Necromancer

Necromancer by Gordon R. Dickson. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780441568512.

Life on Earth is good. Disease is checked, hunger ended, and war and suffering abolished, with liberty and justice and a high standard of living for all. But Paul Formain, a strangely gifted young engineer, doesnt believe a word of it. So he comes to Walter Blunts Chantry Guild, whose motto is "Destruct!" and whose stated goal is the end of civilization. There are Alternate Laws at work in the world, says the Chantry Guild; Walter Blunt has pledged his life to them, and to the principle of destruction as a positive force. Even more disturbingly, the Alternate Laws appear to work. After centuries of hope and progress, and the triumph of science, something strange is happening to mankind. And whatever it is, its going to be big.