Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

reviewer: Daphne     June 8th, 2012     Middle Grade, Paranormal, Review

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Author: Eoin Colfer
Series: Artemis Fowl, Book 1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: May 2001
280 pages

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—they’re dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.

Thank you to Disney Hyperion and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book.

I wish my 12-year old self had books like this when I was growing up. Or really, I wish my 12-year old self had wanted to read books like this when I was growing up. I read a lot of serialised girl fiction, like Sweet Valley and The Babysitters Club and not quite enough ‘boy books’. I realised now that while I learned a lot about gossip, boys and friendship, I missed some really important lessons, like adventure, or blackmail.

Artemis Fowl Junior is a well-spoken, criminal genius, who happens to be twelve. He tries to restore his family’s riches through the easiest way possible—discover the fairy races’ secrets, kidnap a fairy and blackmail them for gold. It’s too bad he runs up against Captain Holly Short, the only female retcon officer and the entire LEPrecon unit who will not stop until they rescue one of their own!

The story is told from the point of view of both Artemis and Holly (and LEPrecon). Artemis starts out quite stern, but slowly develops a concience and sympathy. He ends up feeling bad for Holly and throughout the book, you can see a little of his dry humour start to come through. Holly is feisty and determined, always having to prove that she’s a good officer, but she’s also smart and empassioned and I found I liked her a lot. Although they are on opposing sides, I was rooting for both, and I liked how the lines were blurred between protagonist and antagonist.

I think the best thing about the book was the great supporting cast of characters. There’s kick-ass Butler, Artemis’…butler, whose family the designation ‘butler’ actually originated from; grumpy Commander Julius Root, Holly’s commanding officer; tech-genius centaur Foaly, in charge of all of fairy’s impressive technology and 007-like gadgets; and my personal favourite, the irrepressable Mulch Diggums—dwarf, kleptomaniac, burp machine.

The story itself and how it unfolds is really fun and there are lots of twists and turns, which keeps it interesting. The author breaks the barrier several times and the writing is witty and humourous. The action is also paced well and it kept me wanting to read more. I would’ve loved this book a whole lot if I was 12 and I recommend it to anyone whose inner child wants to read a good story.

3.5 wings



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2 Comments

  • AngelSanctuary says:
    11 June 2012 at 11:57 am

    i find this review quite hypocritical. after all, would you love the hundreds of young adult books you read a whole lot if you were 16 (you know, an ACTUAL young adult) instead of i'm guessing close to 30? this is what i dislike about YA adult readers, they ask for respect and understanding for the genre but look down on children's books which is really amazing

    Reply
    • Daphne says:
      12 June 2012 at 3:46 pm

      I read a lot of young adult books when I was a young adult, and I find that yes, I did love them.

      I'm a little confused that you think I looked down on this book, because I feel like my review was very positive. I also love children's books and give them high praise on this blog, like Rick Riordan books, which I enjoy quite a bit more than a lot of the YA books I read.

      Reply

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