The Lord of Opium

Starred review from June 24, 2013
This highly anticipated sequel to Farmer’s National Book Award–winning The House of the Scorpion (2002) begins soon after the funeral of the drug lord El Patrón and the murder of nearly everyone who attended the event. Fourteen-year-old Matt, the dead drug lord’s clone, was originally created to provide spare parts for El Patrón, but is now the Lord of Opium. Surrounded by people who have been surgically conditioned to satisfy his every whim, many of them mindless and virtually helpless eejits, Matt must come to terms with the deep immorality upon which his wealth is based, while fending off another drug lord, the rapacious Glass Eye Dabengwa, and a fanatical U.N. representative, Esperanza Mendoza. Complicating matters further are Matt’s involvement with the beautiful eejit Waitress; his lifelong relationship with Mendoza’s strong-willed daughter María; and the machinations of the mad physician, Dr. Rivas, who created Matt. Once again, Farmer’s near-future world offers an electric blend of horrors and beauty. Lyrically written and filled with well-rounded, sometimes thorny characters, this superb novel is well worth the wait. Ages 12–up.

September 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Fourteen-year-old Matteo Alacran has outlived El Patron, the drug lord for whom Matt was cloned for parts. The young man steps into the position dominated for decades by El Patron and attempts to right wrongs long tolerated by the computer-chip-controlled underlings. His mission involves establishing and maintaining order over a drug kingdom he wishes to reform while corralling the genetics experiments that made him possible; subplots, such as a pro forma romance and a newly discovered solution to ecological disaster, diffuse the momentum but expand the moral universe. Complex parallel plotlines come loosely together in a positive conclusion, and while character motivations are sometimes convenient, the identification of friend and foe adds clarity. This sequel to The House of the Scorpion (S & S, 2002) does not have the tense pace that distinguished the first title, but the ethical dilemmas that shape the internal action serve to move the plot forward. Matt discovers that good and evil are not always clear-cut as he struggles to gain control over an empire long ago corrupted. Readers of the first book will be able to fill in the background on all that Farmer implies, and will appreciate the continuing stories of familiar characters.-Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2013
With the death of El Patr[n at the end of The House of the Scorpion (rev. 11/02), Matt, the drug lord's fourteen-year-old clone, has not only been reclassified as a human but has now been declared the Lord of Opium, the drug state carved out of the borderlands between the United States and Mexico. Opium is under lockdown, and Matt must consolidate his power quickly to deal with challenges to his authority from the United Nations, rival drug lords, and his own disgruntled subjects. Meanwhile, he is also determined to not only end the practice of using clones for slave labor but also -- if possible -- reverse the mind-control technology that bends them to his will. Moreover, he plans to use Opium's biosphere, preserved because of its isolation from the rest of the world, to regenerate Earth's damaged ecology. Farmer introduces some vivid new characters to her already colorful cast, enlarges the scope of her world-building, and eschews the quest plot that characterizes most of her work for a more nuanced one of mystery and intrigue. Yet ethical dilemmas remain at the heart of this novel, and, if anything, become elevated because of Matt's newfound power and responsibility. "Where did it all end? How much wickedness could you do in the service of good before it turned into pure evil?" The landscape of dystopian literature has changed significantly since the first book, but this sequel is still a cut above the rest. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 15, 2013
In the much-anticipated sequel to The House of the Scorpion (2002), 14-year-old Matteo Alacran returns home as the new Lord of Opium. Matt was a clone of El Patron, drug lord of Opium, but with El Patron dead, Matt is now considered by international law to be fully human and El Patron's rightful heir. But it's a corrupt land, now part of a larger Dope Confederacy carved out of the southeastern United States and northern Mexico, ruled over by drug lords and worked by armies of Illegals turned into "eejits," or zombies. Matt wants to bring reform: cure the eejits, disband the evil Farm Patrol, uproot the opium, shut down the drug distribution network, plant new crops and, if that's not enough, heal the planet, since the outside world is in the midst of an ecological disaster. But how can an innocent 14-year-old do all of this and keep warring drug lords at bay? If this volume lacks the mystery and deft plotting of its predecessor (and sometimes feels like an extended epilogue to it), it has an imagined world that will keep readers marveling at the sheer weirdness of it all--the zombies and clones, drug lord Glass Eye Dabengwa, a ghost army, the Mushroom Master, biospheres and a space station. A vividly imagined tale of a future world full of fascinating characters and moral themes--a tremendous backdrop for one young man's search for identity. (cast of characters, map, chronology, appendix) (Science fiction. 12 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2014
With the death of El Patrsn at the end of [cf2]The House of the Scorpion[cf1], fourteen-year-old Matt has been declared the Lord of the drug state Opium. Matt must consolidate his power to deal with challenges from the United Nations, rival drug lords, and his own subjects. Farmer introduces vivid new characters, enlarges the scope of her world-building, and provides nuanced mystery and intrigue.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

In the much-anticipated sequel to The House of the Scorpion (2002), 14-year-old Matteo Alacran returns home as the new Lord of Opium. Matt was a clone of El Patron, drug lord of Opium, but with El Patron dead, Matt is now considered by international law to be fully human and El Patron's rightful heir. But it's a corrupt land, now part of a larger Dope Confederacy carved out of the southeastern United States and northern Mexico, ruled over by drug lords and worked by armies of Illegals turned into "eejits," or zombies. Matt wants to bring reform: cure the eejits, disband the evil Farm Patrol, uproot the opium, shut down the drug distribution network, plant new crops and, if that's not enough, heal the planet, since the outside world is in the midst of an ecological disaster. But how can an innocent 14-year-old do all of this and keep warring drug lords at bay? If this volume lacks the mystery and deft plotting of its predecessor (and sometimes feels like an extended epilogue to it), it has an imagined world that will keep readers marveling at the sheer weirdness of it all--the zombies and clones, drug lord Glass Eye Dabengwa, a ghost army, the Mushroom Master, biospheres and a space station. A vividly imagined tale of a future world full of fascinating characters and moral themes--a tremendous backdrop for one young man's search for identity. (cast of characters, map, chronology, appendix) (Science fiction. 12 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from June 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Matteo Alacrn was created to be an organ donor for El Patrn, but he is spared this fate thanks to El Patrn's death and his assisted escape from Opium, a country between the U.S. and what was once Mexico. Matt has now returned to his nation and taken the reins of power as the new Lord of Opium. With its borders closed, the country's drug supply is piling up and imported resources are running low. Global nations are growing aggressive waiting for their drugs, while others want the natural resources only Opium can supply themflora, fungi, animals, and other denizens of the preserved ecosystem that thrive there but are destroyed elsewhere. Matt is also trying to achieve his personal goals of stopping the drug trade, growing crops for food, and returning the eejits, Opium's preserved labor force, from their current state as microchipped mindless robots to fully functioning humans, all while making Opium self-sustaining. Most young readers who loved The House of the Scorpion (2002) when it was first released are now adults, and today's teen audience will need to read the first title in order to fully understand Farmer's brilliantly realized world. The satisfying ending is left open enough to allow for further stories, and Farmer includes an appendix that links real people and places to the book. A stellar sequel worth the wait. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: International best-seller The House of the Scorpion took home all the big prizes: the National Book Award, the Newbery Honor, and the Printz Honor. Expect a big national marketing campaign for the sequel (not that it needs one).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)