STAR TREK: The Next Generation
Starfleet Academy #1:
"Worf's First Adventure"

written by Peter David.
Illustrated by James Fry
Published in August 1993 by Minstrel Books.
ISBN: 0-671-87084-X, 119 pages
cover by Catherine Huerta

Synopsis:
Cadets arrive on first day of Academy class of 2357. Worf and Zak Kebron meet and start to fight. The fight is broken up and they are taken to see the Commandant of the school. Admiral Fincher decides to make them roommates at the Academy so they can learn to be more tolerant. Any further fights and they are both out. Cadets Worf, Soleta, Tania Tobias and Mark McHenry form a study group. Over the new few months, many cadets in Worf's classes are mean to him just because his a Klingon. He meets new Ensign Geordi LaForge who convinces him not to quit. LaForge encourages Worf to go on the Prometheus Run. A team of cadets including the study group and Zak Kebron are sent on the Prometheus Run, which is a minor mission to check the monitoring systems on the Prometheus station out beyond Pluto. They arrive there and soon the systems detect enemy ships that attack the station. They try valiantly to save the station and send a message to Earth, and Worf must save Kebron's life. The station blows up but the cadets are fine. They learn that the whole thing was a holographic simulation. Due to Worf's heroic actions, Zak Kebron and he become friends, but neither will admit it.

Notes:

• This book spans some months. It begins in the fall of 2357 and ends in early 2358.

• This book was published in 1993, not long after the 1988 STAR TREK: The Next Generation episode "Heart of Glory" which mentioned that Worf had a human step brother who had tried and then dropped out of the Academy. Mr. David's Starfleet Academy Book One, featured this character and told of how he entered the Academy with Worf and then dropped out. In this book, Worf's brother was Worf's age and was named Simon Rozhenko. One year later in the 1994 STAR TREK: The Next Generation episode "Homeward", we meet Worf's brother and learn that he is older than Worf and is named Nikolai Rozhenko.

• Even though this book was written for young adult readers, it is a well crafted story and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

• The incident in which Starfleet Academy officials deceive students into thinking a situation is dangerous and real in order to test them is not unprecedented. In the 1988 STAR TREK: The Next Generation episode "Coming of Age", Wesley Crusher was tested in just such a manner while applying for entrance to the Academy in 2364.

• The ship that ferried the Academy team to Dantar IV in this book was the U.S.S. Repulse

• This book introduced the characters of Zak Kebron, Soleta, and Mark McHenry, who would all be reunited on the Excalibur sixteen years later.

• The character of Tania Tobias, who was a member of the Dream Team, was not reused in any other books by Peter David. She was a perky blonde human who specialized in engineering and had a large crush on Worf. Tania is shown on the covers of Starfleet Academy Books One and Two.

• This book introduced the very interesting race known as the Brikar, of which Zak Kebron was a member.