The Devil's Heart

The Devil's Heart is a Pocket TNG novel written by Carmen Carter. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in hardback in .
== Summary ==
;From the book jacket
:The Devil's Heart is a legendary object of unsurpassed power and mystery. Worlds that believe in magic consider it Darkness's mightiest talisman; and worlds of science consider it a lost artifact of some ancient and forgotten race. Some say the Heart enables its possessor to control people's minds and to amass wealth enough for a dozen lifetimes, while others think it capable of raising the dead, perhaps even changing the flow of time itself. But to all, the location of this fabled object has remained a mystery, until now.
:An isolated archaeological outpost has suddenly stopped responding to repeated requests for information. Sent to discover why, the USS Enterprise crew finds a devastated outpost and a dying scientist, whose last words fall on disbelieving ears: the Devil's Heart has been found. As the quest for the Heart unfolds, Captain Jean-Luc Picard discovers that beyond all the legends and age-old secrets lies an awful truth: whoever holds the Devil's Heart possesses power beyond imagining.
The is on its way to a maintenance overlay at Luxor IV when they are called to an archeological dig at Atropos to take T'Sara – an elderly Vulcan female believed to be suffering from Bendii Syndrome – back home to . The crew arrives at the planet to find almost the entire archaeological team dead, and only T'Sara left alive.
Soon Captain Picard learns that T'Sara had found the "Devil's Heart" – a stone of immense power that had shaped many Alpha Quadrant civilizations, including the Klingons, Andorians, Vulcans, Romulans, Tkon, and Iconians. Others also learn of T'Sara's discovery, and race to claim the Heart.
After leaving Atropos, the Enterprise is summoned by an automated Ferengi distress call to a wrecked Marauder, where Picard finds the Heart in the hands of the dead Ferengi DaiMon.
After Data attempts to analyze the stone, which raises more questions than answers, Picard keeps the Heart with him. The Heart tells Picard of its journeys by sending him the stories as dreams. The crew becomes more and more concerned about Picard's behavior, while others intent on regaining the Heart chase the Enterprise down. Picard becomes convinced that the stone has a mission to fulfill, and knows that if the Heart doesn't complete its mission, the Alpha Quadrant would face dire consequences.
== Memorable quotes ==
"The blood never stops flowing."
: - T'Sara
"It's just so… drab. With all that's been said and written about it, I expected, I don't know…"
"A faceted ruby the size of a watermelon?"
: - Dr. Beverly Crusher and Captain Picard
"Captain, trust my objectivity, to my lack of emotion, when I tell you that the Heart is more of a danger to us than any attacking fleet. Give it up now, while you still can. If you rely on its power to protect us, we will be destroyed."
:-Data
== Background information ==
* This is the final Star Trek novel written by author Carmen Carter. After turning down an initial approach to write a Next Generation hardback novel, Carter derived the concept for The Devil's Heart "during a late-night taxi ride from Manhattan to Brooklyn. By the time I arrived at my apartment, I was scrawling notes on a stray envelope and by the next day I had a proposal sketched out". However, Carmen later noted that the grueling writing experience "pretty much mined out [her] enjoyment in writing for the Star Trek universe". ()
* The audiobook version was abridged by George Truett.
* The Science Fiction Book Club released a special edition of the hardback in .
* The Devil's Heart reached number six on the New York Times Best Seller List for , its second week on the list. It remained on the list for four weeks.
* Bookriot.com ranked the novel among as one of the best Star Trek novels. 
=== Cover gallery ===
File:The Devil's Heart paperback cover.jpg|Paperback cover
File:The Devil's Heart audiobook cover, US cassette edition.jpg|Audiobook cover, US cassette edition
File:The Devil's Heart audiobook cover, digital edition.jpg|Audiobook cover, digital download edition
== Characters ==
=== Main ===
;Jean-Luc Picard
;William T. Riker
;Data
;Beverly Crusher
;Taris
;T'Sara
: An older Vulcan. She found the Devil's Heart.
=== Mentioned ===
; Sarek
; Surak
== References ==
; Devil's Heart
: A stone of immense power that had shaped many Alpha Quadrant civilizations, including the Klingons, Andorians, Vulcans, Romulans, Tkon, and Iconians.
; Iconia
; Guardian of Forever
; Haakona
;: Under the influence of the Heart, Picard re-lives his winning the Starfleet Academy marathon (the only freshman cadet to ever do so), a story told by his old friend, Admiral J.P. Hanson
== External links ==
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cs:The Devil's Heart
de:Das Herz des Teufels
Category:Novels
Category:Audiobooks