World Famous Comics: Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows
Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows
From: Star Trek Publisher: Star Trek Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Star Trek Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 432 Publication Date: January 06, 2009
Product Description: Fractured history. Broken lives. Splintered souls. Since the alternate universe was first glimpsed in the classic episode "Mirror, Mirror," something about Star Trek's dark side has beckoned us, called to us, tempted us -- like forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. To taste it is to lose oneself in a world of startling familiarity and terrifying contradictions, where everything and everyone we knew is somehow disturbingly different, and where shocking secrets await their revelation.
What began in 2007 with Glass Empires and Obsidian Alliances -- the first truly in-depth foray into the turbulent history of this other continuum -- now continues in twelve new short tales that revisit and expand upon that so-called "Mirror Universe," spanning all five of the core incarnations of Star Trek, as well as their literary offshoots, across more than two hundred years of divergent history, as chronicled by...
Christopher L. Bennett - Margaret Wander Bonanno - Peter David - Keith R.A. DeCandido - Michael Jan Friedman - Jim Johnson - Rudy Josephs - David Mack - Dave Stern - James Swallow - Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore - Susan Wright
not half as good as the previous in series This book, in my opinion was no where near as good as the other books in this series. I did not like all the very short stories. You start to read one and it was done. I prefer the style in the previous books, three stories that were of some lenth. It is (at least for me) to get into a story and in 10 min it is done and leaving far to many questions. With such short stories, you never really know the plot, characters, and get thrown off base because of the sortness. The whole plot moves to fast. So when all is done the stories are not that good either. I wish the would stick the the three decent sized stories, not this new format.
excellent The book arrived within a week and was everything I had hoped for. The condition was excellent and the mail service was prompt. Thank you. Jerry Smith
Excellent! I want more! I love this book! Every story was great (though there are a few stories that you have to have read the previous "MU" books to understand).
Also, we FINALLY get to see the "MU" Tasha Yar!
Hopefully, more books like this will be forthcoming.
Mirror Universe - Part Three Shards and Shadows continues on from Part One. I noticed, however, that some of the stories referenced other stories in Obsidian Alliances. Fortunately, I had the other book and was able to access the previously-referenced stories to get a better handle of the "thread" contained within Shards and Shadows.
Decent but uninspired For twelve stories over such a range of time and Trek series, they end up being remarkably similar. They showcase the violence and treachery of the Mirror Universe, all right, but not much more, and the stories themselves are uninspired. Also, a heck of a lot of established characters get killed off. I realise that part of the appeal of the Mirror Universe is that writers can raise drama with the genuine possibility of character death. By halfway through the book, known character deaths becomes routine. Drama is not found in routine.
The first four stories are sent in the Terran Empire. The first story is told in flashback, but you can't tell which point is the present for 'Trip' Tucker. The second story is an intricate story of betrayal. The third is James Kirk becoming captain of the I.S.S. Enterprise. It is good, but told in a creepily light-hearted manner. After these three good stories, the Vanguard story is basically an action set-piece. It is the kind of story that works better on a screen than in print.
After that, the stories are set in the post-Empire period, with a mix of Alliance and Terran Rebellion stories, with the Memory Omega conspiracy as a frequent sub-plot. Three stories feature the Stargazer crew, some of the Next Generation cast, and some of the Voyager crew, and all are basically about the groups treacherously decimating each other. Keith R.A. DeCandido's story is the mirror for the Battle of Marcan V. Part of the interest in the story is that you don't know who is treacherous or who they intend to betray. The other main part is that the writing is very good and, it has to be said, noticeably above the quality of the rest of the stories.
Peter David's story is what Star Trek: Nemesis would be if mirrored, using the Excalibur setting ... and a comedy. Or at least, I found it impossible to take the story seriously. That is especially a shame as it features one of the largest-scale events in the Mirror Universe.
Jim Johnson's A Terrible Beauty is about Keiko Ishikawa. It is an intricate story of decepetion and treachery and a very subtle style of establishing control over people and events, and one of the better stories. There is a story with the Titan crew that is basically the usual slaughter, plus since it's Chris Bennett, some heavy-handed moralising. The last story is a David Mack special ops story. It's not up to his usual standard.
Overall, these stories are decent, but nothing special.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
