Send in the Clone

House of the Scorpion
Nancy Farmer

When I bought House of the Scorpion, it wasn't because I knew it was good or that I read a review about it - I bought it because it was red. I didn't read any reviews before I read it I just hoped that my p300++ wasn't wasted. I wasn't disappointed. When I started reading it I ended up forcing myself to sleep at 3am.

The House of Scorpion is not the usual sci-fi with spaceships, dimensions, and temporal fluxes. It's a story about a part of Mexico's society in a possible future: between the US border and Mexico a new country has arisen. It was called "Opium" because it was literally an Opium farm. The drug dealers offered a deal with the US and Mexico - that they would plant opium farms in between them, not sell drugs to both countries, and be unmolested by both governments. In return, the opium farmers will police the borders and prevent anyone from crossing.

In the midst of this context, Matt was raised by the household cook of the most powerful farmer in Opium - El Patron. Matt was El Patron's clone. Generally, clones are considered to be animals at that time. The book is a narrative that follows Matt's developmental stages from early childhood to teen-age years. It's an interesting study of childhood that can be paralled to today's children in need of special protection or special circumstances. So maybe that's why I loved it so much.