Hi Everyone,
It is time to announce the winner of the final Sapien Loop Quiz for this year. First, I would like to thank all the participants for this quiz and the other seven quizzes for this year. The final quiz was the most challenging of the year. It drew on material from anywhere in the book. There were nine instead of the usual seven questions. Many of the questions were not straightforward; they required interpretations of characters actions and behaviour.
The quiz was also a little different, as I used 
For those who did not enter, here is a quick recap of how to play. The quiz contains nine multiple-choice questions. Each question has five possible answers. The participant is required to select the correct answer from the five options. The participant who answers the most questions correctly wins the contest. If there is a tie, the participant who entered first wins. There is also a requirement for the winner to answer at least four questions correctly. This is my way of ensuring that the participants have read the book.
The prize for each contest is 30 Hive Power. The entries of the first twelve participants are upvoted.
For more information about this quiz as well as the questions, click on the link below:
Question 1: C
Question 2: E
Question 3: A
Question 4: E
Question 5: D
Question 6: E
Question 7: B
Question 8: A
Question 9: B
Question 1: The conflict between the Business Sector and the House of Divine Knowledge is a key storyline of the book. The Government and their role are described in detail. Areas such as structure, voting systems, and the enforcers are exploded at length. The media’s involvement in propaganda such as the Adoy massacre and election coverage was described in some detail. The Economic Institute was only briefly described in the prologue and again later in Part 4 when the book explained how it worked with the other four systems. Therefore, the Economic Institute is clearly the least discussed.
Question 2: In the prologue, the roles of the enforcers are briefly described. Their main role is to maintain law and order; this is similar to a police force. The Head Enforcers acted as judges and the jury to determine the guilt of the accused. As Sapia had only one country, there was no need for an official military. However, in the event of uprisings, as was seen in the book, enforcers take on the roles of the military. The enforcers were not responsible for emergency services; that was a separate department as shown in the diagram in the prologue.
Question 3: Downs Region is introduced in Chapter 98. In that chapter, it states that Sapiens, who were believed to have well below average intelligence, were sent to this region.
Question 4: Senyek, the head of Economic Institute, was only mentioned in Chapter 67. His role in that chapter was to read out the results of the General Election. The book does not offer any insight into why Senyek was pleased that Dratsab had been elected. Considering the chaos caused by Dratsab in Part 5, it is possible Senyek had plans for him. Hence, it leaves the possibility that this will be revisited in the next book.
Question 5: In Chapter 59, Gilly failed her assessment. She was to be taken to the Capital Region. In that same chapter, there was a fire at the Ripe Regional Headquarters. The book does not say if Gilly was caught in that fire, but she was meant to be on the next train out of Jeed. Considering the timing of her assessment and the fire, it is most likely she was out of the building before it burnt down.
Question 6: In Chapter 92, a group of Linap shapeshifted in front of a live audience. It appeared nobody in the audience could believe their eyes. Some clapped because they thought it was a trick. Others would have struggled to believe for other reasons. Their world had been so strongly reinforced through a lifetime of conditioning that the existence of a controlling species was impossible to come to terms with immediately. Others may have been afraid after Lily had been executed just after shapeshifting.
Question 7: Chapter 94 explains the survival of the Sentray. They were forced out into the ocean. Their population almost completely collapsed. Eventually, their population stabilised, but at a very low number. The Sentray came across a unique seaweed. This seaweed greatly increased the Sentray’s ability to reproduce. The seaweed was the main reason the Sentray were able to re-emerge.
Question 8: From Dratsab’s conversation with Collingswaggle, we can conclude that Dratsab believed disposing of the House of Divine Knowledge would give the Business Sector permanent control as they would no longer have an opposition. Rotiart’s motivations are less clear than Dratsab’s. However, in Chapter 100, it is revealed that Rotiart is actually Lily. Lily was intent on getting revenge on Pardi. Social unrest presented an opportunity for her to strike back against Pardi. Lily also had a grudge against the new Government. Social unrest was a possible way of bringing them down.
Question 9: In Merida’s conversation with the Head Enforcer of West Region, she made reference to a note. The note and its contents had not been made public. On hearing Merida’s knowledge of the note, the Head Enforcer decided to arrest Merida. It was an indication that Merida was somehow involved in Leanne’s murder.
Overall, this contest had three participants. Unfortunately, this contest has no winner. None of the participants was able to answer the minimum required number of questions correctly to win. The 30 Hive Power for this contest will be rolled over to next month’s Christmas Contest.
The Sapien Loop Quiz will return next year.
I have published an ebook on Amazon; it is titled ‘Sapien Loop: End of an Era’. The book is fiction. I do not normally write fiction. However, I felt it was appropriate considering what is happening in the world today. Freedom is the most important thing we have, but we are gradually losing it. I have covered this in many of my posts.
In the story, most citizens do not understand the concept of freedom because they have never really experienced it. In essence, the story is about an alien world that might represent our not-so-distant future. There are many other elements to the story that are an abstract and exaggerated version of our reality. I believe this book to be an important read, and I believe it has the potential to change the way you think.
This story is based on the fictional planet Sapia and its sole country, Sapey. Sapey is portrayed as a form of utopia for all its citizens. No poverty. No war. Almost no crime. Opportunities for all.
This was enough for most citizens, but not all. In one of the small regions, some of the citizens had become discontent. They felt something important was missing in their lives. Their discontent did not go unnoticed. Some of the Sapey elite wanted to weaponise this discontent to gain more power. This created more chaos than they anticipated. This led to further widespread social unrest.
On top of the chaos, ambition and greed provoked another enemy. This enemy was on a mission to settle both new and old scores.
If you want to buy a copy of the book, below are links to the relevant Amazon websites for each country it is available in. The book is priced at approximately US$5.08.
I am also running monthly contests where participants are required to answer questions based on the book. The prize is 30 Hive Power plus upvotes for the first twelve entries. You can recover the cost of the book with just one win.
