I finished reading Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer yesterday. It was a pretty good book. It was definitely different from what I expected, though. When I see a title of a book, and it is a characters name, I tend to expect that he will be the hero of the story...or that I will at least sympathize with his character. That wasn't really the case with this story. Artemis is the villain of the story, granted he does have some issues that made me a bit sympathetic to his situation. However, those sympathies did not lend themselves to the villainy he engulfed himself in.
First of all, he is 12 years old and a prodigy. That concept appeals to me as I really enjoy the characters of Ender and Bean (and many of the Battle School brats). His parents are less than available to him for one reason or another (don't want to give it all away). However, the lengths which he is ready and willing to go to to achieve his goal (MONEY! and lots of it) are just inexcusable.
Aside from him being the "hero" of the story I really liked it. I loved the other characters. Short, Root, and Foaly were great fun! Even Butler and Juliet were enjoyable. The plot was a very interesting story. A boy genius deciphers the end all say all fairy magic book, kidnaps a fairy all in an effort to make back his family fortune. I loved all the magic. I loved the different kinds of magical beings and their different "gifts" (some very funny). I even liked the way it ended for the most part.
I believe that there is a series of books following Artemis (and hopefully the other characters, the ones I liked a lot). I will be reading at least one more to see where the author goes. I would give this book 3 1/2 stars of 5. I did like it, more than just liked it...but I don't know if I could say that I loved it. I would recommend it, only if you enjoy a fun fantasy novel that is quite obviously written for younger readers. I don't think everyone would enjoy it...but I know some would enjoy it more than I did.
3 comments:
I enjoyed Artemis Fowl too, but haven't read the others in the series. Colfer has given me some ideas for my own writing (style and such). I read a couple of his other ones as well, but can't think of the titles at the moment.
I liked the book, but I haven't really had a drive to read the rest of the books. There are too many books out there that are better. I did like Supernatural (I think that is the title) much better and wish it had a sequel.
I think I've figured out how to write a successful YA novel. 1. main character is a young'un. 2. Young'un is precocious (i.e. evil genius, good genius, wizard unaware of his powers, Jedi unaware of his potential, teenage vampire, etc). 3. Add some poop jokes, burps, etc
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