My previous post has a great piece of dialog from The Avatar, by Poul Anderson. But that is just barely scratching the surface of this fun book.
At first glance, this appears to be a light-hearted space opera that deals with first contact with an alien species and indeed, one may accept it at that. It does take the reader on a well-thought-out roller coaster ride that addresses xenophobia, socialism, technology and of course, what it means to be human.
I believe this 1978 paperback is out of print, but if you find one at a garage sale, library or bookstore, or Amazon, do yourself a great favor and grab it. Take the time to savor the writing as the like is seldom seen these days.
I give it my top rating and call it GREAT!
Many of my readers know that I used to be very active in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). Poul Anderson, along with Marion Zimmer Bradley were among the founders of the SCA.
His device (coat of arms for the uninitiated) reflected his creativity as well as his sense of humor. It was a polaxe under a golden sunburst. Think about it.
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