Encounter at Farpoint (novel)
At last – the all-new adventure begins!

The novelization of "Encounter at Farpoint" is an adaptation of , credited to David Gerrold. A Pocket TNG novel published by Pocket Books, it was first released in .

In an interview featured in the 2021 documentary series The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek, Gerrold revealed that the novel was actually written by D.C. Fontana. According to the documentary and Gerrold, Fontana had been commissioned to adapt her script for the episode, only for Gerrold to be given the assignment after she'd completed the work. In his interview, Gerrold said he had Fontana's novel published under his name, but gave her the money.

Summary 
From the book jacket
Captain's log, stardate 41254.7. The  is en route to Cygnus IV – the edge of the the known galaxy. There, we will rendezvous with the ship's new first officer and the other command personnel and proceed with our mission: discover the truth about Farpoint Station, a starbase facility built by the inhabitants of Cygnus IV, a starbase of unparalleled size and complexity… and infinite mystery.And the success or failure of this, our first mission together, may well determine the course of Human exploration across the galaxy for centuries to come… 

 Background information 
 Some of the concepts and backstory Gerrold introduced in the book were later contradicted by episodes made after his departure from the series. The story was based on the script by D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry.
 Advance publicity listings for this publication jokingly gave the as-yet-unannounced author the pseudonym "Godonly Nose".
 Cover gallery 

 Characters 

 Regular and recurring characters 

Jean-Luc Picard  Starfleet captain, CO of . Picard's age is given as 55 in this book although later canon dates suggest he is more like 59 or so.
William T. Riker  Starfleet commander, newly assigned first officer of Enterprise-D. Riker spent three years as second officer of  before spending two years as first officer of . 
In one scene, Riker tells Wesley to call him "Bill". This is one of two novels where Riker is called Bill, the other is Ghost Ship.
Data  Android Starfleet lieutenant commander, operations officer of the Enterprise-D. Data had previously served on three other starships, and each of his promotions had come with commendations from his commanding officers.
Beverly Crusher  Starfleet commander, CMO of Enterprise-D.
Worf  Klingon Starfleet lieutenant junior grade who was assigned to the Enterprise-D in the command division.
Deanna Troi  Half-Betazoid Starfleet lieutenant commander assigned as Enterprise-D counselor.
Geordi La Forge  VISOR-sighted Starfleet lieutenant junior grade assigned as Enterprise-D flight control officer.
Natasha Yar  Starfleet lieutenant assigned as Enterprise-D security chief.
Wesley Crusher  Fifteen-year-old Enterprise-D resident.
Q
Leonard McCoy  Admiral.
Miles O'Brien  O'Brien's part was only referred to as "conn" in the book and episode.

 Other characters 
Torres
Zorn
The Mandarin bailiff
Robert DeSoto
 Starfleet ensign.
 Assistant CMO on Enterprise. Dr. Asenzi took Torres to sickbay.
 Starfleet admiral.
Joanna McCoy  Joanna also appeared in the novel Crisis on Centaurus. Starfleet commander to whom La Forge and Hughes report. Riker's order for La Forge to join the away team superseded Barton's orders. 
 Starfleet commander. 
 
 
 

 Mentioned 
 Close personal acquaintance of Jean-Luc Picard who had perished an uncertain amount of time prior to taking command. Picard recalled it had been the last time he had seriously thought of romantic relationships.
James T. Kirk  23rd century Starfleet rear admiral who had begun the tradition of newly-assigned commanding officers boarding ships named Enterprise'' by shuttlecraft. Picard mused that many didn't remember that the tradition had been started because of a major transporter malfunction at the time.

References 
Bandi; ; Deneb IV; ; Farpoint Station; ; LCARS; Starfleet; ; VISOR;

External links 
 
 

cs:Encounter at Farpoint (román)
de:Mission Farpoint (Roman)
fr:Encounter at Farpoint
Novelizations