Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer

The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer


Totally fantastic book! Great story, and makes you think about what we are doing to the environment. Following the first book, The House of the Scorpion, Matt is back in Opium, and not that El Patron is dead, Matt is considered the new El Patron, Drug Lord. With lots of help from Cienfeuegos, leader of the farm patrol who was once a biologist, and Celia, who raised him for part of his life, Matt learns about the empire he has inherited. It has a many secrets; some good and some quite evil. All of the work done in Opium, most of it horrifically difficult, is done by eejits - people who have been microchipped to follow orders and not think on their own. The eejits are people who were fleeing their countries trying to find work. Once they are chipped, they have very short lives and are not considered human and are replaced by hapless border crossers. Matt wants to find a way to cure the eejits, stop growing Opium, bring his friends to Opium and marry Maria. It is a ruthless world he is in, the other drug lords want to take over his country, and no one can be trusted. Quite a big challenge for a fourteen year old boy, but perhaps it can be done since he is the clone of El Patron.

No comments:

Post a Comment