The Sirian Experiments Author:Doris Lessing This is the third visionary novel in the Doris Lessing series Canopus in Argos: Archives that began with Shikasta and continued with The Marriages of Zones Three, Four, and Five. Ambien II, one of the five rulers of the Sirian Empire, visits Shikasta, a planet where both Sirius and its rival, Canopus, are conducting experiments. Through a slow a... more »nd painful education Ambien II learns to love and honor the Canopian way, and becomes the herald of Canopian wisdom to her own people. Once again, Doris Lessing uses Shikasta - clearly the planet Earth - to articulate her view of mankind and of history, and to ilustrate her conviction that to survive we must learn to open our minds to new ways of thinking, feeling, and being.« less