Final Frontier (novel)
Space: Arena for Man's greatest dream…

Final Frontier is a Pocket TOS novel – the third "Giant" novel – written by Diane Carey. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in .

Summary 
From the book jacket
This is the story of a hero – and a moment forever lost to history.

It is a tale of Starfleet's early days, of a time before the Star Trek we know. The story of a secret mission gone horribly wrong – and an instant in time where the galaxy stood poised on the brink of one final, destructive war. It is the story of a ship since passed on into legend, and a man we know only as the father of Starfleet's greatest captain.

His name is Kirk. Commander George Samuel Kirk. He is a warrior, born and bred to battle. Now destiny has placed the fate of a hundred innocent worlds on his shoulders.

And put the power of the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever seen in his hands…

Prologue 
James T. Kirk has returned to his home in Riverside, Iowa. The Enterprise has just returned from a mission; the Guardian of Forever sent Leonard McCoy to the year 1930, a painful scenario ending with the death of Edith Keeler. He finds a cache of letters his father wrote, nearly 25 years earlier, in his childhood possessions on the Kirk family farm. 

Shrugging off attempts by Dr. McCoy to discuss his preoccupation with the tragedy in 1930, Kirk begins to read.

Chapter 1 
Commander George Kirk is the security chief on Starbase 2. While writing to his sons, Kirk notices trouble on the video monitor, in the public lounge area. Lieutenant Francis Drake Reed is in trouble, having attempted to hustle some players at the pool table. Kirk rescues him, and the two split Reed's loot, and discuss Kirk's letters to home.

Commander Kirk regrets missing his young son Jimmy's upcoming tenth birthday. Reed, a West Indian creole with a quizzical manner, taunts Kirk for writing paper letters to his boys.

Suddenly, the two are jumped by a woman in a surgical mask, rendering them unconscious with cloths moistened with a powerful sedative.

Hope and a Common Future 
Nine years after the events of the Rosenberg rescue, Captain Robert April makes an address to the UFP general assembly, announcing his retirement from command of the Starship Program. He mentions that there are now five  starships in the fleet, with seven more under construction. He lists the examples of ,  and , mentioning that the military sounding names are overridden by the class name, taken from the United States Constitution, speaking to the aim of creating "domestic tranquility while providing for the common defense" – of all lifeforms. He announces passing on command of Enterprise to Christopher Pike.

Epilogue 
The epilogue lists the aftermath of the incident in the Zone and the fate of those involved. No log was ever filed or discussed relating to an encounter with Romulans. As far as Starfleet is concerned, there was no contact made by the unnamed starship on a mission to rescue SS Rosenberg.

T'Cael takes to a life as a Human, in disguise as "Cale Sandorsen," a statesman who ends up setting many precedents and making detailed recommendations for Federation first contact procedures and ambassadorial ethics between races.

George Kirk is assigned as Sandorsen's security chief, allowing him to spend more time near Earth with his family. Shortly after Jim Kirk becomes a junior midshipman at Starfleet Academy, the ship George and Sandorsen are on vanishes with no trace on a diplomatic assignment.

Background information 
 In developing April for Final Frontier, having only the Animated Series episode  as a basis, author Diane Carey decided to give him "a warm, funny, visionary personality, and made him a gentle and wise counterpoint to the very volatile and action-oriented George Kirk. [… The] idea is that somehow James Kirk is the composite of the better qualities of both April and George Kirk, the visionary wisdom with the proactive reactionary hero." ()
 The full cover artwork to Final Frontier (as seen in the inside front cover of the original paperback release) depicts five main characters (James Kirk, George Kirk, T'Cael, Robert April and Sarah April) as well as two "fly-by" shots of the . However, the front cover's large text limited the duplicated art to the depictions of James Kirk, George Kirk and T'Cael. The "front cover" shot of the Enterprise is actually the picture from the inside front cover shown thanks to a "cutaway" top corner of the front cover. (Some later printings have the front cover as a single piece with no cutaway or inside artwork.)
 The framing sequence of this story is set shortly after .
 The dating scheme of this novel is based on the Spaceflight Chronology. The book had an original start date for the past sequences, around 10 May, 2183 – but later Trek canon has established the Enterprise was commissioned in the 2240s, not the 2180s as the Chronology assumed. The date of 10 May is also questionable, since later works generally treat Kirk's birthday as being in March. The relationships of time still make sense with the new dating system – Kirk was born in 2233, so his tenth birthday in 2243 fits as being within a few years of the as-yet-unnamed Enterprises commissioning in 2245 – and also falls about 25 years before the events of , in 2267 – just as the novel notes. April's farewell address on 2 October (given date 2192, or nine years after the events in the Zone), would probably take place in 2252 – a logical date for Pike to be taking command of Enterprise. The Star Trek Fiction Timeline in  sets the novel in 2244.
 There are mentions of George and Lt. Reed, in 2243, wearing red Starfleet uniforms. Since the dominant uniform style has only beige, gold, and blue tunics in , circa 2254, it therefore suggests a previous uniform style is in effect where the operations division wears red, as they did in the 22nd century Earth Starfleet.
 The audiobook adaptation was performed by James Doohan and Leonard Nimoy, and was released on cassette and as part of the Star Trek 25th Anniversary Audio Collection CD set.
 Final Frontier reached number eight on the New York Times Best Seller List for , its third week on the list.  It remained on the list for five weeks.
 The Science Fiction Book Club released a special hardback edition of the novel in .
 A second George Kirk story came from author Carey three years later – the hardcover novel Best Destiny.
 The repercussions of this story have plot ties to several early  and  episodes; namely , , and .

Cover gallery

Characters

2267 

James T. Kirk  Captain of the Enterprise in 2266. In 2243, he was a young boy approaching his 10th birthday, reading letters of his father's exploits in Starfleet. One of the promises young Jimmy's father made to him was that he would find out what his middle initial stood for.
The story lists Kirk as approaching his tenth birthday while the Enterprise is undergoing prototype shakedown testing – this indicates a date of 2243, two years before the ship would be commissioned.
 Spock
 Leonard McCoy
 Uhura
 Pavel A. Chekov
 Hikaru Sulu
 Montgomery Scott
 Edith Keeler
 Ron Oliver  Admiral
 Taroyan  Captain of

2243 
Kirk, George Samuel Sr.  George Kirk was Starfleet Security personnel, holding the rank of commander in 2243.

 Robert April

 Sarah Poole
 George Samuel Kirk, Jr

 Christopher Pike
 Francis Drake Reed  Lieutenant
 George Samuel Kirk, Jr.
 Winona Kirk
 "Scratch" Jones
 Anita Zagaroli  Captain of SS Rosenberg
 Idrys
 T'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle
 Zayn Z'ir
 Larl
 H'kuyu
 h'Daera
 Tr'Poll

References 
redshirt; Romulan Star Empire; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulans

   Earth–warp 2?–starship.
 

Experience  Romulan Swarm patrol ship of Commander h'Daera
Future Fire  Romulan Swarm patrol ship of Commander Tr'Poll
 laser pistol
   Federation starship of Capt. Taroyan
 USS Patton  Romulan War Era Earth Starfleet ship
Raze  Romulan Swarm flagship of Commander Idrys, under Field Primus T'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle.
Raffish  Romulan Swarm patrol ship of Commander Larl
 SS Rosenberg  Seidman-class colony ship of Capt. Anita Zagaroli
Soar  Romulan Swarm patrol ship of Commander H'kuyu
War Thorn  Romulan Swarm patrol ship of Commander Zayn Z'ir

Chronology 
 2243
 2252
 2267

External links 
 
 

de:Die letzte Grenze
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Audiobooks