Doris Lessing's celebrated space fiction set in an extraordinary cosmos where the fate of the Earth is influenced by the rivalries and interactions of three powerful galactic empires. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The story of the final days of our planet is told through the reports of Johor, an emissary sent from Canopus. Twentieth-century Earth, named 'Shikasta, the stricken' by the kindly, paternalistic Canopeans who colonised it many centuries ago, is under the influence of the evil empire of Puttiora. War, famine, disease and environmental disasters ravage the planet. To Johor, mankind is a 'totally crazed species', racing towards annihilation: his orders to save humanity set him what seems to be an impossible task. Blending myth, fable and allegory, Doris Lessing's astonishing visionary creation both reflects and redefines the history of our own world from its earliest beginnings to an inevitable, tragic self-destruction.
- ISBN10 0007127766
- ISBN13 9780007127764
- Publish Date 19 August 2002 (first published 15 November 1979)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 4 October 2004
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Voyager
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 448
- Language English
- URL http://harpercollins.co.uk