Dreamland Books In Order

Publication Order of Dreamland Books

Dreamland is a series of techno-thriller novels written by Dale Brown.

+The Story

Dreamland is a techno-thriller. The name ‘Dreamland’ refers to a testing facility in the Nevada desert. The facility plays host to the most advanced aerospace technology in the world.

The greatest minds in the country use Dreamland to bring some truly amazing projects to life. The fact that someone like Dale Brown wrote Dreamland isn’t amazing. The author flew planes in the army.

He understands aerospace technology, and it was only natural that he would seek to explore the subject in fiction. The Dreamland series is very reminiscent of Brown’s earlier work.

There is a military aspect to the books and a lot of detailed exploration of the technology in play, not to mention a few political angles. Dale is very attached to his characters.

Anyone that has read his previous novels will attest to that fact. As such, it won’t come as a surprise to find characters from Dale’s Patrick McLanahan series making an appearance in this book.

The author also adapts concepts and even technology from his earlier work for the Dreamland series. That doesn’t negatively impact the novel, though; the adoptions are organic to each story and allow Dale’s books, past and present, to feel like they all belong in one cohesive universe.

The first Dreamland book came out in 2001. Ever since then, Dale Brown has written one Dreamland series novel every single year, and most of them have been received well by his fans.

Unfortunately for Dale, his fanbase is somewhat constrained when it comes to the Dreamland series. The books are very technical in nature. Dale manifests very intimate knowledge about aerospace technology and that helps his books attain an authentic feel.

However, the books can also prove confusing for some people. In fact, the biggest Dreamland fans will tell you that they have a basic understanding of the military, its structure, and operations, not to mention military vehicles and planes.

Such fans do not really have to work that hard to put all the pieces into place and make sense of all the jargon that Dale Brown throws around. For most normal readers, though, the Dreamland series can feel like a chore to read

+The Author

Dale Brown is an American author born in 1956 in Buffalo, New York. One of six children, Dale began flying in his teens, eventually acquiring a pilot’s license. A graduate of Penn State University where he studied West European History, Dale joined the Air Force in 1978.

The author racked up a lot of experience, receiving numerous awards for his efforts, this including a Combat Crew Award. With more than two thousand hours of flight time and the rank of captain under his belt, Dale eventually left the Air Force in 1986.

But even before his departure, Dale had already begun penning his first novel. In fact, by 1986, the book was ready for publishing. ‘Flight of the Old Dog’ hit the ground running, enjoying critical and financial success. The bestseller made Dale’s career and pushed him to write many more novels.

Most of Dale’s work is about aviation. He has been commended on numerous occasions for the prose he uses with regards to planes as well as his ability to put readers into the cockpit.

+Dreamland

Dreamland is under threat. A location where the greatest minds develop state of the art planes, a spy infiltration scandal has brought the future of Dreamland into question. The Pentagon would rather shut the whole thing down.

It falls on the shoulders of Colonel William Tecumseh Bastian to keep Dreamland as far away from the congressional chopping block as possible. Bastian arrives just in time to contend with a situation in Somalia.

While his daughter pilots a Megafortress bomber into the war zone, Bastian turns his attention to an unmanned flight system that has the potential to change everything for Dreamland.

This book more or less delivers what people have come to expect from Dale Brown. Dreamland is a facility in the desert where cutting edge aerospace technology is developed.

Despite Dreamland’s potential, doubt about its future begins to emerge when a spy infiltrates the facility as a pilot. The Air Force is unnerved by the breach. By the time Bastian arrives, there is very little in the way of morale or even trust.

Bastian has no time to put things at Dreamland in order. A situation has broken out in Somalia, and the only people Bastian can rely on to help him steer things are his daughter and her husband, a man whose mishap during training left him bound to a wheelchair.

Bastian is determined to return Dreamland to its former glory, hopefully even securing its funding in the long run.

The biggest failing of this book is the ridiculous number of characters in play. The cast is so large that it quickly gets confusing, especially with all the nicknames Bastian keeps throwing out. The only readers who will enjoy this book to its fullest are individuals with military knowledge or experience. Everyone else will probably be lost.

+Nerve Center

Colonel Bastian is the last hope Dreamland has. And for Bastian, the only thing that could keep Dreamland afloat is ANTARES. The experimental program revolves around a method of blending a pilot’s senses with electronic data.

Bastian knows that many voices are calling for even more budget cuts than what Dreamland has already dealt with. There is a need for quick results, and a test pilot is soon hooked into the system ahead of schedule.

While the system initially works, allowing the pilot to directly control multiple planes with his mind, he soon loses touch with reality and gives birth to a new nightmare.

Dale Brown’s books are very action heavy. In fact, his stories usually thrive on the action and his ability to describe aerial battles. The first book in the Dreamland series proved as much.

This book is a little different. The relationships between the characters are highlighted. The political aspects of the military are also emphasized. Readers looking forward to even more epic battles might actually be disappointed. There is action in the book but it is on a much smaller scale.

One Response to “Dreamland”

1. Cindy Moore: 3 years ago

   I have been trying to find out what happened to Colonel “Dog” Bastian & Jennifer Gleason. There’s a 15 year gap that doesn’t explain what happened. Just veiled references to missing her & that Dog has lost everything.
   Will this ever be explained?

   Reply