The Stone That Never Came Down

A mismanaged economy and rampant unemployment causes unrest that threatens to bring about World War III. But there is a cure for humanity's folly--perhaps. If only it can be located in time, and given to the right people, the world may be saved. The cure? An experimental drug called VC. But its effect might be deadly, and it *might* have already escaped into the wild.

The quality of John Brunner's work varies greatly. The Stone That Never Came Down is average. The characters are flat roleplayers who serve as the backdrop to the one central idea of the book: that mankind can improve himself through science. The setting is the distopian Britain that is so common to 60s and 70s science fiction, but the plot mixes Cold War cynicism with pre-WWII idealism. I give thumbs up on the plot, although at 191 pages it is necessarily simple. The book is easily readable, although that is rarely a concern with Brunner. (With a few notable expections, like Stand on Zanzibar, Brunner's novels are easy to read.)

I rate The Stone That Never Came Down a three out of five. Don't go out of your way to read it, but it isn't bad.