The novel “The Sirian Experiments” by Doris Lessing was published for the first time in 1980. It’s the third novel of the Canopus in Argos series and follows “The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five”.

Ambien II is one of the Five, the small group that runs colonial management on behalf of the Sirius empire. Among her responsibilities, she represents Sirius in colonial operations conducted on Rohanda, as Sirius calls the planet Shikasta. This means working together with the Canopus empire on experiments to be conducted on the planet’s population.

The citizens of the Sirius empire are potentially immortal, and this allows Ambien II to see the effects of the experiments conducted on Rohanda with their long-term consequences. Her awareness of what’s happening develops also in her relationship with Klorathy, a colonial administrator of the Canopus empire.