The Lord of Opium

Light read, nothing really ever happened in the book. Never felt like Matt was in danger, he spent the story enjoying the many wonders of Opium, and adjusting to the role of king. The author could have delved into the complicity of good and evil and how they are intertwined but, instead glossed over all that and went for the happy ending.

I thought her book, House of the Scorpion, brilliant. This follow up book was too far out to catch my interest. I only read a few chapters and just couldn't buy into the story. Thus, I stopped reading only a few chapters in and went to my next book. Sorry Nancy.

Book arrived in reasonable time. Price was good for a new book except it should have been advertised as defective book. Pages were miscut and cover was upside down. Not a bargain after all. Son still enjoyed the content of the book.

This is a wonderful book, but I can understand why some readers feel it falls short of The House of Scorpion. In the first book, Matt's very survival is at stake, and the plot is driven by his discovery of who he is, and there are substantial mysteries that are not revealed until the end of the book. This second book is fundamentally different. Matt is not in particular danger throughout most of this book, and while he does make discoveries about his world, there's no moment of shock when the precariousness of his existence is revealed. Instead, this book revolves around his efforts to fix his native land, a project that turns out to be a lot more complicated than he thought it would be when he first set out to do so. The themes are more political and ethical , and less survival-based, than those in the first novel. For the original fans of the first novel, who are now adults, the increased sophistication and complication of Matt's world will likely parallel the changes that have gone through their lives as they have transitioned from adolescence to adulthood, and it is fair to say that this book continues the "coming of age" theme. However, for the readers who loved the first for its nail-biting story of a harrowing adventure of an underdog, this book will disappoint. For readers who fell in love with the world of Opium and compulsively want to see how Matt manages to (or fails to) fix some of its problems, the book will be every bit as interesting (if not quite as exciting) as the first.

The House of Scorpion (THOS) was a fabulous, break through book, and so it was like opening a bottle of fine wine when I sat down to read this book. The book picks up pretty much where THOS left off--Matt, the new El Patron. Most of the story is consumed with Matt trying to live up to the new responsibilities thrust on him and undo the evil that the old El Patron did. In particular, Matt is determined to cure the eejits and find a way to be with Maria. On the plus side, the writing is excellent and the characters are generally terrific and the overall plot is engaging. Also, some new characters are introduced that are very engaging--eg, Cienfuegos. And, there are some very poignant story arcs. Fans of THOS will want to read this book and they will enjoy it. But...it's not as compelling as THOS. Some of the magic of THOS is still present, but much of it is gone, IMO. That was probably unavoidable...Matt is now lord, not lowly clone, and so we don't have that same dystopian atmosphere as THOS, where Matt struggles to find out if he's human or not in a world where most everyone despises him. Also, one of the most compelling characters in THOS for me was Maria. Sadly, until the last few pages of the book, she mostly just puts in a few cameo appearances in this book. What a waste of a great character. I will say that the ending is nicely done and, like THOS, the curtain comes down on a nice note of hope.

First of all, the age range (grades 7-10) listed in the Booklist review is ridiculous. A bright 10 year old to a 101 year old will enjoy this book. Although it is touted as YA, the topics explored are of interest to adults and there are NO vampires (but one could argue there are sort of zombies) in this book, which in the YA genre is an automatic plus.

My daughter read House of the Scorpion at age 11, and adored it so I was happy to get this sequel. She is now fourteen and devoured the Lord of Opium. I read it as well and we have difference of opinion as to which book was better, she leans toward the sequel while I liked House of the Scorpion better. I think this may be due to the fact that I really enjoy the world building that occurred in the first book, while she prefers the struggles Matt faces (moral, emotional and practical) in Lord of Opium. I have to agree with her that the Lord of Opium is more actually more complex because the delineation between who is “right” and “wrong” is less clear. Regardless, both books are dystopian literature, dark and thought provoking.

The book sparked many interesting discussions on:
What characteristics make us human?
Are internal or external struggles more difficult?
What is the basis of morality?
Is it acceptable to do evil, if your ultimate outcome is to create good?

Both books are excellent, I suggest you read them in order, but it is possible to read the Lord of Opium without having read the House of the Scorpion. Even though the main protagonist remains the same, these are actually fairly different books, the first is about external struggle and the second is more about internal struggle. This may mean that readers have a strong preference for one or the other.

The House of Scorpion (THOS) was a fabulous, break through book, and so it was like opening a bottle of fine wine when I sat down to read this book. The book picks up pretty much where THOS left off--Matt, the new El Patron. Most of the story is consumed with Matt trying to live up to the new responsibilities thrust on him and undo the evil that the old El Patron did. In particular, Matt is determined to cure the eejits and find a way to be with Maria. On the plus side, the writing is excellent and the characters are generally terrific and the overall plot is engaging. Also, some new characters are introduced that are very engaging--eg, Cienfuegos. And, there are some very poignant story arcs. Fans of THOS will want to read this book and they will enjoy it. But...it's not as compelling as THOS. Some of the magic of THOS is still present, but much of it is gone, IMO. That was probably unavoidable...Matt is now lord, not lowly clone, and so we don't have that same dystopian atmosphere as THOS, where Matt struggles to find out if he's human or not in a world where most everyone despises him. Also, one of the most compelling characters in THOS for me was Maria. Sadly, until the last few pages of the book, she mostly just puts in a few cameo appearances in this book. What a waste of a great character. I will say that the ending is nicely done and, like THOS, the curtain comes down on a nice note of hope.

First of all, the age range (grades 7-10) listed in the Booklist review is ridiculous. A bright 10 year old to a 101 year old will enjoy this book. Although it is touted as YA, the topics explored are of interest to adults and there are NO vampires (but one could argue there are sort of zombies) in this book, which in the YA genre is an automatic plus.

My daughter read House of the Scorpion at age 11, and adored it so I was happy to get this sequel. She is now fourteen and devoured the Lord of Opium. I read it as well and we have difference of opinion as to which book was better, she leans toward the sequel while I liked House of the Scorpion better. I think this may be due to the fact that I really enjoy the world building that occurred in the first book, while she prefers the struggles Matt faces (moral, emotional and practical) in Lord of Opium. I have to agree with her that the Lord of Opium is more actually more complex because the delineation between who is “right” and “wrong” is less clear. Regardless, both books are dystopian literature, dark and thought provoking.

The book sparked many interesting discussions on:
What characteristics make us human?
Are internal or external struggles more difficult?
What is the basis of morality?
Is it acceptable to do evil, if your ultimate outcome is to create good?

Both books are excellent, I suggest you read them in order, but it is possible to read the Lord of Opium without having read the House of the Scorpion. Even though the main protagonist remains the same, these are actually fairly different books, the first is about external struggle and the second is more about internal struggle. This may mean that readers have a strong preference for one or the other.

Summary:
This book continues with Matt, who has now become a drug lord because he is the clone of the previous drug lord. Since Matt has discovered who he is in the first book, this takes it to a new level of Matt attempting to become someone new. He wants to undo the drug regime and free the eejits, but there are so many complications in this process. First he has to survive as a drug lord, with a rival drug lord attempting to make that difficult. He is supposed to be ruthless, but that's just not his character. Second, the anti-clone fanatics cause some issues. Third, being in love with someone that isn't close by and finding other women a little more willing definitely puts Matt in an odd spot. How will Matt figure out his new life without getting killed?

My thoughts:
Well, it's been a very long time since I read The House of the Scorpion, so I needed a bit of a refresher before starting this book. I didn't expect a sequel, so I had put Matt's story in my file box of thousands of books read. When I realized that this was a sequel, I pulled out a copy of Scorpion and flipped through it again, just to refresh my mind on who Matt was and his basic characteristics. Scorpion is an awesome book that definitely sucks you in, so it was a good skim reread. Once I sat down to The Lord of Opium, I was excited to find out what adventure Matt would get into. I was interested in this book, but it does not include the same amount of suspense as the first. This one is a little more about intrigue instead of survival. Matt has to figure out how to live within this new life, so a lot of it is ethical training. How does he mesh the new role he is supposed to have with his inner morals? There is a good amount of danger, but it's not the same. It's like the next step up in Matt growing up. Matt is now solving more problems then running and trying to not get killed. Overall, this book dives further into character development and you really get inside the character's heads.

"House of the Scorpion" is still one of my favorite books and I was overjoyed to see that Nancy Farmer decided to revisit Matt and the world of Opium in the near future. That first book won Printz and Newbery Honors. Having been on the Newbery Committee twice (for non-teachers/librarians/academics the Newbery is awarded to the most distinguished book published for children in a preceding calendar year) I know how things work in that locked room & the Honors are only a hair's breadth from the Winner...I can also state that in 2003 Farmer and House of the Scorpion were totally robbed. It's a far superior book to the winner (Crispin Cross of Lead). Farmer has been an Honor author three times.

To the book! This picks up right where the last left off. Matt is now (reluctantly) El Patron and in charge of the land of Opium on what used to be the border between America and Mexico. He's now considered a human since his "original" died. Even if he doesn't want to, he must take the reins of the opium-growing "country" and negotiate with the UN...and keep his people alive. What he discovers is that the outside world is an environmental ruin...and because of the previous leader of Opium's insistence that everything be like it was when he was a child in the 1990's and because he insisted on the best possible soil for opium growing..the land of Opium is the last bastion of healthy nature and endangered species. Using this as a bargaining chip, Matt has to try to keep the country going while trying to find a way to reverse the procedure that the previous El Patron used to turn illegal aliens into mindless slaves. He also sets the goal of switching crops..at some point in the future.

Great Sci Fi adventure.

Very interesting concept, Matt is a clone the el Patron, who used to rule the Land of Opium. Matt is still trying to understand what Opium is, how it works and how the different types of people work within Opium. There are eejets, which are like reconditioned humans. They are reconditioned to do specific tasks and that's all. They are treated more like beasts of burden. They do all the manual work on the vast poppy farms. They eat pellets (gross!).

The premise of the story is based on cloning the rulers of the land in order to help them to live longer. As long as there is a clone available, organ transplants and blood transfusions are simple. They just use the parts of the clone to help the original back to health. Its is taking the human out of humanity. Clones are not "people". They are more like a spare part store. Matt is a clone, but he was raised with El Patron. He was the most perfect (I guess) clone. He didn't realize that one day the Land of Opium would be his to rule.

I didn't get to read the first book in the series, but after reading the first chapter or two, I was firmly engrossed in the story. Matt was treated like royalty, but because he was still a "boy" he didn't get a lot of respect in the beginning. Matt had great ideas to free the eejets and stop making opium. He wanted the eejets to live like normal people. He wanted them to be happy. He also didn't like the idea of controlling the land and having his drug responsible for turning people into addicts.

He learns that the Land of Opium is a giant pyramid, if he moves one block then all the other blocks maybe tumbling down, creating chaos. Should he free the eejets? Then where would they go and what would they do? Who would feed them and take care of them? If he doesn't produce the opium, then how is he going to earn money to help anyone?

I think these types of problems are the same for anyone who steps into power and wants to create a better life for others under his rule. Matt also learned about treachery. Who can he trust? Who can he love?

Such a lot of things to learn for a young boy.

Now that old El Patron is dead, former clone Matt finds himself in charge of the internationally important Opium. But can a teenager really take the place of the world's most notorious druglord, or will a vacuum destroy all that El Patron built? And which parts of Opium *are* worth keeping, and which parts should be dismantled... and what are the costs of either option? Having all the money and power was never less tempting, particularly with El Patron's voice seeping into Matt's head at the most disconcerting moments.

I was both excited and a bit trepedatious when Nancy Farmer's sequel to HOUSE OF THE SCORPION came out... that book had so many plot twists-and-turns and so many unexpected, but un-contrived, revelations, I wondered how a sequel could do it justice. Ms. Farmer just about manages it. LORD OF OPIUM not only continues the world-building started in HOUSE OF THE SCORPION, but surpasses it, and contains just as many surprises as the first book. However, the middle gets a little too descriptive and introspective for my taste, spending too much time exploring the country of Opium and not enough time moving a complex and high-stakes plot forward... and the end comes together a little too quickly. Still, the book is an entertaining and interesting read, and though I still ache for the loss of Matt's Scottish bodyguard from the first book, new characters, intriguing in their own rights, take their place in this book.

Finally, a sequel to “House of the Scorpion!” Happily, it does not disappoint. The concept itself is great: how will a fourteen-year-old, who wasn’t, for most of his life, even considered human, be able to run the biggest drug nation in the world? Farmer has created a very believable world for her characters, and the challenges that Matt faces feel very real and intense. Farmer is great at keeping the reader in the dark about who to trust or what will happen next. We get to learn a lot more about the eejits, clones, and science of the Opium Empire. There are also a lot of intriguing new characters, and Maria, who I disliked in the first book, really comes into her own.

Some readers, especially younger ones, are likely to be disappointed in this sequel, because it doesn't have the fast pace and suspense of the first. Matteo ASlarcon is no longer struggling to survive, but now is more concerned with ruling Opium. Therefore, his concerns are with politics and ethics. It's the ethical dilemnas which now move the plot along and this earns the book five stars in my opinion. This book is for a more mature reader because the issues don't create suspense. However, they do stimulate the reader's thinking and require more serious reading. As such I recommend this highly to the teen reader looking to exercise his intellect rather than experiencing the thrills that were in the earlier novel.