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Quest for Tomorrow #1
Delta Search
The key to the stars is the key to the empire. And to a young man’s future…
Young Jim Endicott has but one dream—to attend the Terran Space Academy, the gateway to the stars and the far-flung civilization known as the Confederation.
But unbeknownst to Jim, he has a secret encoded in his DNA. A secret that threatens an empire. A secret that his parents (or those who claim to be his parents!) have sworn never to reveal, on pain of death.
Jim’s Academy application sets off an explosive chain of terror, hurling the young man into an adventure beyond his wildest dreams. In his new life, he plumbs the depths of the “Pleb” underclass of the galaxy’s outcasts, and soars through the forbidden reaches of cyberspace.
With the help of a beautiful fellow outlaw named Cat, who is as tough as she is tender, Jim begins to unravel the shocking truth about his own origins—and uncovers the fatal deception that has split a bitter humanity into warring factions bent on mutual annihilation.
And in the process, Jim learns that he has one more enemy than he guessed—and one more friend than he knew.
In this premier Quest for Tomorrow book, William Shatner, the famed Star Trek star and author, inaugurates a series of novels that combine the dreams of youth with the terrors of empire. Crackling with high-tech action, and rich with unforgettable characters, each carefully researched adventure is complete with a special bibliography for young readers designed to assure scientific accuracy, provide essential guidance, and suggest fascinating new directions to explore.
Young Jim Endicott has but one dream—to attend the Terran Space Academy, the gateway to the stars and the far-flung civilization known as the Confederation.
But unbeknownst to Jim, he has a secret encoded in his DNA. A secret that threatens an empire. A secret that his parents (or those who claim to be his parents!) have sworn never to reveal, on pain of death.
Jim’s Academy application sets off an explosive chain of terror, hurling the young man into an adventure beyond his wildest dreams. In his new life, he plumbs the depths of the “Pleb” underclass of the galaxy’s outcasts, and soars through the forbidden reaches of cyberspace.
With the help of a beautiful fellow outlaw named Cat, who is as tough as she is tender, Jim begins to unravel the shocking truth about his own origins—and uncovers the fatal deception that has split a bitter humanity into warring factions bent on mutual annihilation.
And in the process, Jim learns that he has one more enemy than he guessed—and one more friend than he knew.
In this premier Quest for Tomorrow book, William Shatner, the famed Star Trek star and author, inaugurates a series of novels that combine the dreams of youth with the terrors of empire. Crackling with high-tech action, and rich with unforgettable characters, each carefully researched adventure is complete with a special bibliography for young readers designed to assure scientific accuracy, provide essential guidance, and suggest fascinating new directions to explore.
247 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
William Shatner
134 books804 followersWilliam Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I'm Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he stars as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal -- a role for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 25, 2022
Quest for Tomorrow was the last fiction series by Shatner with only his name on the cover. Having previously enjoyed his Tek books, I was hoping this series would also deliver. I will say that this first entry does. However I do think it has a greater impact the earlier in life one reads it, although it may not be appropriate for younger teens. One notable good thing about this teen-aged protagonist scenario—his parents were not fools. Rather they were competent and smart.
Firefight scenes with unusual weapons can be a lot of fun. I have written many for my series and Delta Search has its fair share. There is something desperate and perhaps a little lonely about fighting against the odds with only a single pistol standing between you and death. Such a scene can be exhilarating, touching, cruel, and sad. Shatner will run you through the gamut of emotions if you let yourself get carried along in the narrative.
The series depicts a big universe, with space travel relatively cheap and common. It contains a few major alien races out there vying for political leverage. The protagonist gets caught up into the heart of an intricate web and eventually into a final confrontation that sticks with me to this day many years later. The generalities may not be unique, but every application of ideas casts its own shadow. This one was good enough to launch four more books.
Quest for Tomorrow: Delta Search is not high fiction, but this entry is fun if you are looking for the kind of ride it delivers.
Firefight scenes with unusual weapons can be a lot of fun. I have written many for my series and Delta Search has its fair share. There is something desperate and perhaps a little lonely about fighting against the odds with only a single pistol standing between you and death. Such a scene can be exhilarating, touching, cruel, and sad. Shatner will run you through the gamut of emotions if you let yourself get carried along in the narrative.
The series depicts a big universe, with space travel relatively cheap and common. It contains a few major alien races out there vying for political leverage. The protagonist gets caught up into the heart of an intricate web and eventually into a final confrontation that sticks with me to this day many years later. The generalities may not be unique, but every application of ideas casts its own shadow. This one was good enough to launch four more books.
Quest for Tomorrow: Delta Search is not high fiction, but this entry is fun if you are looking for the kind of ride it delivers.
May 22, 2018
Entertaining story with some decent mystery and good action. The characters don't have a lot of depth, but this is a good light read. Sex is implied at least twice in the novel, so it may not be great for really young readers.
I'm a fan of Shatner, and did find this enjoyable. Some of the concepts here are prescient, particularly Genetic manipulation and technology. I'll be continuing this series, as I'm curious where it goes next. It was disappointing that one of the antagonists was apparently killed off at the end, because the character was very interesting, and I would have liked to see more of the character... At least it appeared that way.
You can see some beginnings of the plot points in TekWar, which he wrote later on. I really enjoyed that series.
I'm a fan of Shatner, and did find this enjoyable. Some of the concepts here are prescient, particularly Genetic manipulation and technology. I'll be continuing this series, as I'm curious where it goes next. It was disappointing that one of the antagonists was apparently killed off at the end, because the character was very interesting, and I would have liked to see more of the character... At least it appeared that way.
You can see some beginnings of the plot points in TekWar, which he wrote later on. I really enjoyed that series.
October 23, 2020
Loved this series so much when I was younger but never got to read the 5th book... been hunting for digital copies for awhile now just cuz their easier to have on me whenever the mood to read strikes but looks like I'm gonna have to go with paperback. If anytime knows where I can get the digital copies though please comment the site!!
September 2, 2024
Jim submits his application to the Academy setting off a chain of events that span worlds a galaxies. Interesting Science Fiction novel by William Shatner but a little slow in parts. Ahead of its time dealing with technology that has become normal but wasn’t around then.
March 4, 2012
"Delta Search" (Quest for Tomorrow 1) by William Shatner, the title may be search for, but the plot indicates search by. Delta, the ruling Earth dictator, sends bright red-lipsticked assassin Steele with team to kill Kate, Carl, and baby Jim, but only his wife is slain. The first pages are all Kate, and foreboding. To me, she stays the hero (Spoiler: despite dying lines later. Her son carries her coded secret, directed by girl Cat, who is propelled in turn by her uncle and his chip-stored secrets she transports.) To me heroes act to change their fate, are not passive receptacles or dandelion fluff in the breeze.
I kept reading because the puzzle keeps assembling. The plot does have clever twists, especially the end. But I do not agree with secrets; they cause trouble in real life and fiction. Here, techno-babble functions like sorcerous spells; the story feels superficial, sad, a Greek tragedy where doom is unavoidable because of heroic flaw. Perhaps the author's attempt to show the sides' characters switch and accept their opposite viewpoints deserves stars. I feel confused, diffused, off-track.
Carl marries Tabitha, hides the family away in a far-off planet colony. He keeps them safe, never discloses their danger. On his sixteenth birthday, Jim disobeys, applies to be a starship captain, sends their genetic data to government, to Delta, and the sky truly falls. The heavens rain hell.
Spoilers:
Jim kills Carl, and is poisoned, like a Trojan Horse, to infect Delta and his computers. Technology to power everything, hurt and heal on the spot with nanotech and genetic manipulation, messages encoded in DNA - all feels like magic in scientific jargon with guilt, remorse, regret, thrown in for human touch. Good guys don't want to kill is the old Star Trek mantra (for Captain Jim Kirk aka Shatner), but they do. Token figure of romance, brave Pleb girl Cat, feels sorry for naive Jim, leads him to her bed, so he falls in love. Like 1960-70s, females are mother, Mary, or Magdalene.
All the pain of the present stems from the past. Delta and Kate's research invented the system whereby men (with head hole jacks) anywhere in the stars can plug into the computer net. Kate warns that an increasing number of Plebs unemployed by mechanization will suffer mass Psychosis, random fatal violent behavior. When Delta disregards her advice and kills her, billions die and civilization suffers major setback. When people put me off and away, my little world suffers. I identify with Kate. If the moral of the story is Avoid head hole jacks to the internet, I agree.
I kept reading because the puzzle keeps assembling. The plot does have clever twists, especially the end. But I do not agree with secrets; they cause trouble in real life and fiction. Here, techno-babble functions like sorcerous spells; the story feels superficial, sad, a Greek tragedy where doom is unavoidable because of heroic flaw. Perhaps the author's attempt to show the sides' characters switch and accept their opposite viewpoints deserves stars. I feel confused, diffused, off-track.
Carl marries Tabitha, hides the family away in a far-off planet colony. He keeps them safe, never discloses their danger. On his sixteenth birthday, Jim disobeys, applies to be a starship captain, sends their genetic data to government, to Delta, and the sky truly falls. The heavens rain hell.
Spoilers:
Jim kills Carl, and is poisoned, like a Trojan Horse, to infect Delta and his computers. Technology to power everything, hurt and heal on the spot with nanotech and genetic manipulation, messages encoded in DNA - all feels like magic in scientific jargon with guilt, remorse, regret, thrown in for human touch. Good guys don't want to kill is the old Star Trek mantra (for Captain Jim Kirk aka Shatner), but they do. Token figure of romance, brave Pleb girl Cat, feels sorry for naive Jim, leads him to her bed, so he falls in love. Like 1960-70s, females are mother, Mary, or Magdalene.
All the pain of the present stems from the past. Delta and Kate's research invented the system whereby men (with head hole jacks) anywhere in the stars can plug into the computer net. Kate warns that an increasing number of Plebs unemployed by mechanization will suffer mass Psychosis, random fatal violent behavior. When Delta disregards her advice and kills her, billions die and civilization suffers major setback. When people put me off and away, my little world suffers. I identify with Kate. If the moral of the story is Avoid head hole jacks to the internet, I agree.
September 27, 2013
This was one of those books I read as a teen that made a huge impact on me. It is now one of those books that you re-read after they make a huge impact on you to find that they don't have the effect they once did. Still enjoyable, but not amazing.
April 27, 2013
Very well written book. A few cuss words that really don't even need to be in the book but otherwise the book keeps your interest throughout. A must read for sci-fi readers. Good job William Shatner.
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January 11, 2009very good have to read the whole series, the books get better as you get drawn into them
December 15, 2023
Great book moves along quickly.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews