Enterprise: The First Adventure
Now, the untold story – Captain Kirk's First Mission!

Enterprise: The First Adventure is a Pocket TOS novel written by Vonda N. McIntyre. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in , and outlines the first mission undertaken by James T. Kirk as Captain of the .

Summary 
From the book jacket
James T. Kirk is the youngest man to be promoted to the rank of captain in Federation history. His crew consists of a first officer who finds him impetuous; a chief engineer who finds him arrogant; a chief medical officer who finds him trifling; and a helmsman who wants a transfer.
But the young crew, which would later become the legendary space explorers, quickly puts aside their differences when a monstrous starship appears on their nascent flight path.

Memorable quotes 
"…and I know that Captain Kirk will find the Enterprise and its crew as faithful as I did."
 - Christopher Pike

"No, he treats me like I'm fifteen. That's when he met me. He treats you like you're eight."
 - Sam Kirk

"I believe that what Ms. Lukarian is trying to tell you is that you are a doctor, not a magician."
 - Spock

"I do not control the worldship, James. I control the universe."
 - Scarlet

Background information 
 This was the first of Pocket Books' so-called "Giant" novels, featuring a larger page count, and falling outside of the numbered novel system.
 Enterprise: The First Adventure reached number four on the New York Times Best Seller List for .  It remained on the list until at least .
 The Science Fiction Book Club released a special hardback edition of the novel in .
 The audiobook adaptation was performed by George Takei and Leonard Nimoy, and was released on cassette and as part of the Star Trek 25th Anniversary Audio Collection CD set.
 The choice of date for the story's setting is taken from , which sets Kirk's taking command of the Enterprise in 2265. No such mention of the official year is mentioned in the novel.
The novel was the first to establish Kirk's mother's name as 'Winona'. This would later be canonically confirmed with the release of the 2009 Star Trek film. 
 Janice Rand's age is given as sixteen. This would place the year of her birth in 2249.

Cover gallery

Characters 
 James T. Kirk  Captain.
 Spock Commander.
 Leonard McCoy  CMO.
 Montgomery Scott  Lt. Commander.
 Hikaru Sulu  Lieutenant.
 Uhura  Lieutenant.
 Janice Rand  Yeoman.
 Christine Chapel
 Gary Mitchell
 Carol Marcus
 Christopher Pike  Captain, promoted to commodore.
 Noguchi  Admiral.
 Mark Piper  Doctor.
 Kyle  Chief.
 Winona Kirk
 Sam Kirk

Mentioned 
 Philip Boyce CMO of Starbase 32.
 Hunter  Captain of the Aerfen.
Captain Hunter previously appeared in The Entropy Effect'', also written by McIntyre.

References 
Spacedock
Starbase 13
Starbase 32

External links 
 
 

de:Die erste Mission
Novels
Audiobooks