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Nancy Farmer Books In Order

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Publication Order of Matteo Alacran Books

The House of the Scorpion (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Lord of Opium (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Sea of Trolls Books

The Sea of Trolls (2004)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Land of the Silver Apples (2007)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Islands of the Blessed (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Do You Know Me (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Warm Place (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Girl Named Disaster (1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
A New Year's Tale (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Picture Books

Runnery Granary (1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
Casey Jones's Fireman (1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
Clever Ali (2006)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Anthologies

Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
Full-Blooded Fantasy(2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wand in the Word(2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
Firebirds Soaring(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Knee Deep in Little Devils(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon

Nancy Farmer grew up in a hotel near the Mexico-Arizona border, here she worked the switchboard when she was just nine. She found the time to hang out in the old state prison as well as the hobo jungle along the banks of the Colorado River. In 1963, she got her BA from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Instead of getting some kind of regular job, she joined the Peace Corps and got sent to India, where she was from 1963-1965. She got back and moved into a commune in Berkley, sold newspapers as a street vendor for a time. Then got hired in the Entomology department at UC Berkley and took Chemistry courses while she was there.

Still restless, she went to Africa. She and one of her buddies tried to hitchhike by boat, however the ship they had picked wound up being stolen. It got boarded by the Coast Guard right outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Nancy was able to finally get to Africa on a ship that was legal. Nancy would spend over a year on Lake Cabora Bassa in Mozambique, which she monitored water weeds. She also worked to aid in controlling tsetse fly within the dense bush on the banks of the Zambezi located in Zimbabwe.

She has won the National Book Award for “The House of the Scorpion”, and the book was also nominated for a Michael L. Printz Award for Best Book. She also won Newbery Honors for “A Girl Named Disaster”, “The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm”, and “The House of the Scorpion”.

She and her husband, named Harold, live in Arizona. They have a son, named Daniel, who is in the US Navy.

Her books have been translated 26 languages. Nancy writes young adult fantasy and has penned some picture books.

“The House of the Scorpion” is the first novel in the “House of the Scorpion” series, which was released in the year 2004. Matt is a clone of a powerful drug, named El Patron in the land of Opium a place located between Mexico and the United States. For six years now, he has been living in a small cottage out in the poppy fields with Celia, a deeply religious and kind servant woman that is charged with his safety and his care.

He only knows little about his existence until he is found by some kids playing in the fields and wonders why he is not at all like they are. Even though Matt’s been spared the fate of a lot of the other clones, who get their intelligence destroyed right at birth, the evil inhabitants of El Patron’s empire think of him as an “eejit” and a “beast”.

El Patron dies at the of 146, and Matt, age fourteen, escapes from Opium with Celia’s help as well Tam Lin, his loyal bodyguard who would like to right his own wrongs. After a close misadventure during his escape, Matt goes back home and starts to get rid of the evils in the country.

“The Sea of Trolls” is the first novel in the “Sea of Trolls” series, which was released in the year 2004. A.D. 793 is the year. Jack and his sister got kidnapped by Vikings and have been taken to Ivar the Boneless’ court. Things get worse when Jack finds he is going on a dangerous quest to find the magical Mimir’s Well in a distant land, with his sister’s life being forfeit should he fail.

Other threats are a gigantic spider, a willful mother Dragon, and a troll-boar that has a surprising personality. Which is to say nothing about Ivar the Boneless and Queen Frith, his wife and is a shape shifter half troll, as well as many eight foot tall and orange haired and full time trolls.

Norse mythology is creatively adapted into a rather engaging adventure tale. It is one that demonstrates two cultures clashing with each other and how the kids work out things to accomplish their own goals. The writing is top notch, too, as it is simple, direct, and spellbinding.

“The Land of Silver Apples” is the second novel in the “Sea of Trolls” series, which was released in the year 2005. Jack is just amazed to have caused the earthquake. He is only thirteen, and just a bard-in-training. Lucy, his sister, has gotten taken by the Lady of the Lake; taken for a second time in her young life, he finds to his terror. Caught between belief in Christianity and the old gods (790 AD, Britain) Jack calls on his ash wood staff to subdue some unruly monks, and for this daring, winds up in a knucker hole.

This is a wonderful follow up to the first book in the series, as the characters are still finding their place in the world as well as themselves. Readers felt themselves wanting to jump right back into the story any time they had to put the book aside for any amount of time and there was quite a bit of suspense throughout.

“The Islands of the Blessed” is the third novel in the “Sea of Trolls” series, which was released in the year 2009. It all starts with a terrible tornado. Odin going on a Wild Hunt, that’s how the young berserker Thorgil views it. The fields of Jack’s home village get destroyed, the winter ahead seems bleak, and a monster and a draugr has just invaded the forest just outside of the town.

Quickly, the Bard, Jack, and Thorgil are headed off so they can right the wrong of one death that was caused by Father Severus. Their destination is Notland, which is the realm of the fin folk. It will not be an easy journey as they will face all kinds of enemies and challenges before they arrive.

Farmer penned a very satisfying tale here, and is along the lines of the previous books in the series. Jack grows in this one, although not completely, and Thorgil is simply a wonderful character. These books all feature plenty of thought, adventure, and history, not to mention Farmer’s dry humor interlaced throughout.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Nancy Farmer

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