23rd October 2026
What if the greatest scientific discovery in human history offered humanity not just a glimpse of the impossible, but an escape from a world in decline? In Dreamwalkers, Christian Meddelton blends science fiction, thriller and philosophical intrigue to explore one of the most enduring mysteries of human existence: the nature of consciousness itself. When British soldier Nathan Reeves encounters an extraordinary world of green hills, warm rivers and two suns, what initially appears to be a miraculous discovery raises profound questions about reality, belief and the future of humanity. Set against a backdrop of environmental deterioration, the novel asks what might happen when the promise of something better becomes too powerful to resist.
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| Christian Meddleton |
Nearly twenty years in the making, Dreamwalkers combines an ambitious scientific premise with the deeply human experiences of grief, loyalty, hope and the desire to believe. Meddelton is as interested in the people caught up in extraordinary events as he is in the mysteries themselves, creating characters whose relationships and difficult choices give the story its emotional depth. Through his independent publishing imprint, JensonPanda, he has brought this long-developed vision to life, inviting readers to question not only what science might one day reveal, but also how humanity might respond. In our interview, Meddelton discusses the origins of his fascination with consciousness, the challenges of building a believable alternative world, the complexities of writing morally ambiguous characters, and the questions he hopes will stay with readers long after they turn the final page.
Tell us a little about your book?
Where does consciousness really exist? When British soldier Nathan Reeves experiences an impossible world, a discovery emerges that could change humanity forever. As Earth deteriorates, this beautiful new realm begins to look like salvation. But nobody truly understands what they've found. DREAMWALKERS is a science-fiction thriller about grief, hope and how far humanity will go for the promise of something better.
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| DREAMWALKERS BY CHRISTIAN MEDDLELTON |
What got you interested in this subject in the first place?
I've always been fascinated by the question of consciousness. We understand an extraordinary amount about the brain, but the experience of being conscious—of being you—is still something that raises enormous questions.
The idea behind DREAMWALKERS began nearly twenty years ago. I kept coming back to one possibility: what if consciousness wasn't quite what we assumed it was? What if there were something fundamental about it that science hadn't yet discovered?
I didn't want to write a textbook disguised as a novel. I wanted to take that question, build a compelling thriller around it, and explore what such a discovery might actually do to people and society.
How do you develop your characters?
For me, a big scientific idea is only interesting if it has consequences for real people.
Nathan Reeves is central to DREAMWALKERS because he's not a scientist trying to make a groundbreaking discovery. He's a soldier with relationships, loyalties, fears and a life that becomes entangled with something he never went looking for.
His relationship with his brother Danny was particularly important. I wanted them to feel like brothers you'd actually meet—taking the piss out of one another, arguing about stupid things, and having conversations that mean more than either of them would admit.
Those relationships give the larger story its emotional weight. No matter how extraordinary the world becomes, the characters still have to feel human.
Were there any themes or messages you consciously set out to explore in this book?
The central question concerns consciousness, but as the story developed, I became increasingly interested in belief.
People want answers. We want to believe there's something beyond what we can see and understand, particularly when we're confronting grief, mortality or a future that looks increasingly uncertain.
DREAMWALKERS also explores the relationship between science, faith and political power. What happens when an extraordinary discovery changes not just what we know, but what millions of people desperately want to believe?
I haven't tried to tell readers what they should think. I'd much rather give them a story that leaves them questioning their own assumptions.
How do you approach world-building in your writing, particularly in genres like fantasy or science fiction?
I think the most important thing is making the extraordinary feel believable.
The world at the centre of DREAMWALKERS has warm rivers, green hills and two suns. It sounds beautiful, almost impossibly peaceful. But I didn't want it to feel like a fantasy landscape that exists simply because the author says it does. I wanted the characters to approach it as something real, something they could study, question and attempt to understand.
Equally important was the world they'd be leaving behind. DREAMWALKERS takes place against a backdrop of environmental deterioration, where ordinary life is becoming progressively more difficult.
That contrast matters. An extraordinary discovery becomes far more powerful when people have compelling reasons to care about it.
How did you choose the title for your book, and what significance does it hold for you?
DREAMWALKERS refers to the extraordinary state at the centre of the story, but I like that the title doesn't immediately explain what's happening.
We tend to think of dreams as something imaginary, experiences produced by our brains while we sleep. The novel challenges that assumption by asking whether consciousness might be capable of something we don't yet understand.
There's also something slightly unsettling about the word. It sounds peaceful, perhaps even beautiful, but it leaves you wondering exactly where these people are walking.
I wanted a title that was intriguing without giving away the mystery.
Which character was the most fun to write, and which one fought you?
Danny was enormous fun to write. He's got that wonderful ability to be completely inappropriate at exactly the wrong moment, and his relationship with Nate brings some much-needed humour to the story. I think those moments are important because they make the characters feel like real people rather than simply people moving through a plot.
But my favourite character to write was actually Michael Haines.
Haines fascinated me because I could push him into doing increasingly terrible things while knowing that readers would, at the very least, understand why he was doing them. They might even find themselves on his side, despite everything.
He's a man whose decisions are driven by something deeply human, and I loved exploring how far that motivation could take him. The challenge was making sure his actions remained believable without necessarily making them justifiable.
I think the most interesting characters aren't always the ones we agree with. Sometimes they're the ones who make us wonder whether, faced with the same circumstances, we might make some of the same terrible choices.
How do you approach revisions and editing, and how has your manuscript evolved throughout the process?
DREAMWALKERS has been a long time in the making, and the book being published is considerably more developed than the story I first imagined.
The final editorial process was extensive. I went back through the manuscript chapter by chapter, examining the prose, dialogue, character development, pacing and continuity. I wanted the story to move naturally, without unnecessary explanation or writing that continually drew attention to itself.
There were also practical challenges with a novel that spans decades and involves multiple interconnected storylines. Every change needed to make sense alongside everything that came before and after it.
I think one of the most important lessons I've learnt is that finishing a manuscript and finishing a novel are two very different things.
What challenges have you faced as an author, and how did you overcome them?
Probably the biggest challenge has been turning something I'd worked on for so long into a finished book that people can actually buy and read.
Writing it was one thing. Publishing it independently opened up an entirely different world.
Through JensonPanda, my independent publishing imprint, I've had to learn about book production, printing, distribution, booksellers, publicity and all the other things that traditionally sit behind a publishing house.
There's no enormous marketing department waiting to launch the book. You have to make things happen yourself, which can be daunting.
But there's something satisfying about that too. DREAMWALKERS is going out into the world exactly as I want it to, and every new reader, reviewer or bookseller who takes an interest feels like genuine progress.
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| JensonPanda |
What do you hope readers think about after finishing the book?
First and foremost, I hope they've enjoyed a really good story. I want them to care about the characters, feel the tension and find themselves reluctant to put it down.
But I'd love them to carry some of the questions away with them too.
Where does consciousness really exist? How much of what we believe is based on evidence, and how much is based on what we need to be true? And if humanity were offered something extraordinary, would we necessarily recognise all its consequences?
If someone finishes DREAMWALKERS and finds themselves still thinking about it a few days later, I'll be delighted.
What are you currently working on?
I've certainly got no shortage of ideas.
I'm exploring the possibility of returning to the world of DREAMWALKERS, although any follow-up would need to take the story somewhere genuinely new rather than simply repeat what I've already done.
I'm also developing a separate psychological thriller concerned with fear, human behaviour and what might happen if one of our most fundamental protective instincts stopped working as it should.
They're quite different stories, but they have something in common: I love taking a question about human nature or our understanding of reality and following it somewhere unexpected.
For the moment, though, I'm concentrating on getting DREAMWALKERS into readers' hands.
What is one question you wish someone would ask you about your work?
Why did you make the other world in DREAMWALKERS somewhere people might actually want to go?
Because I think that's what makes the premise interesting.
If a scientific experiment revealed some dreadful, obviously terrifying place, humanity's response would be fairly straightforward. We'd want to understand it, but very few people would be queuing up to experience it.
What if the discovery were different? What if it revealed somewhere beautiful, peaceful and seemingly free from the difficulties of everyday life?
Now the questions become far more interesting, especially when the world we already inhabit is struggling.
And that, really, is where DREAMWALKERS begins to move beyond the science and into something much more human...
Dreamwalkers, released on 30th October 2026, available in e-book and paperback.
To buy a copy or to find out more, click HERE
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