From Amazon.com: 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 extra-small, 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.
Audience: Middle-Grade (age 10+)
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 300 pgs.
The Rating: ***** (Loved it)
The Pros: I noticed in a fairly lengthy review on Goodreads (that I didn't finish reading) that one reviewer ranted ... er, mentioned that his book has a green agenda. It does. It's obvious. Unlike that reviewer, I don't think it detracts from the book. In fact, I think it really adds to the depth of the fairy race in the book. I saw their utter hatred for humans and the way they looked down on the way humans treat the earth more as character flaws than Colfer preaching. Another thing that really caught me, from absolutely page one, was the voice. Take, for instance, the fact that I don't like head-hopping in books (changing POVs from character to character within the same scene). This book did it rampantly. But it was done so well, and the voice was so engaging, it didn't snag me at all. Artemis Fowl is also an excellent villain/main character and I absolutely adore his bodyguard/man-of-all-trades Butler. Basically, I just fell in love with the characters. I knew within ten pages what agents mean when they say they fall in love with something.
The Cons: There's the preachy-greeness of the novel that might turn some people off. As I mentioned above, I didn't mind it. Other than that, I didn't really see anything that turned me off about this book.
Disclaimer: Mild language (a few d*** and h*** sprinkled throughout. I want to say maybe six in total.)
I've heard great things about this book. Never read it and probably won't, but I have friends who love it.
ReplyDeleteI also got this one when it was free, but I haven't read it yet. I'm glad it was good.
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