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Terminator Universe
Terminator 3: Terminator Dreams
Despite the heroic efforts of John Connor and Kate Webster, and the ultimate sacrifice of a T-850 terminator, Skynet became operational and mobilized its machine forces in all-out war against its prime mankind. More than twenty years later the war continues, fought by human resistance forces led by John and Kate, and by people in secret enclaves around the world. Raiding machine facilities, using small guerrilla forces to sabotage and destroy Skynet forces, the resistance is holding its own . . . but it's not enough. The self-aware AI that controls the robot terminators, the hunter-killers, and the rest of what used to be America's arsenal is too smart, too quick, too flexible to be defeated.
Or perhaps the answer to human victory lies shrouded behind the mists of time. Before Judgment Day, Danny Avila was a programmer on the project that became Skynet. In the months leading up to Judgment Day he began to have nightmares involving Terminators rampaging and destroying the world. Then, two days before the holocaust, he disappeared. Found years later by John and Kate, completely amnesiac about events of his life prior to Judgment Day, he became a useful member of the resistance, with an uncanny ability to predict Skynet tactics.
Now he is having Terminator dreams again, dreams of the days when he was on the Terminator design team . . . of the days when the world was on the path to destruction.
Could there be some kind of psychic link between the Danny of today and the Danny of nearly thirty years ago---a mental "wire" through which thoughts and images are transmitted forward and backward in time? Might this one desperately stressed man living in two eras be the time machine the resistance needs to undo the devastation of Judgment Day? A daring and dangerous experiment may prove the salvation of mankind's future . . .
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
Or perhaps the answer to human victory lies shrouded behind the mists of time. Before Judgment Day, Danny Avila was a programmer on the project that became Skynet. In the months leading up to Judgment Day he began to have nightmares involving Terminators rampaging and destroying the world. Then, two days before the holocaust, he disappeared. Found years later by John and Kate, completely amnesiac about events of his life prior to Judgment Day, he became a useful member of the resistance, with an uncanny ability to predict Skynet tactics.
Now he is having Terminator dreams again, dreams of the days when he was on the Terminator design team . . . of the days when the world was on the path to destruction.
Could there be some kind of psychic link between the Danny of today and the Danny of nearly thirty years ago---a mental "wire" through which thoughts and images are transmitted forward and backward in time? Might this one desperately stressed man living in two eras be the time machine the resistance needs to undo the devastation of Judgment Day? A daring and dangerous experiment may prove the salvation of mankind's future . . .
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
11 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Allston
174 books372 followersAaron Dale Allston was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's Dungeons & Dragons game setting Mystara. His later works as a novelist include those of the X-Wing series: Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, Solo Command, Starfighters of Adumar, and Mercy Kill. He wrote two entries in the New Jedi Order series: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream and Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Allston wrote three of the nine Legacy of the Force novels: Betrayal, Exile, and Fury, and three of the nine Fate of the Jedi novels: Outcast, Backlash, and Conviction.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 25, 2017
Actual rating is 3.5 stars.
This book is based from the movies and takes place concurrently with the third movie. In this one, Daniel is with John Connor in the future. He starts having dreams where he is connecting with his younger self before Judgement Day. This connection is real and the human fighters try to use this connection in hopes of helping the fight against Skynet.
This book was a pleasant surprise as I didn't buy into the concept of dreams for this universe. I have no problem with time-traveling cyborgs from the future to kill humans that were sent by a sentient computer. I had to draw the line somewhere and I am glad I did not draw it for this book. This was a nice look into is the future preordained or can we change it if we know its outcome. The characters were well thought out and the author did an excellent job with the atmosphere that occurs days before Judgement Day. There is plenty of action for fans of the movies and action enthusiasts.
This was a nice read for fans of this universe and I am glad I finally decided to give this book a try. While nothing from this universe will ever live up to the second movie this book entertains and kept me interested.
This book is based from the movies and takes place concurrently with the third movie. In this one, Daniel is with John Connor in the future. He starts having dreams where he is connecting with his younger self before Judgement Day. This connection is real and the human fighters try to use this connection in hopes of helping the fight against Skynet.
This book was a pleasant surprise as I didn't buy into the concept of dreams for this universe. I have no problem with time-traveling cyborgs from the future to kill humans that were sent by a sentient computer. I had to draw the line somewhere and I am glad I did not draw it for this book. This was a nice look into is the future preordained or can we change it if we know its outcome. The characters were well thought out and the author did an excellent job with the atmosphere that occurs days before Judgement Day. There is plenty of action for fans of the movies and action enthusiasts.
This was a nice read for fans of this universe and I am glad I finally decided to give this book a try. While nothing from this universe will ever live up to the second movie this book entertains and kept me interested.
August 10, 2018
Aaron Allston is one of my favorite sci-fi authors, and this sequel to the Terminator 3 movies had a great mix of flashbacks to Judgement Day, complex plotting in the present, and sightings of all our favorite characters. Loved it.
July 10, 2025
The real world is getting gnarly so apparently my mind is seeking solace in silly fiction.
More than twenty years ago now, Aaron Allston was hired to write a couple T3 novels. Allston was one of the best in the business of licensed tie-in fiction, having written some of the few Star Wars novels worth revisiting. And indeed this doesn't feel too far off his Star Wars fiction, with its eclectic characters and banter. The premise of T3 is that Judgment Day wasn't actually cancelled by the events of T2, just delayed. I guess that pushing the apocalypse back a decade or so means that this version of the future war isn't quite the same as the version we saw glimpses of in the first two movies - the situation seems less grim, less existential, the resistance more like the small but spunky Rebel Alliance than like the grimy, malnourished PTSD hell of Kyle Reese's future. (Weirdly, the 10-year gap on John Connor's resume doesn't seem to have affected him at all; an extra decade as an off-the-grid drifter instead of spent fighting the machines yet he's still the leader of the resistance, though what exactly makes him so special isn't seen here -- he works much better as a concept than as a character, hence one of Terminator Salvation's biggest problems.) (Also, I guess weapons development took a different course, as there's no sign of "phased plasma rifles" here, just conventional guns.)
Anyway, this novel has a deeply silly premise. I get it. It's hard: how do you bridge the "present" and the future war without doing yet another iteration of "the resistance sends someone back to mitigate the damage and Skynet sends something back to enhance it"? But Allston is skilled enough to quickly gloss over the mechanics of it and let the plot and characters keep moving along, and the pages keep turning, fleshing out the development of Skynet and the Terminators a little beyond what we see in the movie, offering some decent set pieces, and ultimately circling around to an emotional climax. Allston's signature humor isn't necessarily what I'd think of for a Terminator novel but I guess it fits the goofier, one-linier direction they took in the flick, so I think this is about the best we could have hope for from a tie-in to this property. Of course, it would all be overwritten a few years later when the next sequel film went in a pretty different direction with the future war and Transformer-ized the series.
More than twenty years ago now, Aaron Allston was hired to write a couple T3 novels. Allston was one of the best in the business of licensed tie-in fiction, having written some of the few Star Wars novels worth revisiting. And indeed this doesn't feel too far off his Star Wars fiction, with its eclectic characters and banter. The premise of T3 is that Judgment Day wasn't actually cancelled by the events of T2, just delayed. I guess that pushing the apocalypse back a decade or so means that this version of the future war isn't quite the same as the version we saw glimpses of in the first two movies - the situation seems less grim, less existential, the resistance more like the small but spunky Rebel Alliance than like the grimy, malnourished PTSD hell of Kyle Reese's future. (Weirdly, the 10-year gap on John Connor's resume doesn't seem to have affected him at all; an extra decade as an off-the-grid drifter instead of spent fighting the machines yet he's still the leader of the resistance, though what exactly makes him so special isn't seen here -- he works much better as a concept than as a character, hence one of Terminator Salvation's biggest problems.) (Also, I guess weapons development took a different course, as there's no sign of "phased plasma rifles" here, just conventional guns.)
Anyway, this novel has a deeply silly premise. I get it. It's hard: how do you bridge the "present" and the future war without doing yet another iteration of "the resistance sends someone back to mitigate the damage and Skynet sends something back to enhance it"? But Allston is skilled enough to quickly gloss over the mechanics of it and let the plot and characters keep moving along, and the pages keep turning, fleshing out the development of Skynet and the Terminators a little beyond what we see in the movie, offering some decent set pieces, and ultimately circling around to an emotional climax. Allston's signature humor isn't necessarily what I'd think of for a Terminator novel but I guess it fits the goofier, one-linier direction they took in the flick, so I think this is about the best we could have hope for from a tie-in to this property. Of course, it would all be overwritten a few years later when the next sequel film went in a pretty different direction with the future war and Transformer-ized the series.
November 23, 2024
A tie-in and sequel to 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'.
In the post-apocalyptic world of 2029, one of John Connor's inner circle, Daniel Avila, discovers that he has developed a telepathic link across time with his younger self in the days leading up to Judgement Day. As the Resistance forces of the future fight to stay one step ahead of the Terminators, the younger Danny works to thwart the plans of Skynet and lay the foundation of future self's survival.
Okay, so the core concept here of a man suddenly developing the ability to dream across time to make contact with his younger self is contrived and silly. But if you can suspend your disbelief enough to get past that, then this is actually a really good book for any fan of the Terminator franchise.
Each of the two timeframes the book takes place in has compelling narratives driving them forward but also manages to be tonally distinct enough that you will be separately invested in each of them.
Allston does a great job of conveying the all-or-nothing desperation of the Resistance of 2029, nicely balancing the bleak tone of the post-apocalyptic world with the heroic determination and professionalism of the human freedom fighters. The fighting retreat from a Terminator-besieged compound is a great action sequence which really has you rooting for the largely-outmatched humans whilst keeping young in suspense over whether they'll survive.
The 'Present Day' side of the story focuses more on the paranoia of a man who knows both that Judgement Day is coming and that no-one will believe him. My favourite part of the not-as-bad-as-everyone-says Terminator 3 are the scenes where we see Skynet pulling the wool over the military's eyes and starting to take control, and here we get to see some of that play out through the eyes of one of the programmers who've been working on the military's new secret 'Terminators'.
I feared that this would be a trashy tie-in but I should've trusted in Allston's ability to write franchise fiction (I love his Star Wars novels), because this is actually a really good book with some great new ideas (albeit with one silly new idea).
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
In the post-apocalyptic world of 2029, one of John Connor's inner circle, Daniel Avila, discovers that he has developed a telepathic link across time with his younger self in the days leading up to Judgement Day. As the Resistance forces of the future fight to stay one step ahead of the Terminators, the younger Danny works to thwart the plans of Skynet and lay the foundation of future self's survival.
Okay, so the core concept here of a man suddenly developing the ability to dream across time to make contact with his younger self is contrived and silly. But if you can suspend your disbelief enough to get past that, then this is actually a really good book for any fan of the Terminator franchise.
Each of the two timeframes the book takes place in has compelling narratives driving them forward but also manages to be tonally distinct enough that you will be separately invested in each of them.
Allston does a great job of conveying the all-or-nothing desperation of the Resistance of 2029, nicely balancing the bleak tone of the post-apocalyptic world with the heroic determination and professionalism of the human freedom fighters. The fighting retreat from a Terminator-besieged compound is a great action sequence which really has you rooting for the largely-outmatched humans whilst keeping young in suspense over whether they'll survive.
The 'Present Day' side of the story focuses more on the paranoia of a man who knows both that Judgement Day is coming and that no-one will believe him. My favourite part of the not-as-bad-as-everyone-says Terminator 3 are the scenes where we see Skynet pulling the wool over the military's eyes and starting to take control, and here we get to see some of that play out through the eyes of one of the programmers who've been working on the military's new secret 'Terminators'.
I feared that this would be a trashy tie-in but I should've trusted in Allston's ability to write franchise fiction (I love his Star Wars novels), because this is actually a really good book with some great new ideas (albeit with one silly new idea).
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
October 31, 2020
This book is based from the Terminator movies and takes place concurrently with the third ( Rise Of The Machines not Dark Fate) In this one, Daniel a Human Resistance scientist working with John Connor in the future. He starts having dreams where he is connecting with his younger self before Judgement Day. This connection is real and the human Resistance fighters try to use this connection in hopes of helping the fight against Skynet.
This book was a pleasant surprise as I didn't buy into the concept of dreams for this universe. I have no problem with time-traveling cyborgs from the future to kill humans that were sent by a sentient computer. I had to draw the line somewhere and I am glad I did not draw it for this book. This was a nice look into is the future preordained or can we change it if we know its outcome. The characters were well thought out and the author did an excellent job with the atmosphere that occurs days before Judgement Day. There is plenty of action for fans of the movies and action enthusiasts.
This was a nice read for fans Terminator universe and I am glad I finally decided to give this book a try. While nothing from this universe will ever live up to the second movie this book entertains and kept me interested.
This book was a pleasant surprise as I didn't buy into the concept of dreams for this universe. I have no problem with time-traveling cyborgs from the future to kill humans that were sent by a sentient computer. I had to draw the line somewhere and I am glad I did not draw it for this book. This was a nice look into is the future preordained or can we change it if we know its outcome. The characters were well thought out and the author did an excellent job with the atmosphere that occurs days before Judgement Day. There is plenty of action for fans of the movies and action enthusiasts.
This was a nice read for fans Terminator universe and I am glad I finally decided to give this book a try. While nothing from this universe will ever live up to the second movie this book entertains and kept me interested.
March 8, 2024
Enjoyable sci-fi, with some interesting time travel ideas, and I thought the ending was fairly clever, if a bit obvious. But, overall, it really didn’t add too much new to the Terminator universe. Happy I read it, but not essential.
February 17, 2025
A pretty good story based on the characters from Terminator 3. Given what the author had to work with, he put together a pretty good story while sticking to the background story and events of this universe.
July 1, 2025
I think my opinion is very far from other reviews but I just couldn't get into the dream aspect :///
overall I will say I love how johns character was written and did enjoy other characters very much
overall I will say I love how johns character was written and did enjoy other characters very much
April 1, 2020
it took a bit for me to get oriented. If you've seen the movies 1 - 3, you're better off understanding this book.
That said, it kept me entertained until the end.
That said, it kept me entertained until the end.
January 28, 2010
A very good story based off from the 3rd film. Danny Avila is a programmer working at Edwards Airforce Base on a huge US Military Project. No, he hasn't made Skynet, but he is the lead developer/programmer for Terminators. The highlight of his career is the current robot, Scowl.
But Danny is having nightmares...nightmares of the machines he's coding, turning against their human creators. Soon, he's found his mind can be linked to his future self, who is a member of John Connor's team. Once this link is discovered, John Connor feels it can be utilized to gain the upper hand in the war against Skynet.
But Danny is having nightmares...nightmares of the machines he's coding, turning against their human creators. Soon, he's found his mind can be linked to his future self, who is a member of John Connor's team. Once this link is discovered, John Connor feels it can be utilized to gain the upper hand in the war against Skynet.
August 22, 2011
An amazing book that puts our dreams into an all new perspective. One of the most creative takes on the power of dreaming and a fantastic interpretation of the influence dreams have on our lives.
March 31, 2015
Inferior to S.M. Stirling’s T2 Terminator trilogy but still enjoyable and a good expansion of the Terminator universe.
August 17, 2022
Really interesting story! I really liked the new variation on time travel.
July 25, 2011
Can a SciFi novel be unrealistic? I suppose it can...
September 1, 2012
Worth reading.
September 21, 2013
Odd. The whole past connecting with the future as a literal plot device. C-
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews