I always liked the STAR TREK giant novels. Not only do they give more bang for the buck, but they allow the author to delve more deeply into the characters than the shorter novels. The normal-length novels are good for quick adventures, but I really like to see the characters.
DARK MIRROR dives into multiple characters in a different way. While TO REIGN IN HELL followed Khan’s disasters on Ceti Alpha V between “Space Seed” and WRATH OF KHAN and SHADOWS ON THE SUN showed us how Dr. McCoy came to be the simple, country doctor in space that the series showed him to be, DARK MIRROR explores the NEXT GENERATION characters by showing their counterparts in the mirror universe.
Since Kirk and company crossed into the mirror universe in “Mirror, Mirror,” several authors have played with it in Star Trek setting. It has been explicitly dealt with in eight episodes (STD is not real Trek and therefore does not count, especially as they taint the lore). For a ninth, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE made the ST:OS episode “The Tholian Web” link to it by revealing that the prime universe Defiant crossed into the mirror universe through the web. Likewise, it has been a favorite location of expanded universe authors.
Duane wrote her novel when there had only been one mirror universe episode. That fact gave her open fields to play in. Indeed, much of what she writes would be wildly contradicted by the DS9 episodes. In them, Spock succeeded enough in his reformations to refocus the empire away from conquest. The change allowed an alliance of the Cardassians and Klingons to subjugate the empire. However, since she wrote the novel before DS9’s first mirror universe episode, we cannot hold that against her. We will judge the novel on its own merits. Speaking of which, this is a fourth season adventure (from the book’s historian’s note), and it was established long before then that shuttlecraft had a transporter as standard equipment. Geordi had no need to spend so long adding a transporter. At most, he only needed to modify it. Likewise, it’s hard to get a sense of immediacy in an adventure where the characters spend so much researching in their quarters.
In the mirror universe novels I’ve read, the point of divergence often comes up. DARK MIRROR was no exception. Our Picard and crew looked through the historical databases, searching for the answer. In reading from his library, Picard notices that two of his favorite literary scenes differ. Characters in Shakespeare’s MERCHANT OF VENICE and Homer’s ILIAD do not show mercy to others. However, in what I found as a weak point, the difference goes much further back. In DARK MIRROR, the Milky Way arm that Earth and the Empire reside in has separated from the main body of the galaxy. Such a change would have had to begun millions perhaps billions of years ago. Changes that far back should have ripples that far back. That is, the universes should have been very different by the time of Homer and Shakespeare.
Another weakness with mirror universe adventures in general is how long can the divergence last and the universes still have counterparts? In their MIRROR trilogy, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens deal with that very question. That leads me to the worst elements of mirror adventures.
How can such an empire survive for decades let alone centuries? Even in “Mirror, Mirror,” promotion comes by assassination. (This is how Kirk convinces Spock to overthrow the empire. It can’t last much longer anyway, better to bring it down sooner.) Senior crewmen require personal body guards. No one dares trust another. Such a ship where the crew wants to succeed individually but see their crewmates fail simply cannot operate. DARK MIRROR is no different. Picard has a personal guard because Riker and Troi are both gunning for his chair. Geordi has three assistant chief engineers chosen for their lack of competence at their jobs! They are no threat to his position. Ironically, Crusher’s chamber of horrors has lax security protocols.
But enough about the weaknesses inherit in mirror universe adventures. Even though they don’t hold up logically for extended periods of time, I can enjoy them for this reason: character. How would the characters act in these circumstances?
About as you would expect and that leads to the question “how did a brute like Riker get stuck at first officer?” (One can also ask, “How did a brute like Riker make it to first officer?”) Barclay’s security must be fantastic since Riker has not over powered Picard. Yes, Reginald Barclay is head of Picard’s personal guard, and the man is not only competent at his job, he excels! It’s the reversal I enjoyed the most in the book.
Likewise, “Why is Troi not in command?” Mirror Troi is ruthless, manipulative, and out for herself. Her mental abilities are far beyond prime Troi’s, to the point where she could easily gather black mail material. Why hasn’t she gotten rid of Picard yet? This is exactly how I imagine a Mirror Troi would be.
There were other situations I found less than Trek. It’s been a while since I watched much of the Next Generation, but the repeated use of 20th century slang and terms didn’t seem to fit in, especially since the user then had to turn around and explain their meaning to the recipient. Prime Riker being a pedant, “actually, that ship is closer to Dreadnought class,” gave me an eye roll.
When I re-read after so many years, the wonder of things I’ve forgotten and things I’ve recalled is part of the joy. I was thrilled to find that the scene of Data identifying Picard’s painting with less than a square inch of paint was here. In that scene, Diane Duane showed that she had a perfect understanding of Data (likewise, him learning Dolphin to speak to the guest engineer was also in character). It was so exactly how I see Data acting. With that understanding of Data’s character, seeing him as a main character would have been great. The painting scene was so vividly Data that for years, I have been convinced it was in an aired episode though I could not remember which one.
I had not forgotten the special guest star seen in the delphine engineer. The ship needed someone like him, a specialist in hyperstring theory, to get back home and detect the transfer in the first place. What I had forgotten about him was how everyone fawned all over him. It was a little off putting.
Thankfully, I had completely forgotten about the opera subplot.
I had remembered how Troi and Riker both gunned for Picard’s chair and that “Merchant of Venice” read differently. I did remember Geordi’s counterpart had inept assistants.
What did I like about the book? Duane does a fantastic job of working within the rules laid out in “Mirror, Mirror.” The mirror characters, while we aren’t meant to like them, do act as we might expect our crew to act living in such an empire.
Overall, I’d give this book 2/5 stars. I liked it in my teen years but not in my present age.
My next Star Trek re-read will be Final Frontier, an adventure showing the maiden voyage of the NCC-1701, an emergency mission sends her out before she’s finished. Captain Robert April takes George Samuel Kirk Sr. with him.
Frank Luke - Writer 