Artemis Fowl
Product Details
Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius—and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories; these fairies are armed and dangerous. Artemis thinks he has them right where he wants them…but then they stop playing by the rules. Includes video footage from Eoin Colfer's one man stage show, Fairies, Fiends, & Flatulence. See different selections from the show in every Artemis Fowl eBooks 1-7.
Eoin Colfer describes his new book, Artemis Fowl, as "Die Hard with fairies." He's not far wrong.
Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. With two trusty sidekicks in tow, he hatches a cunning plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Of course, he isn't foolish enough to believe in all that "gold at the end of the rainbow" nonsense. Rather, he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive. But when the time comes to put his plan into action, he doesn't count on the appearance of the extrasmall, pointy-eared Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaisance) Unit--and her senior officer, Commander Root, a man (sorry, elf) who will stop at nothing to get her back.
Fantastic stuff from beginning to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st-century romp of the highest order. The author has let his imagination run riot by combining folklore, fantasy, and a fistful of high-tech funk in an outrageously devilish book that could well do for fairies what Harry Potter has done for wizardry. But be warned: this is no gentle frolic, so don't be fooled by the fairy subject matter. Instead, what we have here is well-written, sophisticated, rough 'n' tumble storytelling with enough high-octane attitude to make it a seriously cool read for anyone over the age of 10. --Susan Harrison
Customer Reviews ::
Good premise. Horribly executed. - Allison - Philippines
Last night I began reading Artemis Fowl because so many of my friends were saying they were rereading the series for the fifth or sixth time. I began to get excited as well, especially after finding out that it was about a 12 year old evil genius. I finished the book earlier today and found that the only thing I liked about it was the premise: it's very interesting, and has a lot of potential. Eoin Colfer, however, fails to deliver.
I was not able to identify with (or even believe) any of the characters. It was only Artemis Fowl who managed to draw me in (and only because of the premise), and Colfer keeps him in the background, choosing instead to focus on less interesting characters like Holly and Root.
The majority of the book is made up of dialogue attempting to be witty and failing miserably. Not only were the "jokes" not funny, but they were out of character as well, and inappropriate for the situation. The narrator even admits that the jokes are out of character, mentioning a few times how Artemis is surprised every time he cracks jokes. I have to ask: Why does Artemis crack jokes, then? There is no explanation for this--Artemis' being (supposedly) "out of character" is not significant to the plot at all. I believe that the writer merely added these instances where Artemis jokes "uncharacteristically" because he couldn't think of a better way to say that Artemis is not one to joke. Other writers have been able to add humor to grim situations very successfully--Colfer is not one of those writers.
Other than this, every event in the story feels as if it happened much too easily. Artemis getting the Book, Artemis decoding the Gnomish, Artemis finding a way to survive. I know he's supposed to be a genius but, honestly, the ease with which he accomplishes these tasks is highly unbelievable. My friend explained this by saying, "It's a kid's book." Its being a children's book is not an excuse for bad writing.
The only reason I gave this book two stars is because I liked the plot. It was exciting enough. It was just poorly executed.
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