The stone that never came down
by John Brunner · first published 1973
100% recommend
The world is awash in civic decay, military coups and revolutionary governments, bands of believers ('Godheads') roaming the streets and turning plastic crosses into assault weapons. One scientist has discovered a new kind of viral drug, VC, which has the power to drastically alter the human mind. It could save civilization but at what cost? And who has the right to make a decision about whether or not to use it? Brunner at his thought-provoking, action-packed best.
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I need to go back and read Stand on Zanzibar. Back when I was in 8th grade, I read Brunner's The Stone that Never Came Down which I thought at the time was the best SF novel I'd ever read (it held my top spot for some considerable time). I never found a copy of Stand at the time.
on “A 1969 New Wave Sci-Fi Novel That Made Correct Predictions” ↗Brunner was amazingly prescient, but sadly almost forgotten now. See also The Stone that Never Came Down - the most 70s novel ever.
on “John Brunner's “Stand on Zanzibar” spookily predicted today” ↗…counter about it. It makes surviving in a white knuckle corporate techno-dystopia cool. It's a celebration, not a critique. Compare with PKD or the much less well-known John Brunner in books like The Stone That Never Came Down and The Shockwave Rider - the latter being an obvious influence on Gibson.
on “Reading Neuromancer for the first time in 2025” ↗