The next installment of the Newberry winning book series; House of the Scorpion, is here, and it's just as good as the original! The lord of opium once follows the adventures of Matt, as El Patron has kicked the bucket, and now Matt, being his clone, is now the new lord of opium. This book is the perfect balance of dystopian fiction, science fiction, and young adult fiction. As I was reading this I was very relieved that Nancy Farmer's exquisite storytelling weaved the loose ends of the last book into a perfect braid of relief. One downside of this book however is that I felt like the climax was a bit rushed, but hey, nothing is completely perfect. This book is a perfect conclusion to, in my opinion, one of the best books of all time, unless... a sequel? Well, probably not, but maybe if I write enough letters, and write enough online reviews, that'll happen.
The Lord of Opium
By Nancy Farmer
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 6 - 8 | Grades 3 - 6 | n/a | 5.2 | 108808 |
Matt has always been nothing but a clone—grown from a strip of old El Patron’s skin. Now, at age fourteen, he finds himself suddenly thrust into the position of ruling over his own country. The Land of Opium is the largest territory of the Dope Confederacy, which ranges on the map like an intestine from the ruins of San Diego to the ruins of Matamoros. But while Opium thrives, the rest of the world has been devastated by ecological disaster—and hidden in Opium is the cure.
And that isn’t all that awaits within the depths of Opium. Matt is haunted by the ubiquitous army of eejits, zombielike workers harnessed to the old El Patron’s sinister system of drug growing—people stripped of the very qualities that once made them human.
Matt wants to use his newfound power to help, to stop the suffering, but he can’t even find a way to smuggle his childhood love, Maria, across the border and into Opium. Instead, his every move hits a roadblock, some from the enemies that surround him…and some from a voice within himself. For who is Matt really, but the clone of an evil, murderous dictator?
Book Reviews (5)
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I think this book was amazing as the first one was. I liked how a 15 year old was in charge of the largest drug empire in the world. I think this is a really good book because it had a bunch of plot twists and there was so much suspense on what was going to happen next. The main protagonist, Matt, has many problems and he has to find a way to solve all of it. I'm only giving it 4 stars because it just wasn't as good as the first book.
This book is really good but I didn't understand this book since I didn't read the house of the scorpion. So you if you were thinking about reading this book and you haven't read house of the scorpion please read it first. The reason I loved this book is that whenever matt overcomes a roadblock it is not exactly finished because his overcoming of one roadblock or obstacle leads to another so it is basically a bunch of plot twists and if you are a person who loves plot twists, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT MORE IMPORTANT !!!
The story was a followup to the first book called the House of the Scorpion. The main character is Matteo, he was a clone but when the original Matteo died, he became a human. He inherited the whole empire of Opium and he has to control it and defend it. I liked the book because I think that it showed what might happen in the future and also I think that the book shows Matteo's struggle with being a normal kid and having to control an entire empire. I recommend this book to anyone who likes action books but they have to read the first book first to understand the story.
pretty good... i liked the first one better though