Shadow Planet

Quest for Tomorrow #5

by William Shatner

The ultimate destiny of humankind hangs in the balance in the gripping space saga.

A less likely group of saviors has never before jockeyed a great starship across the heavens-but Jim Endicott and the Stone Cowboys are suddenly the last hope of humanity. A street-toughened gang of thugs and hoodlums, they have already proved their mettle, staunching the flow of the killer drug that turned the world-sized intergalactic vessel Outward Bound into a gargantuan battlefield-cum-graveyard. Now, in a ship hijacked from the alien suppliers of the lethal narcotic and renamed Endeavor, the outlaw heroes are rocketing toward a grim confrontation they cannot avoid and, most likely, will not survive: a war to the death that will be waged on the enemy's home turf.

But first a motley group of street fighters-the scum of the galaxy, by all standards of decent people everywhere -- must be molded into a trained and disciplined commando unit. And that's where Jim Endicott comes in. Once hoping to join the Space Academy, now the untried captain of a stolen starship and its misfit crew, he has already altered one past using the astonishing powers of Omega, but the deadly challenge that lies ahead dwarfs any he has previously encountered. And within the Endeavor's close confines tension and unrest are perilously brewing, threatening to erupt in a devastating explosion of blood and mutiny that will have to be dealt with-brutally yet with finesse.

And after that ... the future is a terrifying question mark. For the roots of the fiendish galactic plot to obliterate the human "cancer" and end its expansion to the stars reach deep into dark, unknown, and inescapable places. And the only champions courageous -- and foolhardly -- enough to venture there are Endicott and his small band of cutthroat Cowboys, who have nothing in the universe left to lose.

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes the story into space as Jim seeks the source of the drug, Heat. We get some great space action until we finally reach the planet.
This book provides a decent adventure as Jim deals with the problems of leadership and solving the mystery of Heat that will have galactic consequences. I enjoyed the mystery here and the new races we meet in this story.
I was curious how this series would end, but it appears that the sixth entry doesn't exist. We do get a decent wrap-up and ending if this is the last book in this series as it appears to be.

[Mark Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final book in the Quest For Tomorrow. It has been an odd series. The first three books are like a trilogy and the last two are like a duology. There is possible storyline that could have gone forward but it ended here. Not bad but not as good a series as Shatner's Tek War series. I still like the second book the best and the last isn’t far behind. The bizarre thing about the series is it’s teenagers of around 16 years old and rarely any adults in series.

[Jenny Rosas · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading a Shatner book and it wasn't bad! Would definitely read more of his work.

[Larry Holshu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was well written and you could follow the plot. The series is well worth being read.