Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Date of Publication: 2001 ISBN: 043934445X Number of Pages: 280

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: High
GENRES: Fantasy
THEMES: Good versus Evil, Appearance versus Reality, Family, Sacrifice and Redemption, Loyalty

SUMMARY:
Artemis Fowl is a twelve-year-old genius from an Irish family with a long history of criminal dealings. His father has gone missing and is feared dead, his mother is mentally unstable from her grief, and so Artemis sets out to refill the family coffers as a way of dealing with his grief and insecurity. With the assistance of his bodyguard, Butler, Artemis masterminds a plan to regain the Fowls’ former glory by robbing the fairies of their fairy gold. He outsmarts a fallen sprite in order to obtain a copy of “the Book,” and when his computer cracks the code and translates it, he puts his plan in motion. He and Butler sit in wait on one of the magic sites in Ireland, intending to capture the first fairy they meet and hold it ransom.

Holly Short, on a mission to track down a rogue troll that is loose in Italy, stops to “refuel” her magic in Ireland, and is captured by Artemis. Holly turns out to be captain of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Retrieval) Unit, and so a whole slew of trolls, dwarfs, fairies and Holly's Commander, Root, set out to rescue her.

As the book progresses, the reader realizes that Artemis is not as foul as he seems. A major battle occurs in which Artemis must decide what he values most. The fairies have no intention of allowing Artemis to keep the gold or live with his knowledge of their way of life. They recover their gold but Artemis saves himself, his mother, Butler, and Butler’s sister Juliet before the fairies detonate a bio-bomb.

The ending leads the reader to believe that Artemis will rise again to mastermind another plan.

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...

• likes J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, or Phillip Pullman
• likes Eoin Colfer
• likes techno gadgets
• likes novels with magic, trickery, and dirty dealing
• like action-packed stories
• considers himself or herself smarter than the average adult
• isn’t thrown by Irish dialect or obsolete or archaic vocabulary
• likes stories about brilliant masterminds
• enjoys twists on the fairy/fantasy genre
  

WHAT ELSE?
This is a great read for both boys and girls, and as long as the language doesn’t throw the reader, it will be a huge hit. There are sequels to it, including Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, and Artemis Fowl: Opal Deception. Colfer has also written a number of other works, including The Supernaturalist, The Wish List, Spud Murphy, and the supposedly non-fiction book, The Artemis Fowl Files.

RELATED LINKS:
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