Spoilers DSC: Die Standing by John Jackson Miller Review Thread

[hbquikcomjamesl]

The title "Mirror, Mirror" comes from Snow White and the invocation to the Magic Mirror which reveals everyone's innermost truth. The point of the episode was that the universe of the Empire exposed the truth of human savagery that we keep buried beneath the surface. That's why it was so easy for Kirk et al. to convincingly act like savages, because we already have that within us. So it's not about diametric opposites -- the whole point is how little change would be needed.

Yes. Thank you for reminding me of that. A reminder of the eternal internal war between human decency and human savagery, and a look at the universe that would have been, had decency been stillborn. That's the way it was, at least until the MU took on a life of its own. And maybe that's why I've always found MU sequels so tiresome.

Of course, these days, we don't need any reminders of what happens when human decency is either stillborn or strangled at birth by one or more sociopathic parents. Such a reminder is currently living in rather luxurious government housing right now.

 

[Damian]

Just completed this novel. I really enjoyed JJ Miller's last Discovery novel, "The Enterprise War" and rated that one excellent. For me this was a bit of a step down. I liked the travels through Troika space, seeing all 3 alien societies, completely alien in fact. One advantage of novels (an animated series) is it's a lot easier to depict completely alien species without have to worry about making them appear on screen. And Miller takes full advantage of that.

Another interesting element of this novel is it could have concurrently had up to 3 novel headings. Discovery of course (even though the Discovery itself is barely mentioned it is definitely in that series). Another would be Section 31, as it clearly involves Section 31 (though you can argue a different Section 31 from the novel series), and less so the Mirror Universe. Most of it does take place in the Prime Universe though.

And I liked getting a story with Emony Dax. We don't know much about Emony and it was nice to get a story involving that little known character for once. And Miller did a good job capturing some of Dax's personality (at times you could see a bit of Jadzia and Ezri--obviously meaning they were part of Dax's personality) and some of what would be unique to Emony.

We also got to see Finnegan (as seen on "Shore Leave"). His personality is mostly as I would imagine it. A troublemaker, and a bit of a rule-breaker, but more on the misdemeanor side. He's not an 'evil' or bad guy. He clearly was unhappy in a soldier role, esp. fighting a war he did not believe in. And he was horrified at what happened to the Farragut crew. So he's not an amoral character. He likes a good brawl, but he's not a killer if he can help it.

I'm not too sold on the idea that the cloud creature from "Obsession" is what it turned out to be in the novel. Miller kind of lost me there. And stage 3 of the book (Plundering) which took place in Casmarra seemed to drag a bit for me. I don't think it's any longer than any other section, but for whatever reason I found that part of the book a bit of a slog. The Dromax and Oast sections seemed to move with more swiftness. The ending was a bit chaotic as well, with changing alliances and circumstances. And Emperor Georgiou's motivations are a mystery, though I imagine that's by design.

I read "The Enterprise War" before seeing season 2, which I thought worked out well for me. This is also a pre-season 2 story, though in this case I don't feel I've missed anything by reading this novel after. It gives you some background into Georgio from the mirror universe, but it doesn't seem to directly feed into season 2 as much as "The Enterprise War" did.

Overall I'll give this one an above average. What I liked outweighed the things I didn't care for as much.

 

[Thrawn]

I liked this one a lot (having finally caught up to reading it). Took a lot of pieces of Star Trek continuity that had no business coexisting in the same novel and tied them together really well, and I loved all three strange new worlds.

I did think the climax was ultimately unconvincing, especially the nature of the blood devils and Georgiou's blowing up the cascade and then immediately convincing the general to switch sides, but it was an excellent ride getting there, and very well narrated by LaVoy. A good time. Above average.

 

[JoeP]

Interesting that Georgiou’s childhood friend San, who was briefly mentioned in the book, is seemingly figuring into this season in some way.

 

[Tuskin38]

I knew that name rang a bell.

 

[JoeP]

Yeah, it didn't immediately register for me either. Had to search my Kindle version of the book to see if I was remembering correctly.

 

[ryan123450]

I’m planning on getting to this novel eventually, but for the sale of keeping the Litverse Reading Guide up to date, can anyone confirm any specific continuity links in this book with any other stories?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Interesting that Georgiou’s childhood friend San, who was briefly mentioned in the book, is seemingly figuring into this season in some way.

Oddly the show never followed up on those specific flashbacks but instead gave us a new thing in the same setting.

 

[Christopher]

Oddly the show never followed up on those specific flashbacks but instead gave us a new thing in the same setting.

If this were one of the previous seasons, I'd suspect an earlier writing team's plans were abandoned by the later writing team. As it is, I suspect the "San" stuff is setup for the Georgiou/Section 31 spinoff in some way.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Interesting that Georgiou’s childhood friend San, who was briefly mentioned in the book, is seemingly figuring into this season in some way.

Surprising that anyone from the mirror universe is even capable of having friends in the first place, especially those whose deaths affect them as much as San's did to Georgiou...

 

[Oz Trekkie]

I’m planning on getting to this novel eventually, but for the sale of keeping the Litverse Reading Guide up to date, can anyone confirm any specific continuity links in this book with any other stories?

It's set between S1 and S2 of Discovery, before Leland visits Mirror Georgiou on the Klingon home world.

 

[Christopher]

It's set between S1 and S2 of Discovery, before Leland visits Mirror Georgiou on the Klingon home world.

It's after Leland's visit, isn't it? I mean, she's working for Leland in the book.

 

[Oz Trekkie]

It's after Leland's visit, isn't it? I mean, she's working for Leland in the book.

If I remember correctly I don’t think she’s working for S31 in this one. They coerce her early on and she goes along with it as she thinks it will get her more power and control. She starts working for s31 after this novel.

 

[Christopher]

If I remember correctly I don’t think she’s working for S31 in this one. They coerce her early on and she goes along with it as she thinks it will get her more power and control. She starts working for s31 after this novel.

Yeah, but that's still after the deleted scene with Leland on Qo'noS, because that was his first approach to her. The book shows what happened in between that first approach and her return in season 2.

 

[Oz Trekkie]

Yeah, but that's still after the deleted scene with Leland on Qo'noS, because that was his first approach to her. The book shows what happened in between that first approach and her return in season 2.

I'll have to go back and reread and rewatch. I may of got everything mixed up. It would still be before S2 starts though?

 

[Christopher]

I'll have to go back and reread and rewatch. I may of got everything mixed up. It would still be before S2 starts though?

It's between the deleted Leland scene at the end of season 1 and Georgiou's arrival in season 2, episode 5. It spans nearly the entire period between those two, since that's only a few weeks. So it overlaps with the first four episodes of season 2, chronologically but not narratively.