Artemis Fowl
Ratings617
Average rating3.7
‘Don't be alarmed, Mister Xuan,' smiled Artemis. ‘The weapons will not be used on you.'
Nguyen didn't seem reassured.
‘No,' continued Artemis. ‘Butler could kill you a hundred different ways without the use of his armoury. Though I'm sure one would be quite sufficient.'
Artemis cracked his knuckles. Time to do what he did best - plot dastardly acts.
Foaly was a paranoid centaur, convinced that human intelligence agencies were monitoring his transport and surveillance network. To prevent them reading his mind, he wore a tinfoil hat at all times.
Confidence is ignorance,' advised the centaur. ‘If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.'
‘Arrrrgh,' said one of the dock hands. It was all he could manage.
Butler raised an eyebrow. ‘Argh? Pathetic and inarticulate. Nice combination. Your mothers must be so proud.'
If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose then I'm mad. That's the way history is written.
‘Well, he's only twelve years old. And that's young, even for a human.'
Root snorted, jacking a new battery into his tri-barrelled blaster.
‘Too much damned TV. Thinks he's Sherlock Holmes.'
‘That's Professor Moriarty,' corrected Foaly.
‘Holmes, Moriarty, they both look the same with the flesh scorched off their skulls.'
Artemis put on his best sinister face. Evil, he told himself, evil but highly intelligent. And determined, don't forget determined. He put a hand on the doorknob. Steady now. Deep breaths, and try not to think about the possibility that you have misjudged this situation and are about to be shot dead. One, two, three...He opened the door.
‘Good evening,' he said, every inch the gracious host, albeit a sinister, evil, intelligent and determined one.
Pathetic really: I don't like lollipops. No self-respecting criminal mastermind would be caught dead even using the word lollipops. He really would have to put together a database of witty responses for occasions such as this.
‘Take cover?'
‘Yes, Butler. Cover. I thought speaking in primal terms would be the quickest route to your cognitive functions. Obviously I was mistaken.'
No one built weapons of cruelty like the Mud Men.
Great Adventure about a genius child thief and the magical world. Only issue is this is a kids book with drug, alcohol, and cussing.
I loved this. Was surprised. I had heard of it, but never really bothered to read it. Well written, would read more in the series.
An enjoyable read. Clearly aimed at younger readers but still a fun and interesting storyline. Keen to read more in the series.
Lei este libro buscando algo que recomendar a mis sobrinos. Gran decepcion
Es dificil saber para que edad es esto.
Por la trama, 4 años.
Por las peleas quiza 10?
Por los errores en conceptos, 2 años?
Just saw the Disney movie and decided to re-read the first book.
Also Disney was selling the ebooks for a dollar each.
The differences from the movie are considerable.
It was a quick read and most enjoyable.
I'm 50-some years out of the target audience but I still loved the books
and recommend them.
This book has been on my shelf for quite a while. I don't know where I first saw it, but something about it seemed appealing in a Harry Potter sort of way. I generally enjoy YA fantasy and this seemed to be a very popular series, so when the movie trailer was released, I thought I better get it read before the movie arrives.
It was a pretty major disappointment. Without giving spoilers, the basic gist is that a 12-year old genius billionaire and his personal bodyguard devise a plot to get gold from the fairy folk by ransoming one of them. The world-building has some serious promise, but it's always a warning sign when you just don't like the “protagonist.” (Not really sure Artemis is the protagonist, truthfully, that may rightfully belong to Holly. So maybe I should say “title character?”) The fairy side of things seems pretty cool. But the Artemis side of things... just seems pretty shady. In the current world agenda of erasing concepts of “good” and “bad” and instead turning everything grey, I can see how this has become popular. The idea that we're pushing this to our kids is something that maybe people should consider. Besides that, though, it just seems unbelievable. Harry Potter as a 12 year old with magic is written much more believably. Artemis is written as something of an emotionless savant. His bodyguard, Butler, is essentially a combination of John Wick and Neo, being trained at some ancient academy which apparently was established to train protectors for the Fowl family. Interesting concept, but it just doesn't seem plausible. As in, not even as plausible as magic.
Then there's the idea that he is from an ultra-wealthy family with a criminal history, but is resorting to crime to further his wealth. Why would you do that? Why risk it all? At some point, even if you are a crime family, you have to switch over to legitimate ends so you don't end up destitute and in prison. Why not use that wealth privilege to make money from legitimate opportunities? And then there's the problem of his parents. His father has gone missing. His mother is literally insane and disconnected from reality. And we're supposed to believe that they were somehow able to raise an adolescent that is essentially a super genius, able to outsmart every opponent?
The whole thing just doesn't really fit. It's the concept of a Mary Jane, only much much worse. Maybe your mileage will vary, but I just didn't find it enjoyable overall. Even the enjoyable parts were far overshadowed by the stuff mentioned above.
A quick, enjoyable read. I liked the writing and most of the humour, but I liked the supporting cast more than the main characters and I'm not sure how big a role they'll play in the rest of the series. Worth finding out, I reckon.
Good YA caper with a fantasy bend. While I'm not going to binge the rest of series, I might pick up book 2 down the road.
Amazing, Just fu**ing amazing.
Blown my mind, the Hype is real.
After seeing the trailer, I have decided to read the books before the movie came out, best decision ever!
This book is wildly engaging and entertaining.
Go read it you all!
This story is delightful, and the introduction to a series. Eoin Colfer captures your attention with a devious but still lovable character and a hint of another world. There is adventure, imagination, and perhaps a bit of moral learning. Will our characters survive? Will they do the right thing? Most of us can't relate directly to the youthful Artemis (filthy rich boy genius with a personal amazing bodyguard/servant) or the spunky Holly Short (being a fairy and all), but the characters are well written and fun. Somewhat predictable, this story (and series) is fun and worth following.
I'd recommend this book (series) to readers of any age at this lexile. There's something for girls and boys, with strong protagonists from both. There is some cartoon style violence.
I am doing this review well into the fourth book, and I'm happy that I can report that the story gets better, and our devilish Artemis becomes a better role model for younger readers over time, er, book(s).
Le premier tome d'une saga de fantasy pour la jeunesse, que je n'ai pas poursuivi parce que ce premier volume, quoique plaisant, ne m'a pas totalement convaincu.
Excellent first book. Strong plot, hysterical character and perhaps the best young adult bppkmI have ever read.
This book didn't grab my attention right away, but I liked it well enough that I plan on continuing with the next book in the series.
Well, I have no idea what I just read. This book came into my life after someone thought it was mine, so gave it to me. I tried to explain it wasn't mine, but I was told to keep it anyway. That was a few years ago and I've only just read it. When I opened it, I had no idea what to expect. I'd heard of the book, but never found out what it was about. I learned very quickly! A fairy army, kind-of. I was confused to say the least, but as I read, it got better. The author manages to introduce all the different types of fairy with their own rules, powers and appearance.
The human characters, in my opinion, are less likeable than the fairy characters. It may be what the author intended, but does an author ever truly want the reader to hate the title character? The human characters are also less believable than the fairy characters, if that's at all possible. A genius 12 year old, with a “manservant” that is described as a “mountain” many times. Then, there's the mother with mental health issues and the sister to the manservant, who is also clearly a little bit crazy. I just didn't like any of them! I struggled to believe them as real human characters, and I think them being human was important, as it would've offset the magic and craziness of the fairies, but there wasn't a real human character there.
Despite the above, I did enjoy the story and the world-building. There are redeeming qualities of this book and I still would say read it and see what you think. I think it's a very strange book.
Pretty okay as a mental break from Altered Carbon. Not the most original or interesting thing ever written but I needed to read something that wasn't rife with violence and sexism and on those criteria, this book gets an A+.
Held my interest enough to make me want to finish the story, but not enough to entice me to read the remainder of the series.
Artemis is clever, very clever. He wants fairy gold. And he has a plan to get it.
The fairies are rather smart, too. They want to keep their gold. They will do everything they can to stop Artemis.
You will love this story of Artemis vs. the fairies. You can't help but simultaneously like and laugh at both Artemis and his fairy adversaries. Very good.
Short review: Enjoyable light young adult read. Sort of a mix between the Great Brain, James Bond, and Richie Rich, but as a thief. I haven't read this before, but I am glad that the last book of the series is almost out, so I can just read straight through as I have time.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/artemis-fowl/
I enjoyed this battle of wits and magic between the genuis Artemis and the LEPrecon captain Holly Short, her boss Commander Root, and Foaly the Centaur. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Arctic Incident.