just a Grey E-D isn't threatening enough. I want my players' to Oh, Crap! when they see it.

 

[WARLOCK1965]

I'd just like to have an image as a visual aid for my multiverse campaign. Just a Grey E-D isn't threatening enough. I want my players' to Oh, Crap! when they see it.

OK for the more dangerous how if the E-D had phaser rings and ball phasers mounts and photon torpedoes for all directions. And those of peaceful wouldn't have that much firepower

 

[David cgc]

Funny... of all the fanmade Star Trek ships out there, it doesn't seem as though anyone ever did art of the Dark Mirror E-D, beyond someone taking an AGT E-Dreadnought and coloring it grey. (I believe the configuration is different, and I remember the saucer section being described as thicker and possibly curved differently as well.) That's too bad.

I feel like I saw someone draw up one at one point. If I did, it would've been here, in all likelihood...

I'm not sure this is what I was thinking of, but the silhouette is similar to what I was remembering, if the actual drawing isn't.