The Sirian Experiments by Doris Lessing
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very thoughtful, careful SF that drives an almost academical knife in the heart of colonialism--not from the pithy point of view of those who suffer from it, but from the viewpoint of an almost immortal ADMINISTRATOR of an empire who, at almost all times, thinks it's doing RIGHT.

Yikes.

The casual way the Sirian galactic empire performs all kinds of experiments, including large-scale social ones, on indigenous populations is at once a condemnation of how Africa was treated and a sneaky mirror to all of us who seek refuge in academics.

But more importantly, if you've been reading the Canopus in Argos series, it provides probably the best look at Canopus out of all three. It's certainly fascinating and scary all at once. And epic in scale, of course. We watch AGES of the Earth progress. Like it's nothing.

Fascinating book. A much deeper look at ourselves through an SF lens than most traditional SF stories. I call this a hardcore idea novel. Recommended.


Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews is be interested in reading my SF (Very hard SF, mind you), I'm open to requests.

Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

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