There was a time during the Dominion War that it wasn't certain the Federation would make it out of the war. Key planets were in jeopardy and many others had already fallen. The fallen planets included Betazed, the home of Counselor Deanna Troi of the U.S.S. Enterprise. She hadn't been the same since her news of her home's fall had reached her. No word on if her mother, Lwaxana Troi, or her little brother had made it through or if she would ever see them again. The Federation simply didn't have enough ships and manpower to go save them. She has to live with this. She has to try to do her job knowing this. Deanna Troi has to go to work everyday ready to help Captain Jean-Luc Picard in any way she can with her empathic abilities not knowing if her own family was even still alive. It's eating away at Deanna and Commander William T. Riker, the love of her life, sees this and knows this. But they are in a war and all they can do is hope. But do you really think that Lwaxana Troi would fall that easily? Of course she wouldn't! Lwaxana is the head of the revolution to get Betazed back. She's behind the whole, daring plan to get her home back. Deanna's little brother is alive too. His mother and him are living in one of the hidden villages from the Dominion, because of their royal status with many others that hold places in the Houses of Betazed. Some of the strongest empaths and telepaths have come together and they are ready to get their planet back from the Dominion with only a little help from Starfleet. The only problem is the end result. They could get their planet back, but would they lose the culture of serenity that they had before the war? Would this just have to be a product of them being free once again? Luckily it is the Enterprise that is sent to go help free Betazed and the population that is holding on, but Starfleet can't afford to send any more help then that. The worries if it will be enough are on the minds of everyone, including Deanna who still doesn't know what she will find on her beloved home world when the Enterprise takes orbit. Deanna does find her family, but the happiness is quickly replaced. The idea of royals on Betazed is to have a mass murderer who murders with his mind teach everyone how to do this to the Founders and then the Enterprise deals with their little army. Deanna had worked with this twisted man in her early days of learning about counseling. Memories of this horrible man flood back and Deanna is against it, but agrees because she sees no other way. It is now up to her and the Enterprise crew to free this man and make this plan work. Only, things aren't going to go as planned and the bottom almost falls out of the whole thing. I'm a huge Vulcan and Betazed fan, so this book was a must for me. I must say it was an interesting look at the Betazed culture. You get to see Lwaxana in a different light for sure and it's actually nice to see Picard actually be relieved to find the Betazoid alive and well. Also another thing I loved about this book was that it was a good reality check. The Dominion War was a huge blast in the side of the Federation and this says just how bad it was. And it brought up an excellent question of whether it was worth defeat to ruin the whole basis of your culture? This book was a very personal one and a very deep one. These two women had great insight on what Deanna was probably feeling too. I'm not a huge Deanna fan, but I even understood her in this one. This book is a great look at the Enterprise crew from a whole different angle then what we had seen or read before.
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Title: The Battle of Betazed
Author: Charlotte Douglas & Susan Kearny
Review by: CL6 Amanda Sielu Paris
2-15-05
