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Star Trek novels

Gaith

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Dark Mirror by Diane Duane (1993)

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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.

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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 more or less 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-
 

gazza

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you give me any star trek book and i'll happily read it from cover to cover , but my favourite series has to be the deep space nine line, followed by voyager,then next generation and lastly the original.

the invasion crossover series and dominion war are good reads spanning over the entire franchise. and the nine lives of dax was great expanding the lore of dax's previous hosts. all in all there are too many titles to mention
 

Jrzag42

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I wasn't aware this thread existed, I really should've searched for it. Thanks, @"Gaith"

jrWHAG42 said:
In an old box of my father's stuff, I came across Shadows on the Sun, and Enterprise The First Adventure. He says they're good so I'll check them out soon. Is anyone familiar with these? Are they popular and I just hadn't heard of them, or are they fairly obscure? Are there any other recommendations for Star Trek books?
 

Duragizer

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I read most of The First Adventure a couple years ago. I recall it being mostly good, but for reasons I can't recall, I lost interest in it and never read the last third or so.
 

bionicbob

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jrWHAG42 said:
I wasn't aware this thread existed, I really should've searched for it. Thanks, @"Gaith"
jrWHAG42 said:
In an old box of my father's stuff, I came across Shadows on the Sun, and Enterprise The First Adventure. He says they're good so I'll check them out soon. Is anyone familiar with these? Are they popular and I just hadn't heard of them, or are they fairly obscure? Are there any other recommendations for Star Trek books?

FIRST ADVENTURE is a decent read, but there are many, many equal or better Trek novels out there.  It really depends what you like and what era you enjoy.

In the 80s, there were dozens of wonderful TOS novels written.  And while some may no longer fit with onscreen continuity, they are still fantastic fun reads....

The Rihannsu series by Diane Duane are the definitive Romulan stories for me.
Also, her SPOCK'S WORLD is a fascinating read

Almost any Trek novel by Peter David is a light but nerdy delicious read.

Some faves...
Yesterday's Son 
Time for Yesterday
Dreadnaught 
Battlestations
Mindshadow
Demons
Blood Thirst
Lost Years
Deep Domain
Strangers From the Sky
Final Frontier (1988)
Memory Prime
Prime Directive
Federation
Vulcan's Glory
The Pandora Principle
...there are many more.... many that have been mentioned in this thread.

That does not even touch on the modern TOS books or TNG or DS9 or VOY, etc....
Plus there there have been some excellent comic book runs by both DC Comics and currently IDW.

There is a fantastic world of adventure out there for you discover!  :D
 

bionicbob

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C5visE2h.jpg


Just wanted to hype this trilogy!!! If you enjoy Trek novels of the TNG era, this is a MUST READ.

Essentially, since Post-Nemesis, the 24th Century adventures have had a tight, interconnected, shared continuity.

But with the arrival of the new tv series PICARD, the Trek Litverse no longer even remotely aligns to the new onscreen canon.

Rather than just dropping the Litverse Continuity the way Disney did with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Paramount has commissioned this epic trilogy to bring the 20 plus year TNG novel universe to a cosmic shattering close.

I have read Books One and Two, and they are excellent, exhilarating and exhausting. And I even got misty eyed a couple of times.

Great stuff!
 

asterixsmeagol

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As someone who has only read a couple of random post-Nemesis novels and has watched Picard and read its tie-in novels, should I read this trilogy or would it be too confusing?
 

bionicbob

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As someone who has only read a couple of random post-Nemesis novels and has watched Picard and read its tie-in novels, should I read this trilogy or would it be too confusing?

I have no where near read all the Post-Nemesis novels and did not have any real difficultly following along.

Much like the tv shows, each book comes with a 2-3 page "PREVIOUSLY ON..." preface that gets you up to date on any key events that are relevant to the plot.

Occassionally, if I still was not clear on a certain Trek Litverse character, I would do a quick Memory Beta visit. But it is pretty much all there on the page.
 

Flint7

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Thanks for pointing out that fan fiction site Dan! Very interesting stuff.

So my ABSOLUTE top three Trek Novels of all Time are....

THE LOST YEARS
by J.M. Dillard. Chronicling the end of the First Five Year Mission, explaining why Kirk becomes an Admiral, Spock's return to Vulcan and how the crew struggle to start new lives. A really great read. A must for TOS fans.

FINAL FRONTIER by Diane Carey. The first adventure of the starship USS Enterprise featuring Kirk's dad George Kirk and Captain Robert April. Trust me, this a wondeful read. Carey would go on to write a sequel called BEST DESTINY, but IMO it does hold up as well.

FEDERATION by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens. In my mind, this is the BEST TREK NOVEL EVER WRITTEN. Telling the story of Zefram Cochrane and the birth of the United Federation of Planets, this story is rich in character and steeped in Trek lore. While this story is rendered null and void by FIRST CONTACT and ENTERPRISE, it is still a MUST READ and how I prefer to think the Trek Universe should have evolved. Judith and Garfield would go on and co-write the SHANTERVERSE novels.

Other top notables include,

Vulcan's Glory by DC Fontana. Fontana was Roddenberry's assistant and writer on TOS and is credited with development of Vulcan. Here she explores Spock's career while serving under Captain Pike.

Strangers from the Sky by Margart Wander Bonanno-- again null and void continuity wise, it explores first contact between Vulcan and Earth.

Enterprise The First Adventure by Vonda N. McIntyre -- well the title says it all does not? Kirk assumes command of the Enterprise and meets his crew.

hhhmmmm.... I just noticed all my favorites are stories that explore the missing history of the Trek Universe.:p
"Federation" was great, "Vulcan's Glory" I loved. Would also highly recommend "Spock's World", "Vendetta", "The Entropy Effect", "The Wounded Sky" and the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" novelization.
 
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