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Shards and Shadows is a Star Trek: Mirror Universe short story anthology – the third book in the series – edited by Marco Palmieri and Margaret Clark. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in trade paperback in January 2009.

Summary[]

From the book jacket
Fractured history. Broken lives. Splintered souls. Since the alternate universe was first glimpsed in the classic episode "Mirror, Mirror", something about Star Trek's dark side has beckoned us, called to us, tempted us – like forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. To taste it is to lose oneself in a world of startling familiarity and terrifying contradictions, where everything and everyone we knew is somehow disturbingly different, and where shocking secrets await their revelation.
What began in 2007 with Glass Empires and Obsidian Alliances – the first truly in-depth foray into the turbulent history of this other continuum – now continues in twelve new short tales that revisit and expand upon that so-called "Mirror Universe", spanning all five of the core incarnations of Star Trek, as well as their literary offshoots, across more than two hundred years of divergent history, as chronicled by…
Christopher L. Bennett – Margaret Wander Bonanno – Peter David – Keith R.A. DeCandido – Michael Jan Friedman – Jim Johnson – Rudy Josephs – David Mack – Dave Stern – James Swallow – Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore – Susan Wright

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Contents[]

Quotes from editor Marco Palmieri's original summary of the anthology.
"Nobunaga"
by Dave Stern
Following on from "Age of the Empress", "featuring the crew of Enterprise NX-01, and Empress Sato's quest to locate the new sister ship of Defiant."
"Ill Winds"
by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
"featuring the mirror universe counterparts of Robert and Sarah April, on a mission to stop the development of a devastating new Klingon weapon."
"The Greater Good"
by Margaret Wander Bonanno
"featuring Captain Christopher Pike, commanding ISS Enterprise, and his disastrous encounter with the Talosians."
"The Black Flag"
by James Swallow
"featuring the mirror Vanguard, previously mentioned in Glass Empires."
"The Traitor"
by Michael Jan Friedman
A Stargazer story.
"The Sacred Chalice"
by Rudy Josephs
"featuring the mirror Picard and Troi, showing a pleasure palace hidden on the ruined planet of Betazed."
"The Bitter Fruit"
by Susan Wright
Following on from "The Mirror-Scaled Serpent", "featuring the mirror Star Trek: Voyager crew, showing Kes' attempts to control her telepathic powers and her fight to contact Neelix, while the rebellion attempts to capture B'Elanna Torres and Crell Moset."
"Family Matters"
by Keith R.A. DeCandido
An epistolary story "featuring the characters of Star Trek: Klingon Empire".
"Homecoming"
by Peter David
Following on from "Cutting Ties", "featuring the mirror Star Trek: New Frontier crew. The crew of the liberated Excalibur must infiltrate Romulan space to capture a thalaron bomb before the Alliance claims it for themselves."
"A Terrible Beauty"
by Jim Johnson
"featuring the mirror counterpart of Keiko Ishikawa."
"Empathy"
by Christopher L. Bennett
A Titan story.
"For Want of a Nail"
by David Mack
"featuring the mirror Reginald Barclay's efforts to stop the mirror Alynna Nechayev from revealing the Rebellion's deepest secret to the Alliance."

Background information[]

  • Originally scheduled as an April 2008 release, the title was announced as being delayed in February of that year. The full author listing was revealed at the New York Comic-Con in April 2008.
  • Plans had been drawn up for a Star Trek: Corps of Engineers eBook to tie into the anthology; however, the hiatus placed on the original eBook line led to the cancellation of that release. Due to contract and budgetary issues, the story was not able to be added into the anthology.
  • An extract from "The Greater Good" appeared in Star Trek Magazine issue 142.
  • Cover art by Tom Hallman, design by Alan Dingman.

Cover gallery[]

External link[]


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Obsidian Alliances Star Trek: Mirror Universe The Sorrows of Empire
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