Limes Inferior written by the Polish author Janusz A. Zajdel is a dystopian novel and one of the author’s best books. The novel shows a future society developed by merging communism and capitalism. In Poland, the author received a novel award for the best science fiction narrative in 1982.
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Author: Janusz A. Zajdel
Genre: Social Science Fiction/ Dystopia/ Political
Pages: 226
Good reads rating: 4.26 of 5
My Rating: 8.3 of 10
Published: 2004
Publisher: SuperNowa
Language: Polish
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***Warning Spoilers Below This Point***
Adi Cherryson or we call him Sneer is a lifter who helps people in cheating computer-controlled IQ exams. He sometimes participates in exams on behalf of the person or helps the person by giving correct answers with a micro-radio communicator.
Sneer is on level 4, and with little effort, he can easily achieve the highest level, which is level 0, but he aims to stay unnoticed and that is why he remains on a medium level.
Besides lifers, there is a black market which has downers, who provide wrong answers for people who want to remain artificially low. There are also chameleons, who deal in the black market and key-makers who associate themselves with providing many special keys.
Sneer questioned by an undercover police officer reveals his intelligence unintentionally. They lock his key away and ask him to report for an IQ test. Sneer knows that he possesses high intelligence, so he hires a downer for himself so that his true intelligence remains hidden. Sneer takes the downer to the IQ testing station and gives him his key for the test but the downer gets arrested.
Now Sneer appears not to have any key, and he faces the harsh reality of life with no shelter or food. Roaming in the streets, Sneer meets mysterious Alice who not only provides him with shelter but also gives him clues about a singer and his song about lake Tibigan. The next day, Sneer meets the downer and can retrieve his key, but this makes him uncomfortable because he experienced the world differently.
He meets his parents and friends and becomes hired by a government official who works on the monitoring of the lab. He also deals with the management of keys. Working in that Key Institute as a doorman, Sneer finds out that the Key Institute studies the keys as if they are an alien object.
He realises the system imposes alien experiments on humans. They bring the issue to light with the help of Alice and Sneer saves humanity from the aliens.
I rate this novel an 8.3 out of 10. The author created this novel in his peculiar style, and I will never regret reading this novel. Would I re-read this novel? Yes. Am I glad I read it? Yes.
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