The Lord of Opium

By: Nancy Farmer

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

In the riveting sequel to the acclaimed bestseller The House of the Scorpion, Matt reels from the change in status quo and struggles to do the right thing; find out his story’s end in this new edition with a reimagined cover!

Matt Alacrán is a fourteen-year-old drug lord.

Until recently, Matt was just a clone grown from a strip of El Patrón’s skin. Now he is lord of the land of Opium, on the one-time US–Mexico border, and rules over an army of microchipped, zombielike workers who are programmed to produce the drugs that are Opium’s main export. El Patrón kept the air and water in Opium clean, but the rest of the world is a polluted wasteland.

Matt is sure that, in his new position, he can find a way to break the cycle of violence and destruction—but it will only be possible if he chooses the right people to trust.

Fantastic

I truly hope to see a 3rd book in this series, such a beloved series

Engaging

I would encourage everyone to read the first book House of Scorpions for the fall character development prior to this book.

The antidote - but was it so long in coming

I disliked The House of Scorpion, but if I had read The Lord of Opium first, I would at least have had some hope, hope that dark fantasy has a silver lining. This book reintroduces into the world some aspects of human dignity and care. Because 11 years separated the publications, I wonder of Farmer really intended the first to be a one-off.

Some aspects of this second book were less than stellar. For example, the eco-lectures could have been woven into the story better rather than feeling like an exposition (in the literary sense). Then, I seemed to miss the part where Matt (raised in squalor, isolation and disdain) gets his ability to exude confidence, insight and compassion. Is he an Ender Wiggin, who does not need preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, caring adults and a caring family environment to be better than the rest of us? By age 14? And where does that voice come from? And do geo-synchronous satellites fall straight down if you cut the rope?

The author interrogates the narrator (Esparza was great), and they talk about a potential movie. Please please please only do book 2, with book 1 relegated to flashbacks.

Great narration!

I really enjoyed the narrator. He made a somewhat slow story still entertaining. I liked hearing the conclusion but preferred the first book.

Love it

It's a great read, and a great second to the series... I hope for a third...