The House of the Scorpion: It's Not Easy Being A Clone

Science fiction novels are a little like bats; elusive, somewhat grotesque, and often misunderstood. Bats aren't vampires. They won't suck your blood and turn into hedonistic bourgeoisie after dark. They're just little sight-challenged mice with wings, a whimsical combination of mammal and bird. What's not to love? It's the same with science fiction books. They're not über technical. They won't turn you into a Trekkie with bad acne and no social life. Most of the time, they're stories that take an idea, whether it be scientific, social or economic, and asks "What if?" In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clark starts with the question, "What if the human race only evolved because of the influence of an alien race?" and goes on from there. In 1984, Orwell asks "What if communism got so out of hand that we were eventually ruled over by a complete dictatorship?" And of course, in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams asks, "WTF is wrong with everyone?"

In Nancy Farmer's young-adult, sci-fi powerhouse The House of the Scorpion, she asks, "What would it be like to be a human clone?" But it isn't this question--asked by many other writers--that makes her book so unique. I've had the pleasure to consume two of Farmer's other books, The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, and A Girl Named Disaster (both of which, like Scorpion are Newbery Honor Books) and all of her work shares a remarkable characteristic. Farmer has the ability to combine foreign, ultra-traditional locales with a distinctly futuristic timeframe and setting. In The Ear, Farmer transports the reader to Zimbabwe, 2194, where she elegantly combines sleek, technological innovation with traditional African symbolism and ritual.

In Scorpion, we follow the life of Matteo Alacrán, the only clone given the gift (or curse) of a perfectly working brain. Matt lives in a country called Opium, a thin strip of land stretching across the United States/Mexican border. Opium was created when the US and Mexican government agreed to give the land to the powerful drug lords in exchange for their protection of the borderlands from illegal immigrants. (Hey, it's possible.) The most famous of all the drug lords, known as El Patrón, paid heaps of money to develop the technology to create clones of himself...among other things. Matt is that clone.

So yeah, it's a pretty complex story. But as you can see, amazingly ambitious for a young adult novel. It has enough social, political and psychological significance to keep any adult reader invested, and plenty of action, mystery and intrigue for the younger reader. Unfortunately for me, there really isn't anything funny about it. It's just good. Really, really good.

And I guess science fiction novels aren't really like bats. Sigh.

Tastiness: Mmm....tastes like cloned deliciousness...the same as regular deliciousness.
Special Sauce: A good ol' enchilada just like Mamacita used to make...except from the future.
Recommend: Si.