A trio of stories--two out of three are good. This book contains three stories about the alternate universe first encountered in the original series and continued in Deep Space Nine. I enjoyed the first of these stories (dealing with characters from Star Trek: Voyager) and the third (dealing with characters from Deep Space Nine). The middle one was about the Romulans and I think all the characters in there were new, at least to me.
I was disappointed in that we didn't see a conclusion to the ending of empires towards which Spock was working in the first of the Mirro Universe books.
When did Star Trek become so raunchy? After waiting for over a year for a new Deep Space Nine story, I was excited to see this book on the shelf (especially since it looks like Pocketbooks is never going to release "Fearful Symmetry"). I realize that in the "mirror universe" stories (which they've done to death, by the way) the characters are all very different from the characters we as fans know. But I found nothing respectable in the characters in this book, which has always been what drew me to Star Trek... I care about the characters. I read the stories because I want to know how things turn out for the characters. But I kept reading these stories waiting for them to get better... they didn't. These stories are weak, and that's being charitable.
And the language - I thought Star Trek was about ADVANCED people in Starfleet: healthier, better educated, less crime, etc. If these characters are so well-educated, then why can't they express themselves without such trashy language? I'm not talking about the typical four letter words that are used to express frustration or anger that one could reasonably expect, I'm talking about gutter language. And graphic depictions of extreme violence, torture, and sex that left me feeling like I'd just watched a couple of hours of FX on TV. I've never seen that in the Star Trek franchise before. I hope the editors at Simon and Schuster don't think they were updating Star Trek to make it more hip and modern, because this was just awful. And the worst part is that two of the three authors have written some very good Star Trek stories in the past. I don't know what happened, but this book was definitely a MISS! (That's a few hours of my life I wish I had back.)
Terran Rebellion Barely compatible with the "Dark Passions" duo, Obsidian Alliances was nevertheless as well formulated as its Part 1, Glass Empires.
It would seem that the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and the Terran Rebellion are doomed to years of fighting, until one exterminates the other (or unless our heroic universe steps in). Mirror characters of DS9 and VOY are almost all as sharp as the ones we're used to except focussed on way different and desperate goals.
Never really connected with NF, but it did add to the completeness of the work.
Here's hoping that the violent Alliance also falls (their cooperation is tenuous at best anyway).
Not too keen on the larger font print. 3.5 stars.
FANTASTIC This was better than the first in the Mirror Series. Partially because I love the DS9 and New Frontiers Characters but doubly so as I do not care for the Voyager crew and loved that story as well!
Mirror Universe / Obsidian Alliances Nice job on the alternate universe books. A fast-paced read and very well done.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
