I probably enjoyed this book more than the three stars would have you believe, but I did have a major problem with it, in that it was far too short for the story it was attempting to tell. Mack is a very good writer, and one of my favorite Star Trek authors, but it felt like he undertook an epic and left it just past the outline stage. Most of the chapters are short glimpses into a fairly long period of time, and with the number of characters he includes over the long span of the story there just isn't enough substance there to make it feel complete.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it just wasn't enough of a good thing. ( )

I must disclose that I am a fan of star trek and only the old guard of star trek. I find just about every story that involves Spock to be VERY interesting! LOL. Now that I have said that I actually loved this book. The idea of Spock being a dictator goes against everything that the old star trek universe stood for. Even as a dictator he was awesome! The book itself is well written, full of action, and was a lot of fun to read. I understand that others did not care for it, but I get tired of the same old thing and this was fun for me. I have kept my copy of the book for many years and have no intention of parting with it anytime soon. I highly recommend this book and pretty much any other star trek book out there. If you have not read any of the books you are truly missing out on something good! ( )

'Mirror, Mirror' is one of my favourite TOS episodes, so I couldn't resist reading about the mirror universe post-crossover, and I think David Mack does a fine job with the characters. Not only does Mirror Spock carry out his well-intentioned plan for galactic domination - sparked by Captain Kirk's words at the end of the episode - but there are a host of mirror cameos from characters in the original series and films, too, including Saavik and Garth of Izar (season three). Any novel that kills off Will Decker has my vote! I did kind of miss Kirk - the mirror captain is dispatched in the first chapter - but Spock is so fabulously ruthless that I didn't mind him leading the show after a while. Great fun. ( )

David Mack revisits his 2007 short novel The Sorrows of Empire, originally printed in Glass Empires, doubling its size to turn it into a standalone story. It's been three years since I read this tale of Spock's rise to control the Terran Empire and his eventual dismantling of it, so I can't claim to have the original memorized, but most of the expansions seem to come in the early part of the story, Spock's ascension. They're nice, serving to round Spock out as a character some more, but hardly essential. His wife Marlena Moreau also gets some new material, but since she's a woman, it's all about her wanting to have children. The best part of this version, as with the original, is seeing our Spock's intellect joined to sheer ruthlessness, even when in pursuit of a greater good. (I still think the Tantalus field is so powerful as to make a lot of the story pointless, but that's more a problem with "Mirror, Mirror" than this story.)

This is a strange book and I can't honestly say I really enjoyed it, but I kind of enjoyed the concept and the 'spot the familiarities' trick.
This is set in the alternate Star Trek universe first seen in the old series, "Mirror, Mirror". In this evil universe, the Federation of Planets is replaced by an Empire, assassination is the way of promotion, and everyone is pretty much evil. Vulcans, being logical and unemotional creatures, are not as different from their normal universe counterparts but they still serve ruthless masters and are harsher in their ways.
This book begins with Spock strangling Captain Kirk and taking his position as Captain of the Enterprise. Deciding to create a revolution against the Empire, Spock has to play the evil game and out-scheme those around him with less morals while trying to forge ahead in the empire and take control. As the book progresses, we go through many scenarios and many years. Chapters follow many of the known old series episodes, but with a Mirror twist. McCoy, for instance, dies of his disease which is cured in the television series. Saavik, from the movie, continues on in Spocks footsteps.
Perhaps this is another reason I'm not excited by this book. Except for some of the novelty and the fact it is quite well written, many of my favourite characters are gone quickly - I'd like to have seen some exploration of Evil Scotty and Evil McCoy, and Evil Uhura is gone only two pages in. And Kirk in the first line. Still, if you like Spock and some interesting plays on old episodes, it's not a bad way to fill in time. But I think it could have done more. ( )