Advance Review: Revisiting A Boring Terok Nor In `Star Trek: The Mirror War – Sisko’

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had one of the most interesting runs of any Trek series – along with a controversial ending that seemed to spell the end of Captain Benjamin Sisko. More or less.

While other series leads showed up from time to time – Admiral Janeway in Nemesis, Admiral Archer’s name is mentioned in several shows, including 2009’s Star Trek – Sisko doesn’t get much post-DS9 love aside from some novels. That makes the prospect of a new Sisko story, even a mirror universe one, all the more tantalizing. Unfortunately, the story in Star Trek: The Mirror War – Sisko just isn’t that exciting.

Mirror Universe Sisko is a much different animal that the one from the traditional Trek universe. He’s equally cunning, but instead of running DS9 (still called by its Cardassian name of Terok Nor in mirror land) he’s the concubine of the intendant, Kira Nerys. Unlike the first officer from our world, this Kira is a twisted character who plays people against each other at every opportunity. Sisko is her lover as well as her fixer.

All of that should lead to a strong story. But writer Danny Lore’s script falls flat. It’s not bad, so much as it is simply uninteresting. Lore makes an out-of-fashion choice to use a third-party omniscient narrator instead of having a main character explain motivations from a certain point of view. That gives this tale a dated vibe. There’s crosses and double crosses and a bit of action, but in the end, the reader isn’t going to remember much if anything about this story.

Artist Hendry Prasetya fares better with his depictions of familiar characters, in particular Cardassian favorite Garak (though he is inexplicably dressed in a human tuxedo during a dinner party). There’s also a space battler featuring the Defiant, but it’s to brief for Prasetya to show off his talents.

Star Trek: The Mirror War – Sisko will be available for purchase on June 15, 2022.