The Avatar Author:Poul Anderson The Avatar: Anderson's biggest and most adventurous sci-fi novel, a desperate search through alien starways in search of a great race known as The Others. — In the immeasurable past this mysterious alien race left mankind a challenging legacy, a "gate" to the unexplored reaches of the stars. Several hundred years from now, ... more »humanity has utilized the gate to painstakingly colonize the Phoebus star system but has left the rest of the galaxy unexplored. In the midst of turbulent political upheavel on Earth, the exploratory ship Emissary leaves through the gate on a voyage of discovery. When the Emissary returns ahead of schedule the Social Welfare Party on Earth impounds the ship and imprisons its crew-and forbids all future space exploration.« less