''The Sirian Experiments'' is a 1980 science fiction novel by

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing (; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remain ...

. It is the third book in her five-book ''

Canopus in Argos ''Canopus in Argos: Archives'' is a sequence of five science fiction novels by Nobel laureate author Doris Lessing, which portray a number of societies at different stages of development, over a great period of time. The focus is on accelerate ...

'' series and continues the story of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, which has been manipulated from the beginning by advanced extraterrestrial civilisations. It was first published in the United States in December 1980 by

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, and in the United Kingdom in March 1981 by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

. The book was shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

in 1981. ''The Sirian Experiments'' relates directly to the first book in this series, ''

Shikasta ''Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta'' (often shortened to ''Shikasta'') is a 1979 science fiction novel by Doris Lessing, and is the first book in her five-book ''Canopus in Argos'' series. It was first published in the United States in Decem ...

'', which is the history of the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth) under the influence of three galactic empires,

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina (constellation), Carina and the list of brightest stars, second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also Bayer designation, designated α Carinae, which is Lat ...

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

and their mutual enemy, Puttiora. ''Shikasta'' is told from the Canopean viewpoint. ''The Sirian Experiments'' (subtitled ''The Report by Ambien II, of the Five'') tells the story of Shikasta from the Sirian point of view and describes the activities of Sirians on the planet and the strained relations of Sirius with Canopus. Lessing stated in an

afterword An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. An afterword may be written by someone other ...

in the next book in this series that ''The Sirian Experiments'' and ''

The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 ''The Making of the Representative for Planet 8'' is a 1982 science fiction novel by Doris Lessing. It is the fourth book in her five-book ''Canopus in Argos'' series and relates the fate of a planet, under the care of the benevolent galactic e ...

'' were inspired by her 50-year fascination with the ill-fated 1910–13 Antarctic expedition of

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

Genre and reception

Because of its focus on characterisation and social/cultural issues, and the de-emphasis of technological details, ''The Sirian Experiments'' is

soft science fiction Soft science fiction, or soft SF, is a category of science fiction with two different definitions, defined in contrast to hard science fiction. It can refer to science fiction that explores the "soft" sciences (e.g. psychology, political scienc ...

, or "space fiction" as Lessing calls her ''Canopus in Argos'' series. Robert Alter of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' suggested that this kind of writing belongs to a genre

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, '' Fearful Symmet ...

called the "anatomy", which is "a combination of fantasy and morality" and that "presents us with a vision of the world in terms of a single intellectual pattern." Lessing has stated that she has used this series as a vehicle to "put questions, both to myself and to others" and to "explore ideas and sociological possibilities." While Lessing's switch to "science fiction" in the late 1970s was not well received by all, the series in general has drawn positive criticism. Two reviews of ''The Sirian Experiments'' in ''The New York Times'' said that Lessing achieves "… a largeness of vision beyond the horizon of the conventional novel." and that it has "… some playful moments and some splendid ones. It is interesting, however, primarily because Doris Lessing wrote it." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' on the other hand, which had spoken highly of the first two books in this series, felt that this one "may be a small misstep on a long journey."

Plot

The Sirian Empire, centred in the

star system, has advanced technology that made their citizens effectively immortal (barring accidents) and sophisticated machines that did almost everything for them. But this technology came at a price: many Sirians became afflicted with "the existentials", a debilitating malady that left them feeling worthless and with no reason to exist. To overcome this problem and give its people "something to do", Sirius embarked on a conquest of space and

colonised Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

many planets. But they also encroached on territory of the superior Canopean Empire that led to a costly war, which

won. As a gesture of reconciliation, Canopus returned all the captured Sirian territory and invited Sirius to jointly colonise a new and promising planet called Rohanda (an allegorical

). Canopus took the northern continents and gave Sirius the southern continents. Ambien II, one of the Five who run the Sirian Colonial Service and also govern the Sirian Empire, represents Sirius on Rohanda. She sets in motion a series of bio-

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

and genetic experiments where large numbers of primitive

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

from Sirian colonised planets are space-lifted to Rohanda and adapted there for work elsewhere in the Empire. In the north, Canopus nurtures Rohanda's bourgeoning

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

s and accelerates their

. They also put a Lock on the planet that links it to the harmony and strength of the Canopean Empire. Canopus keeps Ambien II updated with reports of all their work, but she is suspicious of Sirius's former enemy, seeing them as a competitor rather than a partner, and is unable to correctly interpret them. Then an unforeseen "cosmic re-alignment" breaks the Lock and Shammat of the malicious Puttiora Empire begins exploiting the situation by corrupting Rohanda's Natives. Canopus, seeing Rohanda decline, renames the planet

(the stricken). Sirius, unconcerned about Canopus's troubles in the north, continue to refer to the planet as Rohanda. In an attempt to foster better relations with Sirius, Klorathy, a senior Canopean Colonial administrator, invites Ambien II to observe events in their territory. Ambien II, eager to learn more about Canopus, agrees. As Rohanda evolves and civilisations come and go, Ambien II and Klorathy meet several times to watch Rohanda's degeneration. Canopus does what it can to help communities, but with Shammat's evil and a broken Lock, they make little progress. From time to time Klorathy requests Ambien II's help and while working on the planet, she meets Nasar, another Canopean official. She also encounters Tafta, the Shammat commander on Rohanda, and at one point nearly succumbs to his corruption. Ambien II eventually abandons the Sirian Experiments in the south when they are overrun by Shammat. The Five want her to abandon Rohanda altogether, but she has become too attached to the planet and is warming to Canopus and seeing the error of her (and Sirius's) ways. The Five question her ties to their former enemy, but when she tries to explain herself, they do not hear what she is saying, just as she initially could not hear what Canopus was saying. The Five then send her to Planet 13 on "corrective exile" to write a report on what has happened (this book). When she later releases the report, the Five issues a statement denying the authenticity of Ambien II's work.

Characters

;Sirius *The Five – peer group of five senior administrators of the Sirian Colonial Service *Ambien II – one of the Five, Sirian representative to Rohanda ;Canopus *Klorathy – senior Canopean Colonial administrator *Nasar – permanent official on Rohanda ;Shammat *Tafta – Shammat representative to Rohanda

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

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"More Lessing"
''

'' review.
"Doris Lessing in the Visionary Mode"
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'' book review.
"Books of the Times"
''