the intendent | the m0vie blog

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Soul Key by Olivia Woods (Review)

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Darren

This September and October, we’re taking a look at the jam-packed 1994 to 1995 season of Star Trek, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Check back daily for the latest review.

The Soul Key would wind up being the last novel published as part of the Deep Space Nine relaunch.

The Soul Key was published in July 2009. The next month, Una McCormack’s wonderful The Never-Ending Sacrifice would be published. However, McCormack’s novel was very written outside the relaunch, running as a companion to the series and unfolding in the immediate aftermath. After that, the Deep Space Nine book line found itself folded into various crossovers, like Typhon Pact and The Fall. There was a sense that the line was drifting away from Deep Space Nine and being recontextualised in Pocket Books’ larger Star Trek series.

The Soul Key picks up where Fearful Symmetry left off, following Kira, mirror!Iliana and Vaughn as they venture into the mirror universe in pursuit of the crazed Iliana Ghemor.

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Filed under: Deep Space Nine | Tagged: alliance, deep space nine, ds9, iliana ghemor, Mirror Universe, olivia woods, reflections, star trek, star trek: deep space nine, the intendent | Leave a comment »

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Through the Looking Glass (Review)

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Darren

It’s very tempting to write off the problems with the mirror universe episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as diminishing returns – the idea that repeated exposure to what was once novel robs that item of its novelty. It is possible to become immune to the charms of camp, dulled to absurd space opera, and just worn out by watching the cast play “space pirates meet Star Wars.”

However, this does a bit of a disservice to the mirror universe as a concept. As iconic as it has become, Mirror, Mirror worked very well as a piece of introspection for the original Star Trek. Crossover stands out as one of the strongest episodes in the first two years of Deep Space Nine, because it manages to capture the thoughtful-yet-campy self-criticism of Mirror, Mirror.

Let’s face it, after what O’Brien’s been through, nobody would be surprised if he snapped…

In contrast, Through the Looking Glass marks the point at which the mirror universe really ceases to be a clever concept, and becomes something that is simply kept around because it’s old and because the production team like the idea of playing “roguish rebels and evil empires” in a way that’s impossible in the mainstream Star Trek universe.

While the episode does have an interesting central premise and is nowhere near as weak as some of the mirror universe episodes ahead, Through the Looking Glass is the moment where the mirror universe seems to get away from Deep Space Nine.