This is one of the few works that stands apart in his work, not belonging to any of the many series. However, "Avatar" shares with other books by Poul Anderson the writer's view of the world and society. As in many other works, the main conflict in the novel is the clash between free will, search, thought (and entrepreneurship - for the libertarian Anderson these concepts are inextricably linked) and a rigid system that is trying “for the sake of the common good” to control every human step and direct the development of humanity into a dead end of eternal stagnation. However, this is not the only conflict in Avatar. The clash between adventurer Dan Brodersen and conspiratorial politician Ira Quick, freedom and control, is reflected, as in mirrors, in the internal struggle of the “holoteut” (a person capable of direct communication with a computer) Joel - the struggle of pure reason and emotion - and Martti Leino - the struggle between prejudices instilled by upbringing and the freedom that real life offers him. And the axis around which a dense tangle of conflicts is wound becomes First Contact. By chance, the paths of two civilizations intersect—earthly and Betan—for interstellar roads pass through indestructible T-machines created by the mysterious civilization of the Others, capable of transporting ships through space and time. But the return of the Emissary, carrying a messenger from the seal-like Betans, sets off a political avalanche. And if Ira Quick is ready to make any sacrifices in order to protect humanity from Contact, which he sincerely considers disastrous, then Brodersen is also ready to take risks so that people take advantage of the lessons of the Betans and go to the stars, not limiting themselves to the gift of the Others - a colony on Demeter. And then the path of the Chinook starship, lost in the web of T-machines, passes past the emerging and dying stars, through the past of the galaxy and its future, further and further in the footsteps of the mysterious Others, until at the end of time the incredible nature of the rulers is revealed to the crew of the starship Universe, a race for which time has lost its meaning. And the only person capable of establishing full contact with them is not Joel Kaye, the embodiment of pure intellect, but the poetess Caitlin. And the language that connects all intelligent races of the Universe turns out to be love.