(written from a Production point of view)
An untold tale of the Dominion War
The Battle of Betazed is a Pocket TNG novel written by Charlotte Douglas and Susan Kearney. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in April 2002.
Summary[]
- From the book jacket
- In the darkest hours of the Dominion War, as the Federation's downfall seemed ever more certain, Jem'Hadar and Cardassian forces conquered Betazed, the homeworld of Deanna Troi. Their victory sent shock waves through the Alpha Quadrant, and put the Dominion within striking distance of Vulcan, Andor, Tellar – and possibly Earth itself.
- To secure their position in the very heart of the Federation, the Cardassians begin constructing space station Sentok Nor in orbit of Betazed. The station is to serve as both the seat of the Dominion occupation and the site of horrific experiments by Cardassia's foremost exobiologist, the infamous Dr. Crell Moset.
- With Starfleet's forces spread too thinly in the ongoing struggle to retake Betazed outright, the USS Enterprise along with some old and new friends, is deployed to carry out a dangerous and desperate plan. But no matter what the outcome, the consequences could alter Betazed irrevocably, forcing Deanna Troi to choose between her world's survival and its very soul.
- Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.
A battle in which the Betazoids liberated their planet from the Dominion and Cardassian oppressors. During this battle, Crell Moset pulled many from their homes to Sentok Nor for experiments and labor. The leader of the resistance was Lwaxana Troi, of the Fifth House of Betazed. Though it took many lives and a lot of time, the Betazoids won the battle via invasive telepathic means. Deanna Troi also participated and stayed strong throughout the whole ordeal, when even full Betazoids died from the mental strain. The Betazoids needed help from Hent Tevren, a Betazoid serial killer, who used ancient psionic techniques to murder.
Memorable quotes[]
"'How dead we lie because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung.'"
"…Was that a quote from Shakespeare?"
"A.E. Housman, another Human poet."
"One who understood the nature of war."
"Ah, but did he really?"
"What do you mean?"
"Housman never met a Jem'Hadar."
- - Jean-Luc Picard and Deanna Troi
"Who'd you say you got those codes from again?"
"Fellow I know on DS9. The guy who fixes my pants."
- - William T. Riker and Miles O'Brien
Background information[]
- This is the first, and, to date, only Star Trek novel from Susan Kearney and Charlotte Douglas. The authors commented: "The concept for 'The Battle of Betazed' flowed from several directions. First, Sue and I had been writing romance for so long that we decided for this book, we'd rather make war, not love. We picked up on a single sentence in a Deep Space Nine episode that revealed that Betazed, Troi's home planet, had fallen to the Dominion. We settled on the theme of the dilemma the Betazoid people faced with the choice between saving their lives or their souls.... Sue and I, with ample and admirable assistance from Marco, hammered out the plot.... Working with him was a delightful experience. I was blown away by the wonderful cover art and gratified by the positive reactions to our story". (Voyages of Imagination, p. 100)
- According to the historian's note, this novel takes place approximately two months after DS9: "Tears of the Prophets" and a few months before the events of Star Trek: Insurrection.
- Betazed fell to the Dominion in DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight". The invasion, the death of Lwaxana Troi's long time servant, Mr. Homn, and her resolve to organize the Betazoid resistance to the Dominion, were chronicled in the short story The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned, collected in Tales of the Dominion War.
- Deanna Troi (a half-Betazoid) initially assumes that Jean-Luc Picard is quoting William Shakespeare, but he corrects her that it is from A.E. Housman. Marta, the Orion asylum patient in "Whom Gods Destroy", quoted poems by Shakespeare and Housman, in that sequence, in both cases claiming to have composed them herself.
Characters[]
- Deanna Troi
- Enterprise-E counselor.
- Elias Vaughn
- Elias Vaughn played a large part in the Battle of Betazed. He and Starfleet devised a plan to get Hent Tevren so he could help them kill with their minds. He was aided by Deanna Troi, Beverly Crusher, and Data. He was a good friend of Deanna's father Ian Andrew Troi and was the one who told Lwaxana Troi that her husband died. Ian Andrew Troi saved his life and he said to Deanna Troi: "I'm sorry, Deanna," he said quietly. "Your father was a good friend to me. He saved my life once, and I'd have given anything to do the same for him. I know that doesn't change the fact that I went home from the last mission, and he didn't." (p. 78)
- Vaughn appears next in Pocket DS9: Avatar, Book One.
Crell Moset
- Crell Moset
- Gul Lemec
- Hent Tevren
- Betazoid serial killer, a psychopath who thrills in the sensation of killing slowly with no weapon but his own mind. It is an agonizing death which is sort of an extreme form of the process of telepathic rape.
- Jean-Luc Picard
- Enterprise-E captain.
- William T. Riker
- Data
- Geordi La Forge
- Beverly Crusher
- Enterprise-E CMO.
- Worf
- Miles O'Brien
References[]
- Sentok Nor
- A Cardassian space station, similar in design to Deep Space 9, placed in orbit of Betazed during the Dominion occupation.
Timeline[]
External link[]
- The Battle of Betazed at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
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