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      Shikasta

      by Doris Lessing
      Published
      Oct 1979
      Main Genre
      Science Fiction Sci-Fi
      Rating
      Pages
      364
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      About This Book

      The first volume in the Canopus in Argos: Archives series is presented as a compilation of documents, reports, letters, speeches and journal entries, and purports to be a general study of the planet Shikasta–clearly the planet Earth–to be used by history students of the higher planet Canopus and to be stored in the Canopian archives.

      For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one another, and Shikasta is one of the main battlegrounds. Johar, an emissary from Canopus and the primary contributor to the archives, visits Shikasta over the millennia from the time of the giants and the biblical great flood up to the present.

      With every visit he tries to distract Shikastans from the evil influences of the planet Shammat but notes with dismay the ever-growing chaos and destruction of Shikasta as its people hurl themselves towards World War III and annihilation.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      Speculative Fiction

      Subgenres

      Science Fiction

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      Paperback

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      First Edition Oct 1979 Knopf ISBN 0394507320
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      Trade Paperback
      Aug 1981 Vintage ISBN 0394749774
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      May 1994 HarperCollins ISBN 0006547192
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      eBook

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      Nov 2010 Knopf ISBN 0307777669
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      Nov 2010 Vintage ISBN B004AP9W28
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      Jun 2012 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0007455534
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      Audio

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      Aug 2026 -- Not Selected ISBN B0GH7KYMXB
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