THE DREAMING EARTH by John Brunner

Refinished Sa 5/1/21

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I bought at The Book House in Rock Hill, Missouri on Th 10/19/95. According to the flyleaf I had read it a couple of times since then. 

The story is set in a future dystopia in which the world's population has outstripped the ability to support the needs of the people. A mysterious drug is being introduced and vast parts of the population have become addicted. Nicholas Greville is working for the UN on a narcotic task force and he is trying to locate the source of this drug called 'Happy Dreams'. 

Then it's noted that after about a hundred doses of the drug the taker disappears. Apparently they are 'shifted' into another dimension where it's almost like a new Eden. 

The big reveal is that the UN is actually behind the drug and it a allows people to leave Earth and give these people a new start and hopefully those left behind will find enough resources to keep going. 

I wish he had written a book about how this life in 'the new Eden' might have been and the outcome of those who chose to remain behind. 

From a reviewer at Amazon:

"The story takes place in the future where overpopulation and limitations of raw resources are great problems. The world is more actively run on a global level by the (much publicly hated) UN. The ever increasing problem though is with "Happy Dreams", an ultimate hallucinate drug. Despite its widespread use, the government has very little information to go on. It's always sold at a ridiculously low and fixed price, its central dealers or origins can't be determined, funding for research is low, and so little is known about the drug.

Nick Greville, a UN officer who works in the Narcotics department, looks into the happy dreams problem. Along the way he must deal with red tape, crazed users, his own marital problems at home, and all while resisting his own personal temptation to the drug.

The book keeps you reading, as questions beget more questions, until finally a climax of it all is revealed in the last two chapters. If you enjoy futuristic dystopian stories that focus more on the characters and their stories with very little description of their futuristic technology, this one's worth checking out."

I would read anything by John Brunner. The ideas are always first rate, but sometimes the storylines are not fully developed. This could have been a terrific novel, but only weighs in at slightly more than average.