A very interesting read, don't get me wrong! It's just... maybe this is one of those "better in theory" kind of ideas. There are many interesting moments and ideas, but the novel seems like one that would have worked better as a collection of much condensed short stories, with its weaker sections cut entirely.

Shikasta especially drags in the middle, although to explain why, it's necessary to discuss the central conceit and themes of the novel. If you want to avoid all spoilers and go in blind, skip the rest of this review. Just know that I found this interesting, but not enough to recommend it unless you're really curious about Doris Lessing's Strange Science Fiction Experiment, and won't be put off by poor execution.

Let the essay begin! Major spoilers will still be tagged. Since the novel can be quite naturally divided into three major parts, that's how I'll structure this review.

Shikasta is a fictional planet which—it quickly becomes apparent—is simply one of the names given to Earth by the aliens that colonise it and oversee its development. In this first part, we're given a brief history of Shikasta, and an introduction to the setting. One thing that's also clear very quickly is that this first part is essentially a reinterpretation of several  Old Testament stories: the Fall of Man, the Flood, etc. All are reimagined with benevolent, paternalistic aliens—the Canopeans—taking on the roles of God, angels, prophets, and so on.

This puts an interesting spin on the stories. The Canopeans are powerful and intelligent, but not  all-powerful. The Flood in Shikasta is not deliberate, but an ecological accident which they cannot prevent. Similarly, the utopian version of Shikasta that substitutes for Eden collapses because of a quirk of planetary mis-alignment, not because humanity is cast out of the Garden for its sins.

The Canopeans are not the only aliens to colonise Shikasta. Another group, the Sirians, perform ecological experiments in the Southern hemisphere of the planet (apparently detailed in a sequel). Then there's the Shammat, who essentially play Satan, devils, evil influence, and so on in opposition to the influence of the Canopeans.

This first part of the novel is interesting. I enjoyed exploring its religious themes and inspirations through Lessing's somewhat mystical science-fiction lens. But it does start to feel a little... arbitrary after a time. No one in the novel really seems to be in control of their actions. The people of Shikasta behave as the alignment of the heavens dictates. The Canopeans, while they have a sort of strict, paternalistic idea of how things should operate on Shikasta, don't seem to have much free will either. It is unclear to what degree they can affect the world, and to what degree they are passive observers just like the Shikastans. But this is at least an interesting approach to role as deity/deities in the novel.

This is where the paternalistic, omniscient overlord vibes really become irritating. The second part of the novel is essentially several characters sketches set on 20th century Earth. It is mostly setup for the final part, but Lessing also uses this part to comment on human nature, colonisation, racism, class, and global politics in the 20th century (less insightfully, in my opinion, than she does in the final part).

Throughout this section, the Canopean narrator constantly looks down upon Shikasta. He essentially says, in many more words, "Look at these poor, confused people squabbling over their petty politics, messy emotions, and self-imposed divisions." There is some cutting and well-directed criticism of humanity, but for the most part it is written from such a condescending, detached point of view that it loses what impact it should have.

Often, Lessing will make jabs at the stubborn ideological divisions of Cold War politics, which start out well but end in a kind of milquetoast "No one is right, though we enlightened Canopeans can see clearly the true way of things, which are obvious to anyone not as simple as these humans". But what use is that to a reader? It doesn't suggest solutions to social or political issues, just a kind of blanket pity for humanity. Humanity which—in the setting of Shikasta—is guided by the motion of the heavens more so than individual moral choices or beliefs.

The first two parts of the novel are almost in direct thematic opposition to one another. In the first, it is the character of the Canopeans which holds the most interest. After all, humanity seems practically incapable of directing itself, and while  Canopean interference seems to have some impact on the course of events on Shikasta, it sits in tension with the fallibility and limitations of the Canopeans. In the second part, the Canopeans are simultaneously all-knowing but distant observers with nothing insightful to say about events on Shikasta, or (sent to the planet as envoys in the form of humans) subject to the same lack of free will, moral failings, and corruption as the rest of Shikasta. They are omniscient beings with no specific moral philosophy looking down on short-sighted humans with no apparent capability for ethical decision-making.

Part three is only able to regain interest by abandoning the omniscience of the Canopeans that has been present throughout the first two parts.

In the final part of the novel, the Canopean narrator is sent to Shikasta with a plan to direct the planet back onto its proper moral course. He is born into the body of a normal human being, and the events of his life are narrated by several other people who encounter him.

Finally, with no idea of how the Canopeans think events on Shikasta should unfold, the actions and moral choices of the characters have some kind of weight to them. The narrator takes the name George Sherban

and quickly becomes an influential figure in global politics

. Because the reader no longer knows his thought process, it is unclear whether he is carrying out his mission as intended, or being led astray.

After all, other Canopean emissaries, described in part two, have been corrupted by the environment of Shikasta, or failed in their missions. George's siblings—themselves reincarnated Shikastans—seem to have no awareness of the lives they lived before being born into their current bodies, and it is suggested that Canopean emissaries are similarly limited to their human experience and at most a subconscious awareness of their mission.

This part extends well into what was, for Lessing, the future. She imagines ecological, economic, and political catastrophe. And the combination of this speculative future with a focus on the thoughts and motivations of individual people (made  more complex by the lack of an omniscient narrator) makes the novel much more engaging. I found this final part engrossing and it really flew by.

Actions and events are no longer reduced to either "A good thing which happens thanks to the successful influence of Canopus" or "A bad thing caused by planetary alignment/Shammat's influence/Shikastan short-sightedness". Does the climax of the novel represent some moral triumph brought on by the successful efforts of Canopus, or is is an example of their efforts being corrupted by human politicking? Has George Sherban carried out his mission as intended, or has he brought about undue emotional and physical distress in the process? Because there's no omniscient beings to answer these questions for us, finally you the reader get to have some of your own thoughts about the novel.

Personally, I liked this ethical mess for its own sake. I thought that the Trial in particular was excellently written because it devolved into uncertainty, doubt, and dozens of smaller, more personal discussions. Lessing's refusal to settle on simple, final answers to complex problems (although she did stray too close to "I guess everyone's just a little racist") was ultimately extremely satisfying. It may be clear from the rest of this review, but I wish this kind of moral complexity had been present more often.

At the end of it all, I was glad to have read Shikasta, and I'm even tempted by the sequels. But I don't think I'm tempted enough. The book just went on too long and said too little to be really worth the time (and I wrote this review! I will put up with a really unforgivable degree of waffling!) It is interesting to read unusual and experimental science fiction, especially from an author known for her literary fiction, but I can get the same thing elsewhere, with greater thematic depth and more satisfying results.