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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Young Adult #11
Honor Bound: Day of Honor
On the occasion of the sacred Klingon Day of Honor, Worf's son Alexander, now living on Earth, must learn to control his hunter instincts or lose everything that he loves. Original.
128 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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About the author
Diana G. Gallagher
157 books56 followersDiana G. Gallagher was an American author who wrote books for children and young adults. She also wrote the space opera The Alien Dark (1990), but was best known for her tie-in work for television properties including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, Star Trek and The Secret World of Alex Mack, among others.
She was also a prolific filk creator, winning Pegasus Awards in 1986 and ’94. Gallagher won a Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist in 1988 under the name Diana Gallagher Wu. She sometimes also wrote under the name Diana Burke.
Born in 1946, in Paterson, New Jersey, she lived in Florida with her husband, the writer Martin R. Burke, who predeceased her in 2011. Gallagher was married four times; her third marriage was to author William F. Wu (divorced 1990).
Gallagher died December 2, 2021 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 75 years of age.
She was also a prolific filk creator, winning Pegasus Awards in 1986 and ’94. Gallagher won a Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist in 1988 under the name Diana Gallagher Wu. She sometimes also wrote under the name Diana Burke.
Born in 1946, in Paterson, New Jersey, she lived in Florida with her husband, the writer Martin R. Burke, who predeceased her in 2011. Gallagher was married four times; her third marriage was to author William F. Wu (divorced 1990).
Gallagher died December 2, 2021 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 75 years of age.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 14, 2018
One of the best in the series. Some wonderful tie-in references to previous events from the TV series/books.
*spoiler* Only element that felt somewhat implausible was the speed of reversal of the other boys' attitudes towards Alexander at the end.
*spoiler* Only element that felt somewhat implausible was the speed of reversal of the other boys' attitudes towards Alexander at the end.
January 20, 2016
A really fun Star Trek young adult story about Alexander.
May 27, 2025
I enjoy this one. There is a dearth of Worf and Alexander stories and tying this to the Day of Honor books that were published for TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY was a fun idea.
Michael Herring’s cover very oddly uses an early TNG image of Worf’s head on his DS9 body, but the internal illustrations by Gordon Purcell are excellent.
Michael Herring’s cover very oddly uses an early TNG image of Worf’s head on his DS9 body, but the internal illustrations by Gordon Purcell are excellent.
March 8, 2018
Over the past few weeks I have been working my way through the Star Trek: Day of Honor books. I have visited the original series, Voyager, Generations and DS9, but none took me to the place that ‘Honor Bound’ by Dina G Gallagher did; the Tween novel. After every other book in the series was an ‘adult’ book, this one is set in a high school and even has images.
Puberty is hitting Alexander hard, he has all the usual worries of a teenager, but no one told him about the rage that comes with being a Klingon. With the Federation and Klingon Empire back at war, he is not the most popular student in school. When he is targeted by bullies, Alex finds it hard not to tear their arms out. Enter Worf, can he teach his son to rise above petty issues and use his honour to stay calm?
As a novel for the 8-10 year old market I have no real reason to enjoy ‘Honor Bound’, but it works because it is one of the few books in the ‘Day of Honor’ series that actually remembers to be about honour. Alexander is getting heavily bullied and rather than rising to it, he walks away. This does not stop him being persecuted by the school and it is only the intervention of Worf that can save the day. The solid centre of the book works; be honourable and things will work out.
This simplifies view of matters permeate the rest of the book and it does not work quite as well. The relationships are very teeny; glances and crushes. For the correct audience this should speak to them, but after five adult Honor books, it does feel a little odd. Also, the gymnastics part of the book is just odd!
The important thing is though that the book works for an emerging reader. The characters and plot is pedestrian, but simple enough to follow. I found the images a little embarrassing, but they do break up the text if your attention span is a little light. Despite the book being aimed at a younger audience and having a weird gymnastics subplot, I still found it entertaining enough as an adult. It was pacy and importantly remembered the central message of honour throughout.
Puberty is hitting Alexander hard, he has all the usual worries of a teenager, but no one told him about the rage that comes with being a Klingon. With the Federation and Klingon Empire back at war, he is not the most popular student in school. When he is targeted by bullies, Alex finds it hard not to tear their arms out. Enter Worf, can he teach his son to rise above petty issues and use his honour to stay calm?
As a novel for the 8-10 year old market I have no real reason to enjoy ‘Honor Bound’, but it works because it is one of the few books in the ‘Day of Honor’ series that actually remembers to be about honour. Alexander is getting heavily bullied and rather than rising to it, he walks away. This does not stop him being persecuted by the school and it is only the intervention of Worf that can save the day. The solid centre of the book works; be honourable and things will work out.
This simplifies view of matters permeate the rest of the book and it does not work quite as well. The relationships are very teeny; glances and crushes. For the correct audience this should speak to them, but after five adult Honor books, it does feel a little odd. Also, the gymnastics part of the book is just odd!
The important thing is though that the book works for an emerging reader. The characters and plot is pedestrian, but simple enough to follow. I found the images a little embarrassing, but they do break up the text if your attention span is a little light. Despite the book being aimed at a younger audience and having a weird gymnastics subplot, I still found it entertaining enough as an adult. It was pacy and importantly remembered the central message of honour throughout.
June 22, 2017
I enjoyed the Day of Honor series, though I think most of the other "crossover" series were a little better.
March 1, 2024
I have to admit that, before picking it up, I had my doubts about this one. I've read two Star Trek books recently that focused on the kid characters - one was a children's book featuring Jake Sisko, and the other had Alexander and Picard on a holodeck adventure together. Neither were that great, largely because of the adults putting kids at enormous risk to satisfy the demands of idiot plot. In Honor Bound, however, Worf proves a substantially better parent than Ben Sisko did in Arcade, and a far better teacher than Picard was in Ancient Blood. He demonstrated Klingon honor, and encouraged both Alexander and the school bullies his son was dealing with to learn about said honor in effective and appropriate ways. Which sounds pretty didactic as I describe it, but it really wasn't - just a fun, satisfying story where kids fight over their differences and then learn to appreciate each other and get along, which is basically Federation ideals at small scale.
Worf really was excellent here. A+ parenting all round.
Worf really was excellent here. A+ parenting all round.
November 10, 2024
Not bad for a YA book. It was nice to actually get a decent Worf and Alexander story.
January 25, 2012
I came across this one when weeding our SF shelves - and I really, really liked it. If the language were a bit cleaner and less pedestrian, it would merit four stars. The story, though simple, is heartfelt. Young Alexader Rozhenko, part Klingon and entirely confused, is awaiting his father's arrival. As he approaches his teens, his temper is becoming volatile, and he's afraid of what he may do to the bullies who are tormenting him if he cannot control his emotions. Lieutenant Commander Worf comes back to earth to help his young son through this trial. Alexander badly needs to learn self-control and discipline, but he also has to find a way to cope with the bullying without resorting to violence. With his father's help, he begins to find his equilibrium. But then he is accused of starting a fight. Next to injuring or killing another child, what Alexander most dreads is disappointing his father and his grandparents. Will they believe him, or his accusers? With his father's help, Alexander concocts a clever plan to confront the bullies and get at the truth . . .
It's easy, I would think, for any kid to relate to Alexander's struggles, especially his fear of disappointing the adults he loves. And there are a lot of good messages in this short book - messages that are the more powerful because they're integral to the story. What does it mean to be an honorable person? Is it ever right to break your word? when, and how, is it right to fight? Alexander struggles with all of these as he works to acquire control and find his way forward. A lot of substance for a light, pleasant read.
It's easy, I would think, for any kid to relate to Alexander's struggles, especially his fear of disappointing the adults he loves. And there are a lot of good messages in this short book - messages that are the more powerful because they're integral to the story. What does it mean to be an honorable person? Is it ever right to break your word? when, and how, is it right to fight? Alexander struggles with all of these as he works to acquire control and find his way forward. A lot of substance for a light, pleasant read.
November 25, 2012
A not unpleasant but annoyingly simplistic story about Worf's son Alexander and his adjustment to a racist human community. The book tries to be a smart and encouraging tale about conquering prejudice, but in the setting of Star Trek it feels awfully off and simplistic. Gallagher writes pretty well, but when the story is so very unenlightened there isn't much to be done.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews