Blog & White

The Sirian Empire is technically so advanced that its citizens are immortal and have machines catering to their every needs; the result is that many of them feel they have no reason to exist. To give these people something to do, the Empire colonizes many planets, leading to fighting and losing to the Canopus empire. As a gesture of reconciliation, Canopus invites Sirius to jointly colonize Rohanda, leaving them the southern hemisphere. Ambien II represents Sirius on Rohanda and sets in motion a series of experiments on populations transported various colonies of the empire. But Ambien fails to understand the mysterious Canopus and she mistrusts them as a partner in that vast enterprise. Canopus's attempt to lock the indigenous population in a harmonious state fails and the inhabitants fall under the corrupting influence of Shammat, of the Puttiora Empire; Canopus therefore renames the planet Shikasta. Klorathy, a Canopean colonial administrator invites Ambien to observe events in their territory. They meet multiple times as civilisations come and go (e.g. Attila-like barbarians invading other kingdoms and killing everybody, an Aztec-like society sacrificing humans; a society where “lesser” sentient beings are experimented on without remorse), and despite Canopus' attempt to help the local communities, little progress is made due to Shammat's negative influence. Ambien meets Nasar, another Canopean who got corrupted over the millennia spent on Shikasta by Shammat; she also meets Tafta, Shammat's commander on the planet, and nearly succumbs to his corruption. Ambien eventually abandons the experiments on Rohanda, but despite the wish of the four other member of Sirius' directing committee, she refuses to forget the planet, having grown attached to the planet and starting to understand Canopus' way and how the Sirian Empire went wrong. The Four then send Ambien on exile to Planet 13, where she writs her report of the Sirian Experiments; the Four deny its authenticity upon its release.

Al·Ith is the queen of Zone Three, where people live in harmony and have some kind of a shared consciousness. The god-like Providers order Al·Ith to go to Zone Four and marry its king, Ben Ata. Zone Four has lots of natural resources but its completely militarized civilisation makes no use of them and to Al·Ith its people look poor and unhappy. Both countries however see the natality rate of both humans and livestock decline very rapidly, and Al·Ith supposes that the marriage between the zone is going to solve it. The two rulers could not be different, Ben Ata being foremost a soldier, not used to the company of women he cannot control. After being forced to live together they however learn each other habits and end up falling in love. A son is born, Arusi, future ruler of both Zone Three and Four, and Al·Ith receives the help of some women, led by Dabeeb. The Providers then order Al·Ith to go back to Zone Three without her son and Ben Ata to marry Queen Vashi of Zone Five, ruler of many tribes of desert nomads who pillage the rest of the rich Zone. Both Al·Ith and Ben Ata are devastated by this news. Back in Zone Three, nobody recognizes Al·Ith whose sister Murti· has taken over as queen. Murti· is disturbed by how her sister has changed and exiles her at the frontier with Zone Two. She tries to enter the Zone but she finds it inhospitable and is told by invisible people it is not her time yet. In he meanwhile, Ben Ata disbands most of his army so that the men can rebuild the towns and villages; he also manages to gain Vashis's confidence and convince her to stop plundering Zone Five. With Arusi old enough to travel, Dabeeb and her band of women travel to Zone Three to visit Al·Ith and are shocked to see the former queen working in a stable. the inhabitants of Zone Three also have xenophobic attitudes towards the visitors. Five years later, the Providers tell Ben Ata to go and see Al·Ith. He is at first stopped at the border by a makeshift army but comes back with his own troops and despite not being well received, he finds his first wife surrounded by a small band of followers. Ben Ata tells her of the reforms he introduced in Zones Four and Five. One day, Al·Ith enters Zone Two and does not return but there are apparent changes in the three previously stagnant Zones where people and knowledge flow freely between them.

The civilization of Canopus colonizes the planet Shikasta and expects to keep it under its positive influence, but a cosmic event reduces that influence to almost nothing. Johor, emissary of Shikasta reports that the Giants, installed there to guide the evolution of the Natives disappear slowly under the ambiguous influence of agents of Sirius and under the negative influence of the emissaries of Shammat, the moral opposite of Canopus. The Natives themselves are less and less benevolents towards each other. Johor reports the typically miserable lives of a few individuals between World Wars 1 and 2, and History books cite the diary of a young woman telling the story of her brother George in the time leading to World War 3. Very charismatic, George organizes Youth groups that turn into Youth Armies in various parts of the world, who take care of providing refuge to children orphaned by the various conflicts that erupt everywhere. Reports by Chinese agrens indicate that at some point George is chosen to represent non-white people in a mock trial of the white people regrding the colonization of Africa and the Americas. This event seems to mark the beginning of the third World War.