Genres
Publication
New York : Pocket Books, c1993.
Description
One hundred years ago, four crewmembers of the "U.S.S EnterpriseTM crossed the dimensional barrier and found a mirror image of their own universe, populated by nightmare duplicates of their shipmates. Barely able to escape with their lives, they returned, thankful that the accident which had brought them there could not be duplicated, or so they thought. But now the scientists of that empire have found a doorway into our universe. Their plan is to destroy from within, to replace a Federation Starships with one of their own. Their victims are the crew of the "U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, who now find themselves engaged in combat against the most savage enemies they have ever encountered, themselves.
User reviews
LibraryThing member nillacat
Not awful, but derivative and somewhat mechanical in style. Diane Duane has written some terrific Star Trek novels (Spock's World, The Romulan Way) but this isn't one of them.
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
Another novel I ganked out of that lot from last March. I already owned it in paperback, but it never hurts to read a book twice-- especially when it's by Diane Duane. This might just be my favorite prose rendition of Star Trek's "mirror universe". Duane's worldbuilding skills make the realm
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actually seem like a real, (dis)functioning place, not just a vehicle for lesbian kissing, goatees, gratuitous violence, and comedy: most of the mirror counterparts of the tNG crew are twisted, genuinely frightening individuals, all the more so for how similar they are to our heroes in some ways, especially the counterparts of Picard and Troi. Plus Duane throws in opera, (seemingly) plausible science, and a dolphin scientist straight out of Deep Wizardry. What's not to like? The over-technobabbly conclusion, but that's about it. It's a shame that the TV show strayed so far from the original mirror universe premise, because I much prefer the approach taken here and in "Mirror, Mirror". Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnFair
The uniquenessof Diane Duane's take on the characters from the TNG franchise is not as great as with her TOS stories but this story plays on another interesting episode from the original series; the Imperial Earth altHist universe.
The USS Enterprise is dragged into the universe belonging to the
I loved the way the characteristics of the bridge crew had been twisted, not beyond recognitiion, but just out of our version of true and the way it followed on in a fairly logical way from from the TOS episode. This alternative universe has become a favourite with the Star Trek producers as well, with DSN and Enterprise having stories set in the same background as well.
The USS Enterprise is dragged into the universe belonging to the
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ISS Enterprise where they find that their alternatives have come up with a deadly plan to take over the USS Enterprise and use her as a cuckoo in order to act as the spearhead of an invasion of a whole new universe.I loved the way the characteristics of the bridge crew had been twisted, not beyond recognitiion, but just out of our version of true and the way it followed on in a fairly logical way from from the TOS episode. This alternative universe has become a favourite with the Star Trek producers as well, with DSN and Enterprise having stories set in the same background as well.
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LibraryThing member jeremiah85
I have read this novel several times and I have enjoyed it every time. It captures the uncanny valley feeling of the Mirror Universe in a believable way and the characters react to their mirror universe counterparts in believable ways. Overall I think this is my favorite portrayal of the Mirror
The Good:
The Bad:
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Universe event including canon appearances in the various series.The Good:
- Characterization is well done
- Plot pacing is very good with the stakes becoming more urgent as the characters learn what brought them to the Mirror Universe
- The author takes advantage of the inherent creepiness of a universe that is both very similar to our own and yest very different
- The Mirror Universe characters behave in believable ways instead of acting as caricatures of the main cast
- In my opinion the technobabble was kept plausible and didn't come of like a random selection of technical terms
- The dolphin-like character had some really good interactions with Geordi LaForge
The Bad:
- The dolphin-like character feels somewhat out of place and I'm honestly not sure why. Might be because he is part of the beginning and plays almost no part until the very end
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LibraryThing member MickyFine
While on a mission at the edges of inhabited space for the project of a researcher named Hwii (a member of a dolphin-like species who are particularly attuned to navigation in space), the Enterprise and its crew are inexplicably pulled into an alternate universe. When they discover the doppelganger
A novel I read multiple times as a tween as I was transitioning from the children's section to the adult collection at the library. I was delighted when I found it in a secondhand shop (on Maui of all places) and was pleased that it holds up to a reread. While Diane Duane's prose doesn't sparkle quite as much as some of my other favourite TNG novels, she crafts a compelling tale set in an alternate universe established in the original series. The last section of the novel in particular is very intense on the action front and makes for fun reading. Recommended for fans of the series.
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of one of their crew members trying to access sensitive information, they realize they have been intentionally brought to this place. And getting home will require facing the darkest side of themselves. Literally.A novel I read multiple times as a tween as I was transitioning from the children's section to the adult collection at the library. I was delighted when I found it in a secondhand shop (on Maui of all places) and was pleased that it holds up to a reread. While Diane Duane's prose doesn't sparkle quite as much as some of my other favourite TNG novels, she crafts a compelling tale set in an alternate universe established in the original series. The last section of the novel in particular is very intense on the action front and makes for fun reading. Recommended for fans of the series.
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LibraryThing member gothamajp
Like many Star Trek fans I find the concept of the alternate “Mirror Universe” fascinating and generally enjoy any story that gives us a glimpse of the darker reflections of our favorite characters.
Unfortunately this story recounting the first encounter between our Enterprise-D under the
I’m sure at the time of publication it was an interesting look into the psychology of the Enterprise crew, but it hasn’t aged while. We’ve had numerous visits to this universe in various TV episodes, novels, and comics since this story was first published in 1993 so that this take now seems somewhat superficial.
Unfortunately this story recounting the first encounter between our Enterprise-D under the
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command of Jean Luc Picard and their Imperial doppelgängers falls flat.I’m sure at the time of publication it was an interesting look into the psychology of the Enterprise crew, but it hasn’t aged while. We’ve had numerous visits to this universe in various TV episodes, novels, and comics since this story was first published in 1993 so that this take now seems somewhat superficial.
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LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
Diane Duane’s Star Trek: The Next Generation – Dark Mirror tells the first story of the Enterprise-D crew traveling to the Mirror Universe that first appeared in The Original Series episode “Mirror, Mirror.” The Enterprise, on an exploratory mission to a remote part of the galaxy in order
Ever a master of connecting to previous elements of Star Trek canon and trivia, Duane gives the reader their first explanation of Cetacean Ops through the character Commander Hwii. The Next Generation episodes “We’ll Always Have Paris,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “The Perfect Mate” from seasons 1, 3, and 5 all included references to Cetacean Ops while two Next Generation reference guides from the 1990s featured diagrams of the facilities, but they first appeared on-screen in the Lower Decks episode, “First First Contact.” Linking to the Mirror Universe, Captain Picard, Lt. Commander Data, Lt. Geordi La Forge, and Chief Miles O’Brien discuss the events that transpired for Kirk (pgs. 63-68). While they discuss Starfleet having classified these events, subsequent television appearances of the Mirror Universe would have similarly appeared in their files, specifically those from Star Trek: Discovery, which predate The Original Series. This novel also predates the Deep Space Nine episodes “Crossover” and “Through the Looking Glass,” which state that the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance overthrew the Terran Empire and worked to prevent crossover events. The continuity of the novel works in predating those episodes as Picard discovers that the Spock of this novel failed to change the Empire (pgs. 246-247). Finally, Duane’s discussion of how humanity spread outward and created the United Empire of Planets (pgs. 124-126, 179) differs from that which later appeared in the fourth season of Enterprise.
Interestingly, the idea of the Mirror Universe being darker, as the world attenuated during the shift of the Prime Universe Enterprise, foreshadows the concept introduced in Discovery that the Mirror Universe is not only darker in tone but literally not as brightly-lit as the Prime Universe. Similarly, Duane portrays Picard musing about a means of travel through dimensions that would seem to foreshadow the spore drive from Discovery. Finally, Duane links to the theme of a doomed empire from “Mirror, Mirror,” positioning another alien as the one who might bring about its transformative end (pg. 291). Though TNG never encountered the Mirror Universe on-screen, later comics from IDW portrayed a Mirror Universe version of The Next Generation as did William Shatner’s Mirror Universe trilogy of novels with each published work tells its own story without limiting itself to events from preceding novels and comics.
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to scan for particles that would reveal hyperstring structures, a subspace structure that could revolutionize galactic navigation and nicely builds on the then-recent superstring theory at the time Duane wrote. In the course of their work, the universe appears to attenuate. A mission specialist provides the first clue that they may no longer be in their own universe, but the sudden appearance of a döppelganger character provides further proof. Counselor Deanna Troi, Dr. Beverly Crusher, and Lt. Geordi La Forge realize that their alternate universe selves aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise-D managed to transport the Federation ship across the universal barrier. At Captain Picard’s direction, the Enterprise crew must infiltrate the alternate vessel to learn how they can return home before the universes are no longer in alignment. Picard himself must go to the alternate ship, where he impersonates his other and finds, to his amusement, that the Empire solved the issue of his tunic riding up (pg. 144). Duane builds on the psychologically disturbing nature of running into one’s evil döppelganger in a way that works far more effectively in a novel than in broadcast, crafting a story worthy of the TNG crew.Ever a master of connecting to previous elements of Star Trek canon and trivia, Duane gives the reader their first explanation of Cetacean Ops through the character Commander Hwii. The Next Generation episodes “We’ll Always Have Paris,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “The Perfect Mate” from seasons 1, 3, and 5 all included references to Cetacean Ops while two Next Generation reference guides from the 1990s featured diagrams of the facilities, but they first appeared on-screen in the Lower Decks episode, “First First Contact.” Linking to the Mirror Universe, Captain Picard, Lt. Commander Data, Lt. Geordi La Forge, and Chief Miles O’Brien discuss the events that transpired for Kirk (pgs. 63-68). While they discuss Starfleet having classified these events, subsequent television appearances of the Mirror Universe would have similarly appeared in their files, specifically those from Star Trek: Discovery, which predate The Original Series. This novel also predates the Deep Space Nine episodes “Crossover” and “Through the Looking Glass,” which state that the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance overthrew the Terran Empire and worked to prevent crossover events. The continuity of the novel works in predating those episodes as Picard discovers that the Spock of this novel failed to change the Empire (pgs. 246-247). Finally, Duane’s discussion of how humanity spread outward and created the United Empire of Planets (pgs. 124-126, 179) differs from that which later appeared in the fourth season of Enterprise.
Interestingly, the idea of the Mirror Universe being darker, as the world attenuated during the shift of the Prime Universe Enterprise, foreshadows the concept introduced in Discovery that the Mirror Universe is not only darker in tone but literally not as brightly-lit as the Prime Universe. Similarly, Duane portrays Picard musing about a means of travel through dimensions that would seem to foreshadow the spore drive from Discovery. Finally, Duane links to the theme of a doomed empire from “Mirror, Mirror,” positioning another alien as the one who might bring about its transformative end (pg. 291). Though TNG never encountered the Mirror Universe on-screen, later comics from IDW portrayed a Mirror Universe version of The Next Generation as did William Shatner’s Mirror Universe trilogy of novels with each published work tells its own story without limiting itself to events from preceding novels and comics.
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LibraryThing member fulner
Yet another 90's SFBC selection I could not muscle through
Language
Original publication date
1993-12
Physical description
337 p.; 23 cm
ISBN
0671793772 / 9780671793777