need help please

[sheep600fx]

Hi I am looking for a book about a young man desperate to escape the boredom of his life and so against his fathers express wishes joins an off world mining company(I think)he soon finds that due to high prices for clothes ,food etc he has become a wage slave mining on a small asteroid for blue/gold lapis(not sure) which has the power to give almost fluky luck to the person who ingests it, he manages to escape smuggling some in his fake arm which was crushed during mining, I also remember golden lines of power and eventually him freeing mankind from physical needs by proving the whole asteroid was one huge lapis or something I also remember it was similar to Dune, Please help as it driving me nuts

Thanks

[billbunter]

Tips for the desparate: Sounds a bit like one of Besters novels. Also Tubb under his various psydenumns (I am not even going to try to spell that word)
used mining as a theme a lot of times. What did the book cover look like? That might help place it.

I really emphathise with you. I once read a book at ten which haunted me as being utterly brilliant. I came across it again six years later - it was The Hobbit. Luckiest man in the world.

[sheep600fx]

Hi thanks I will check it out, I cant remember the cover unfortunately I strongly remember about golden lines of power when the lapis had been taken almost guiding you to your goal, I seem to remember one part when he was trapped somewhere with no escape he took the vial of lapis liquid? lol and an eartquake opened a fissure he escaped through hence the fluky luck thing, But i expect it will be one of those books that I will never find ;-(
Thanks again

[sheep600fx]

Just remembered why I thought it was very similar to dune apart from the lapis/spice link ,At the end I think it rains on the asteroid/planetoid washing the dust away from the lapis which had been smothering the power (I think)and so releases the power within blah blah blah,

[sheep600fx]

Still looking !!

Sean.