The Battle of Betazed (Star Trek: The Next Generation) [Mass Market Paperback]

The story focusses (as if it wasn't obvious from the cover) on Deanna Troi, a character that has long been overdue for some "get-out-and-do-something" stories. Rather than simply forcing her into becoming something that she never was (from the television series, anyway), the writers play it very well and allow her to come to terms with a more active role, rather than just accepting it without question. Character writing is one of the strong suits of this story.

It also helps to flesh out some of Deanna's past - something that has always been a bit of a gray area - as well as allowing us to learn more about her home planet of Betazed, and its people. Star Trek afficionados will love this extra insight, and it's woven into the story well enough so that it doesn't detract from the main proceedings if backstory doesn't catch your interest.

The story itself is well-written, with several novel ideas that work well. In a very Trekkian way, it's a mix of politics and adventure, where the former dominates the first half of the story and the latter the second. The adventure is tense and dark, befitting the setting, but suffers from a very unfortunate consequence of the Star Trek universe: You know exactly which characters cannot be die, which takes away some of the suspense. However, having said that, it's still a very enjoyable read, and I had difficulty putting it down once I had reached the last third.

The conclusion of the book is a good one, but again suffers from almost too much of a Trek-ness, and its ethos of having the Federation hold the moral high ground. Having said that, this won't be a problem for most, and it's also difficult to see how the story could have ended differently.

In conclusion, it's a very good Star Trek book which I can recommend to any fan of the genre. My sole criticism of it (and the reason I didn't give it five stars) is that it doesn't break too many moulds and stays close to the story of the Federation during the Dominion War. Still, a good (and very enjoyable) read.

Betazed has fallen to the Dominion and the Cardassian forces, and a new space station is being built in its orbit, similar to Deep Space Nine. The Resistance movement on the planet is running dangerously low on food and resources and isn't causing much damage. They are in desperate need of relief, but an entire fleet of Federation ships is destroyed in an attempt to retake the planet. Why is the Dominion investing so many resources into protecting it? What horrible crime is one Cardassian, Crell Moset, committing in the name of scientific discovery? The Enterprise is sent on a desperate mission to free a man who may do more harm to Betazoid culture than the Dominion is doing, even as they discover what the horrible result of Moset's experiments might be. If he succeeds, it may spell the end of the Federation and the beginning of ultimate Dominion victory.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Ok, maybe my description doesn't do it justice. However, the back cover blurb does make the book sound very interesting. Unfortunately, Douglas and Kearney don't succeed in making the *book* interesting. It takes forever to get going (at least as a percentage of its very short length). We get a lot of Troi angst, as she has to decide whether to go through with a mission that could bring down the Betazoid culture she's trying so desperately to save. After a while, the angst just got tedious. We spend a lot of time getting to know Elias Vaughn. Even if this is his first appearance (I'm not up on the publishing dates of all the books he has appeared in), we spend way too long learning about him. There's also the predictable friction between the Cardassian in charge of the occupation and the Vorta who oversees everything. Add to this Moset's insanity, which gets demonstrated way too often, and it all boils down to a lot of set up.

When the action finally does start, the authors do a decent job of describing it. The starship battles are kind of interesting, though not exactly logical at times. The Enterprise and its support ships go into battle vastly overmatched, with all parties wondering if *anybody* will get out alive, but then everything suddenly becomes too easy. Meanwhile, the action down at the prison, where Troi, Vaughn, Crusher and Data are, is also illogical. The party happens upon a Jem'Hadar patrol and manages to talk them into letting them go despite not having their identification cards. The Jem'Hadar *I* know would have just shot them on sight if they were the least bit out of line. My last complaint has Troi managing to stun somebody holding Data prisoner by firing *through* Data. I'm sorry, but if your phaser shot burned a hole through an android, there's no way it's going to only stun the target behind him.

While the prose and characterization is somewhat pedestrian (Moset is very stereotypical of the single-minded scientist), there are a few nice scenes here and there that seem to set up what happens in the Insurrection movie. Riker and Troi seem to grow closer together as he helps her deal with the weight of what her people might have to do to survive. Especially nice is the final scene between them (though I can't go into detail, because of spoilers). The plot itself is fairly interesting (despite the logic flaws in some cases). There's only one major coincidence, and while it's a doozy, it's still forgivable given everything else. The final solution doesn't come out of left field and is, in fact, quite good. It's not a perfect solution, unlike a lot of plot resolutions. It has its price. Unfortunately, the price that we expect that Troi will have to pay after what happens doesn't come to pass, as she's let off the hook by developments. It's a shame when that happens, as that really would have grown her character.

One final compliment to the book. The characterization of Lwaxana Troi (Deanna's mother, for those of you not in the know) is actually very nice. She's one of the leaders of the local resistance cell, and while she is not unrecognizable, all of the changes that the invasion and four months of occupation have wrought have taken their toll on her. She still has a couple of bantering comments with Picard, but you can tell they are just old habit and her heart's not in it. It's wonderful stuff, and unfortunately she is underused (and anybody who knows my Trek reviews knows how much I hate the character, so that's really a compliment).

Ultimately, I'm glad I read The Battle of Betazed, as it's good to know what happened (it's referred to in some subsequent books, especially Articles of the Federation). It's a very quick read, so you won't waste much time on it. I just wish it had been as interesting as the description promised it would be. A missed opportunity for sure.

David Roy

For those who enjoy the battles, there are plenty to go around. If you aren't on board the Enterprise or the two Norway class ships hopping Cardassians, then your on board the Defiant.

Overall, this is a wonderfully written book. It shows what many of our favourite star trek characters would be like when their homeworld or way of life is threatend. The book is so well rounded that it finds time to include war crimes. Its extremely effective in portrying the darkest days of the dominion war and how desperate people became within it.

Read and enjoy....