Pete's Log: Guises of the Mind (Star Trek: The Next Generation Book 27)
Entry #2748, (Books, Writing, n such)(posted when I was 46 years old.)
Today I finished Guises of the Mind by Rebecca Neason. It is Star Trek: The Next Generation numbered novel #27.
The German word for boring is langweilig, which derives from the sense that something boring makes it feel like it lasts a long while. There's also its opposite, kurzweilig (which Wiktionary claims is archaic), which is used to describe something fun or entertaining because it feels like it lasts a short while (kurz is German for short). I like these sorts of literal words.
This book was kurzweilig—it helped pass the time—and that's all it had to be. I only expect high literature from the single digit Star Trek: The Next Generation numbered novels.
The book was also strange. Lots of faith and religion and divine rights of kings stuff that felt a bit out of place for ST:TNG. Deanna Troi was our focused crew member and she was written well enough. Data went on his own spiritual quest. He and other non-focused crew members like La Forge and Worf were written to sound like themselves. I appreciated the way their dialog in the book felt like it would fit into a regular episode.
The story itself had too many "they got there just in the nick of time" moments and the behavior of some of the characters from the planet stretches credulity a bit too much.
It also needed one last editing pass. Various little annoying errors like "were" instead of "where", "had" instead of "have" and "ife" instead of "wife". Also I took issue with the replicator being called a "food dispenser" when on the show it's always the replicator as far as I can remember. And the initial mission briefing featured a holographic display above the conference table when in the show they always use screens for mission briefings. Yes, these things bugged me enough to take notes of them. Oh and finally the phrase "sleeveless vest" which maybe I'm taking more offense at than I should since it actually seems commonplace on the internet. But are there other types of vests?
Anyway, recommended for fans of ST:TNG who like Troi as a character and don't mind lots of discussions of faith and god. Not recommended for anyone else.
I picked this book up after noticing it on JB's bookshelf. Neither Jamie or I are sure where it came from. Best guess is one of my sisters. I found a receipt in it from 1993. Looks like it was purchased in Massachusetts:
(There's something nostalgic about paying an extra penny so you get two quarters in change instead of the seven coins required to make 49 cents)