Shikasta
|
|
Shikasta is the title of a science fiction novel by author Doris Lessing and also the name of a fictional planet in this book.
The story alludes to the Old Testament, Gnosticism, Sufism and several mystic concepts, all with a distinct Lessing touch.
Shikasta is the first book in the Canopus in Argos series. The series of five books are:
- Book 1: Shikasta
- Book 2: The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five
- Book 3: The Sirian Experiments
- Book 4: The Making of the Representative for Planet 8
- Book 5: The Sentimental Agents
Plot
The planet Shikasta is a view on Earth, as seen from another civilization or planet named Canopus in Argos, who once colonized it and introduced civilization.
The civilization on Shikasta was peaceful and life energy (resembling Mana, Qi, empathy and/or mystic earth radiation) was connecting the minds of the inhabitants of Shikasta to Canopus in Argos. It is clear that this energy is a truly physical phenomenon, transmitted by means of stone formations.
However, evil forces, in the form of a civilization named Shammat, only known for tapping and disrupting life energy flows, constantly intervene with the energy flow.
A cosmic accident of some kind (not caused by Shammat) then disrupts the energy flows between Shikasta and Canopus. This leads to the breakdown of the harmony of Shikastan civilization, and dominance by Shammat. As an immediate effect, the life span of living beings on Shikasta is shortened from several hundred years to the average life span of a contemporary human. All kinds of evil aspects of modern society (mostly that of political violence and abuse of power) start to arise from this energy disruption.
Canopus therefore starts sending agents to Shikasta, to help ease the pain caused by this situation. The main character, George Sherban, is one such agent, who travels to Shikasta on several missions. The agents (and also the souls of men) can incarnate in different bodies on Shikasta, and thus basically exist as spiritual beings outside the physical world. However, agents can keep their memories of past existences, while ordinary humans can not.
The book ends with re-establishment of the energy flows from Shikasta to Canopus and the fall of the barbarian civilization on Shikasta.