(Found) Two Books lost in the cave of memory.

[LdFionn]

I used to own a used book store, and spent my slow times reading Science Fiction, most of which then found its way onto the shelves. Unfortunately . . . I would now like to re-read some of those books, but can't recall the authors/titles. There are two I'd like to find: First, a novel about a paradise planet where there is no crime, no taxes, no unemployment, and no divorce. It turns out that there is no crime because there are no laws, there is no unemployment because everything is a job (including begging), there are no taxes because the tax men go around holding up individuals at gunpoint, (in fairness, individuals can hold up others if they need the money) , and there is no divorce because the person who wants a divorce just kills the spouse (or has their lover kill the spouse). This book was published pre-1980.


The second novel is more recent, being published before 2005. It concerns a person who is a "guardian" of this Earth. There are parallel worlds arranged along a continuum from total magic/chaos to total science/order. Out Earth is somewhere about the middle. The protagonist (male) is a young member of this guardian group and he is somewhat of a magician/hacker who has to examine a bad guy's hard drive with magic.
(not a lot to go on, I'm sure)

Thanks in advance.

 

[Taltos]

First could be Robert Sheckley "A Ticket to Tranai", no idea about the second

 

[LdFionn]

Many thanks for the reply. I've got "Masque of Manana," a collection that has"Ticket to Tranai" in it. That's been driving me up the wall trying to remember the book.

 

[Liese]

The second book seems to be "Deep Secret" by Diana Wynne Jones. There exist a sequel calld "The Merlin Conspiracy" as well.

 

[LdFionn]

Thanks Liese. I should know to check authors who are members of the SCA. I've got the books on reserve with the local library.