Best Destiny
Best Destiny is a Pocket TOS novel written by Diane Carey. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in hardback in .

Summary 
From the book jacket
As James T. Kirk prepares to retire from a long and illustrious Starfleet career, events in a distant part of the Federation draw him back to a part of the galaxy he had last visited as a young man – a mysterious world called Faramond whose name takes Kirk on a journey back to his youth.

At sixteen, Kirk is troubled, estranged from his father and has a bleak future. However, a trip into space with Kirk's father George and Starfleet legend Captain Robert April changes James' life forever, when a simple voyage aboard the  becomes a deadly trap. Soon, Kirk and father find themselves fighting a vicious and powerful enemy.

Before the voyage ends, father and son will face life and death together, and James T. Kirk will get a glimpse of the future and his own best destiny.

Memorable quotes 
"How would it look to the young if we botched our final duty?"
 - James T. Kirk, to Spock and McCoy in 2293

"Kodos the Executioner… they, um, never found him, did they?"
"No, I'd like to find the bastard – what he put my family through and me through…"
 - Robert April and George Kirk discussing the massacre on Tarsus IV

"It stinks in here."
 - A sixteen year-old James T. Kirk upon stepping on the USS Enterprises bridge for the first time

"Quit lipping off and get… up… here."
 - George Kirk, to his son Jim

"I ought to slingshot around the sun, go back forty-five years and slap myself."
 - Kirk in 2293, recalling his bad behavior as a youth

Background information 
 This story is a sequel to Carey's previous George Kirk/Robert April novel . 
 Carey's characterization of young James Kirk was inspired by her time serving aboard a pair of ships crewed by  teenagers. She noted that "I was impressed by these troubled youths and their situation, and notice the determination with which they tended their ships. Being at sea, in a closed environment, with officers and orders, had put them in a new direction. I decided they fit the template for James Kirk much better than a kid who never did anything wrong." ()
 The framing sequence takes place shortly after .
 Best Destiny reached number seven on the New York Times Best Seller List for , its first week on the list.  It remained on the list for two weeks.
 The Science Fiction Book Club released a special edition of the hardback in .
 The audiobook adaptation, by the author, focuses on the story of young James Kirk and George Kirk/Robert April, leaving out the framing story.
 The first page of the book adopts the Star Trek Blueprints meaning of the starship registry prefix "NCC", classifying it as "Naval Construction Contract".

Cover gallery

Characters 
James T. Kirk
George Samuel Kirk
Robert April

References 
2249; 2293; ; Faramond; Khitomer

External links 
 
 

de:Kirks Bestimmung
Novels
Audiobooks