The Good: Fast-paced, An easy read, An interesting story
The Bad: Plays fast and loose with a lot of Trek history, Standard Shatner novel
The Basics: With its predictable plot twists and failure to capitalize on the known, established Star Trek universe, Dark Victory becomes William Shatner's ego trip.
At the climax of William Shatner's previous Star Trek literary outing, Spectre (reviewed here!), the rogue crew of the U.S.S. Voyager - the one built in the alternate universe - was in the process of saving the U.S.S. Enterprise from the forces from the Mirror Universe. There was a fairly predictable cliffhanger wherein Captain Kirk's counterpart was revealed and our heroes were put in a countdown for life and death.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you understand the main argument against picking up Dark Victory; it is the second section in a trilogy of works that are very closely tied to one another. To pick this book up without reading Spectre is simply stupid. Dark Victory is a waste of time if one has not gotten the setup from the prior novel.
And it's not like this is high literature anyway. William Shatner has a rather distinctive style; he writes like an action hero. Quite simply, Shatner's novels are all about pace, conspiracy and reversals and Dark Victory is true to form in that regard. As the middle act in a trilogy, this novel alludes to much in Spectre and works to set up the final chapter in this saga, which is Preserver. But for anyone familiar with William Shatner's work, this is clearly his writing; things happen, fast, there is a turnaround, a brief bit of dialogue and everything is moving once again. It's all about keeping things moving.
That is not to say it's not a decent story, because while it is not terribly original in terms of predictability of reversals, it's a pretty all right plot. Managing to escape the climactic events of Spectre and save the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Kirk and his band of merry explorer/warriors engage to Mirror Universe enemies across space using their cunning, weaponry and devices that allow them to shift between the two universes. When StarFleet decides it wants Kirk to stop pursuing the alternate universe dopplegangers who have crossed into our universe to wage war, they attempt to convince Kirk that Tiberius - the alternate universe James T. Kirk - is dead and Kirk retreats with his wife to Chal to get married. Of course, things do not stay so closed and Kirk is compelled to reteam with Spock, McCoy, Scotty and the alternate universe Spock and Janeway to go on an adventure to end the war between the mirror universe and our own once and for all.
The fundamental problems outside that much of the movement in the story is spectacle, is that as Shatner's novels progress, they become more and more insular and less and less accessible to a general audience or to a Star Trek audience that has not read his prior works. William Shatner is using his Star Trek novels to recreate the franchise in a way he wants to see it. And while it's interesting, it's not terribly consistent or compelling. So, for example, Shatner continues to use characters like Dr. M'Benga, a descendant of the Dr. M'Benga who was in two episodes of Star Trek. And in Dark Victory, her part continues to get bigger and bigger.
But equally important to remaking the Star Trek universe in his own image, Mr. Shatner continues to fail to get the voices of some of the characters right. Elim Garak and Dr. Bashir appear in Dark Victory and neither one sounds right. They are paired with one of Shatner's recurring characters and the whole feel of their appearance is "off." William Shatner knows original Star Trek and he's got a fair grasp by this novel of most of the Star Trek The Next Generation crew and he wisely limits himself to Janeway from Voyager, no doubt a reference to the friendship he began with Kate Mulgrew in real life, but he is not an expert in the franchise. His co-conspirators - or, I suppose co-authors - Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are experts in the franchise and I'd bet that the inclusion of the Deep Space Nine elements is their doing.
The problem is that Shatner's new universe tries to sidestep what has been established on screen - most notably in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. So while he tries to tell a compelling story using the Mirror Universe, it instead comes across as clunky and very much a Shatnerverse book as opposed to actual Star Trek. Equally distracting or distressing is that in his incarnation of Star Trek, most of the universe revolves around James T. Kirk. One of the most intriguing moments of Star Trek Deep Space Nine occurs in their first alternate universe episode "Crossover," when Intendant Kira is speaking to Major Kira and she asks if the Major has ever heard of a starship captain named Kirk and Kira has a blank expression on her face. That moment alone makes so much of Dark Victory egotistical self-promotion.
And ultimately, that's what makes this book impossible to recommend. Shatner would be fine if this were his own series, the Tek series. But this is Star Trek and William Shatner is neither the first nor last word on the series. Incorporating Captain Kirk into the timeline of the latter day Star Trek series', which was once interesting and occasionally clever, has become Shatner's attempt to dominate Star Trek and in Dark Victory it finally fails.
For other Star Trek novels written by William Shatner, please check out:
Ashes Of Eden
The Return
Avenger
5/10
For other book reviews, please visit my index page on the subject for an organized listing by clicking here!
© 2011, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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