The Sirian Experiments is a 1980 science fiction novel by Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing. It is the third book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series and continues the story of Earth's evolution, which has been manipulated from the beginning by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1981.
This book relates directly to the first book in this series, Shikasta which is the history of the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth) under the influence of three galactic empires, Canopus, Sirius 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 Sirius's point of view and describes their activities on the planet and their strained relations with Canopus.
Lessing stated in an afterword in the next book in this series that The Sirian Experiments and The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 were inspired by her 50-year fascination with the ill-fated 1910–13 Antarctic expedition of Robert Falcon Scott.
Read more about The Sirian Experiments: Genre and Reception, Plot, Characters, Works Cited
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“My experiments did not turn out quite like yours, Henry. But science, like love, has her little surprises.”
—William Hurlbut (1883–?)