Janusz Zajdel’s last novel, published in 1984. Typical of the author’s book of the sociological science-fiction trend.
The main character arrives at an orbital station - the eponymous Paradisia, under the pretext of writing a book about it. Paradyzja is a colony independent of Earth, which does not maintain contact with the outside world. The exchange of information between the station and the outside world is practically non-existent. The inhabitants of the colony live in a seemingly orderly and self-sufficient world, living in the belief that Earth is planning to invade their ideal world.
The protagonist spends several days in the station and finds out that the picture presented by the Paradisian authorities is far from what he can observe while on the ground. People have no access to information from the outside. The allocation of work and goods depends on the points they can gain or lose by performing tasks useful to society. Communication between people is controlled. To get around the problems of bringing up controversial topics, the ability to communicate in what is known as koalang - the language of conjecture and insinuation to avoid being suspected of activities that are not necessary for the colony - has developed among the residents. Almost no one is allowed to leave the station and, at worst, can be exiled to a nearby planet to serve their punishment. The novel is an allegory of totalitarianism, the system in which he himself lived, after all. It is surprising to me that the book was not subjected to the censorship then prevailing in communist Poland. The absurdities of life in Paradyzja and the “social order” that prevailed there is an obvious reference to the situations Janusz Zajdel faced on a daily basis.
The book has a big downside - it is too short. It was a very short tour of Paradyzja. Many aspects of life there were greatly simplified. However, the author never wrote long novels and the worlds he wrote about were always presented quite vaguely. Despite the inadequacy, this is still a great science-fiction novel.