''Canopus in Argos: Archives'' is a sequence of five

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s by

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

author

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 ...

, which portray a number of societies at different stages of development, over a great period of time. The focus is on accelerated

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 ...

guided by advanced species for less advanced species and societies. The novels all take place in the same

future history A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, whil ...

, but do not form a continuous storyline. Each book covers unrelated events, with the exception of ''Shikasta'' and ''The Sirian Experiments'', which tell the story of accelerated evolution on Earth through the eyes of Canopeans and Sirians, respectively.

Novels

#'' Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta'' (1979) – A

secret history A secret history (or shadow history) is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars. "Secret history" is also used to desc ...

of Earth from the perspective of the advanced Canopus civilisation that is thinking in eons rather than centuries. The history spans from the very beginning of life into a future World War Three. It includes the trial of all Europeans for the crimes of colonialism. #''

The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five ''The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five'' is a 1980 science fiction novel by Doris Lessing. It is the second book in her five-book ''Canopus in Argos'' series, the first being '' Shikasta'' (1979). It was first published in the Unite ...

'' (1980) – Depicts the influence of unknown higher powers on interactions between a series of civilizational "zones" of varying degrees of advancement that encircle the planet Earth. One zone is representative of an overtly feminine high civilisation initially coupled by royal marriage to a militant and male civilisation. The novel culminates with the latter, male, civilisation allying with a tribal female realm again following directives from Canopus. #''

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

'' (1980) – Focuses, like ''Shikasta'', on the history of Earth, but from the perspective of visitors from

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

rather than Canopus. The Sirians are depicted as a highly managed society, with fascist overtones, that attempts experiments on lesser civilisations while trying to mitigate the stagnation of their ruling class. The story is told from the perspective of Ambien II, one of a peer group of five who rule Sirius. #'' The Making of the Representative for Planet 8'' (1982) – The story of the civilisation on a planet that, because of interstellar "re-alignments", is slowly facing extinction, and Canopus's relationship with them. The story is greatly influenced by

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 ...

Antarctic expedition This list of Antarctic expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was no ...

, and is Lessing's homage to it. #'' The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire'' (1983) – A story of Canopean agents on a less advanced planet; explores hazards of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

and mirrors events in revolutionary societies such as Communist Russia. The five books have also appeared compiled in a single volume entitled ''Canopus in Argos: Archives'' (1992, ).

Background

When Lessing began writing ''Shikasta'' she intended it to be a "single self-contained book" but, as her

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes ma ...

developed, she found she had ideas for more than just one book, and ended up writing a series of five. The ''

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also designated α Carinae, which is Latinised to Alpha Carinae. With a visual apparent magnitude ...

in Argos'' series as a whole falls into categories of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

or soft science fiction ("space fiction" in Lessing's own words) because of its focus on characterisation and social-cultural issues, and its lack of emphasis of the details of scientific technology. This set of writings represented a major shift of focus for Lessing, influenced by spiritual and

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

themes in

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality ...

, in particular by Idries Shah. She later wrote several essays on Sufism which were published in her essay collection, ''Time Bites'' (2004).

Reception

The ''Canopus in Argos'' was not well received by some reviewers and readers, who felt that Lessing had abandoned her "rational worldview". This prompted her to write in the preface to the third book, ''The Sirian Experiments'': Later Lessing discovered that many younger people who had read the ''Canopus'' series were not interested in her other works. They told her, "Oh, realism, I can't be bothered with that."

Adaptations

''The Making of the Representative for Planet 8'' and ''The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five'' have been adapted for the opera by composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

with

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

s written by Lessing. ''The Marriages...'' is described as the second part of an opera trilogy based on ''Canopus in Argos''. *'' The Making of the Representative for Planet 8'' (1986) *''

'' (1997)

References

Notes

External links

''Canopus in Argos: Archives''
Doris Lessing homepage. {{Doris Lessing 1970s science fiction novels 1980s science fiction novels Book series introduced in 1979 Fiction set around Canopus Novels by Doris Lessing Science fiction book series Fiction set around Sirius Jonathan Cape books Alfred A. Knopf books Social science fiction Novels about extraterrestrial life Novels set on fictional planets