Dark Mirror (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Revisiting a world created for the series episode entitled "Mirror, Mirror," Captain Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise encounter a parallel universe populated by duplicates of themselves. 175,000 first printing.

A Star Trek: The Next Generation yarn from the fantasist (The Door into Sunset, p. 28) and veteran of numerous Star Trek hardcovers. Duane's first stab at a Next Generation tale is based on an old Star Trek episode, ``Mirror, Mirror,'' in which Kirk, Scott, and Uhura were propelled into a parallel universe where the Federation was a ruthless empire; their personal counterparts, with whom they had exchanged places, turned out to be brutal barbarian warriors bent on conquest and loot. This time, the Enterprise--with Hwiii, a dolphin scientist, aboard--is switched into the same universe visited by Kirk, and finds itself confronted by a counterpart Enterprise, bristling with weapons, of superior speed and power. Now Captain Jean-Luc Picard must defeat his evil twin and prevent the invasion planned by the other, malign, Federation. Anyone who saw the original episode knows more or less what to expect. Given the large first print run, the publishers obviously expect demand to be brisk--but, workmanlike, unsurprising, and mediocre as it is, will it play in Peoria? (First printing of 200,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A gripping Star Trek: The Next Generation tale hearkening back to the original TV series episode, "Mirror, Mirror." That was the one in which Captain Kirk encountered his brutal alter ego in a parallel universe, a place where only the alternative Spock showed any humanity. Here, the alternative Enterprise draws Captain Picard's vessel into its alternative space, bent on capturing it and staffing it with a look-alike crew--all to spearhead an invasion of the Federation. Deanna Troi, Geordi La Forge, and Captain Picard outwit the scheme by transporting aboard the other Enterprise and turning its technology against the would-be conquerors. Here's where Duane's novel turns clever, with Picard assuming his doppelg„nger's role and discovering--among other things--just how malicious and threatening a Betazed can be and how bitter the alternative Dr. Crusher can be in the role of the "captain's woman." There's also a particularly nasty alternative Riker and a noble alternative Worf. The true Picard maneuvers his ship back into Federation space, but the alien follows; there's some manipulation of hyperstrings (with the help of a spacegoing dolphin) to send the bad Enterprise back where it belongs. Another capable entry in this series that always seems to be better than one would expect. John Mort