The Byworlder

Skip Wayburn, bohemian drifter and musician, a Byworlder, has a flash of insight about the alien's purpose. He teams up with linguist Dr. Yvonne Canter, leading to violent plots as they try to communicate the Sigman's message to a world unwilling to listen to a fringe figure, culminating in a dramatic climax.

This is rather unusual Anderson, in that many of his sf novels, especially the eventually linked Van Rijn/Flandry series, are set in an era when humans are out in the wider reaches of space interacting with many alien races (Often well designed), whereas this book, though not unique for him, is set on earth and nearby space in a fairly near future and involves humans trying to interact with the first visiting single alien, known as the Sigman, because it is believed to come from Sigma Draconis. The story
alternates between experiences of two major characters, a woman (Yvonne) who is among the experts who have spent three years trying to communicate with the alien and finally makes a breakthrough, and a man (Skip) who is a "sigaroon' show more (the recurrent "sig" syllable is apparently coincidental) --a kind of wandering odd-job man with (in his case) artistic talent, who believes he has figured out why the Sigman has come. At first they are separate but eventually they get together despite fairly conventional threats sponsored by the PRC --a Chinese expert who worked with the woman serves as a third pov character, as usual with Anderson having understandable human motives though coming from a hostile culture. The hostility becomes serious over the issue of possible military use of the alien's technology and leads to tragedy, and yet to a solution.
One intrusive element is a brief encounter between the sigaroon and one of the last humanities processors, a dying breed because education has become successfully (and in Anderson's view rightly) automated --a strange viewpoint for a writer who clearly had significant humanities learning himself (e.g. translating Old Norse poetry). show less

One of Anderson's more memorable novels, I think, partly because it feels quite different from most of the rest. Instead of his usual knight errant hero (of one name or another) we get a wandering hippie. He just happens to have figured out what it is that the alien in the spaceship that's been floating above earth really wants. The government drafts him, and Dr. Yvonne Canter, to reach the alien and communicate with it. Silly, but a nice conclusion.

Written in 1972 and set in the not too distant future (not stated explicitly but some clues lead me to believe 2013! in fact) the Byworlder conjures a world somewhat like that which has come about: overpopulated, environmentally harmed, fractured, and still harboring Cold War era suspicions, despite some international treaties and a desire for world peace. Anderson also imagines a more technologically sophisticated planet with something akin to an internet instantly transmitting video images and financial transactions. He also spot on predicted 3D printing. There's something of a DaVinci code kind of thing going on in terms of suspense, crime, mystery, a love interest, and also an invented language of sorts to boot a la Anthony show more Burgess's A Clock Work Orange. All in all quite a good sci-fi tale. show less

"Three Hearts and Three Lions" notwithstanding I've come to regard Poul Anderson's books as something of a chore to be attempted mainly from a sense of duty. This near-future first contact story is an unpleasing mish-mash of crude info-dumps and unwieldy exposition with the usual selection of unappealing characters.