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The crew of the Starship Enterprise must prevent a ruthless dictator from taking over a planet!

Guises of the Mind is a Pocket TNG novel – #27 in the numbered series – written by Rebecca Neason. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in September 1993.

Summary[]

From the book jacket
The world Capulon IV is finally ready to join the Federation after years of waiting. All that remains is the ruler's coronation and a routine signing of the final treaty. When the crew of the USS Enterprise and their passengers – a group of women from a religious order dedicated to helping the downtrodden – arrive for the event they expect to find a world willing and happy to receive them. Instead, they encounter deceit and treachery. The crown prince, once excited and eager to join the Federation, now refuses even to speak with Captain Picard.
Beaming to the surface in an attempt to work out the problem, Picard, Troi, and Mother Veronica, the abbess of the nuns, are drugged and captured. Now they must somehow escape and stop the crowning. If they cannot prevent it, the King will be omnipotent, with the power to destroy the Starship Enterprise and all of Capulon IV as well…

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

Memorable quotes[]

"Then the final wars came… wars of a terror worse than death. They were a hundred generations ago. Although our science had a part in them, the most devastating weapon came from within ourselves. These were the Mind Wars and they were fought with the very gift the God had given us for peace."

- Joakal, crown prince of Capulon IV (p. 138)

Background information[]

  • This is the only Star Trek novel written by Rebecca Neason.
  • The novel began life as a Pocket TOS manuscript entitled The Gift of Silence, which Neason wrote over the course of early 1986. It was Neason's first attempt at writing fiction. Although this version was ultimately rejected after several drafts of the outline for not having "a strong enough action/adventure storyline", Pocket editor Dave Stern later encouraged Neason to rework the concept into a Next Generation story. Once the outline was finally approved, Neason finished the manuscript in just five months, which allowed Pocket to move up the release date. (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 180-181)
  • An extract from this novel appeared in Star Trek Monthly issue 27.

Cover gallery[]

Characters[]

Jean-Luc Picard
Deanna Troi
Data
Guinan

References[]

Capulon IV

External links[]


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#26: The Romulan Prize Pocket TNG
Numbered novels
#28: Here There Be Dragons
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