Module 8: Artemis Fowl

Summary: Artemis Fowl may be a millionaire, genius, criminal mastermind but when he steals an ancient fairy book and kidnaps a fairy, he unknowingly declares war on the entire underworld. While he is planning on stealing fairy gold, the agents of LEPrecon are closing in on him with an agenda which does not include leaving any human involved alive. As the kidnapped fairy, Captain Holly Short, regains her powers, they find a way for everyone to walk away from the situation unscathed.

Citation:

Colfer, E. (2001). Artemis Fowl. New York: Hyperion Books For Children.

Impressions: Judging from the reviews I read, I think this book suffered from post-Harry Potter syndrome where every book with a young male protagonist involving magic was compared to J.K. Rowling's masterwork. I personally thought the book was inventive, fun, and had a new take on old legends such as leprechauns and fairies. I loved the idea that leprechauns were actually magical police agents who tried to keep the underworld from seeping into the human realm. I love Artemis and really didn't see many parallels between him and Harry Potter. Colfer's writing always reminds me of the late Douglas Adams. It's very tongue-in-cheek and balances humor with action.

Reviews:
Meet Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter's Irish evil twin. A twelve-year-old criminal mastermind, Fowl brings the fairy folk to their knees when he steals their sacred book (translating it on his computer), and kidnaps one of their own, demanding gold for a ransom. Yet while the Harry Potter series exposes the magic tucked within the mundane, Artemis Fowl goes the opposite route. These fairies opt for technological gadgets over pixie dust and, if their dialogue is any indication, seem au courant with our cheesy action movies ("Freeze, Mud Boy"). In fact, Colfer informs us, leprechauns aren't the knicker-wearing, shamrock-waving creatures humans think they are. They are actually "an elite branch of the Lower Elements Police," a.k.a. LEPrecon unit. The self-conscious revisioning of the fairy world as a sort of wisecracking police force with friction among the ranks occurs throughout the novel, stealing focus from the one truly intriguing character, Artemis himself. It is a relief to see fleeting chinks in Artemis's James Bond--style cool, as when he thinks about his mother, who has become severely depressed and delusional since the disappearance of Artemis's father. Still, the long stretches devoted to the fairy world's maneuverings, which only readers fond of technical detail will find appealing, overwhelm these moments. There's a lot of invention here, but it's not used enough in service to the story, and may well be deployed to better effect in the feature film slated for next year.

Heppermann, C. M. (2001, July). Artemis Fowl (Book Review). Horn Book Magazine, 77(4), 449-449. Retrieved March 9, 2016, from Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). 

Library Use: I personally used this for me STEM program LEPrecon science so I can see this being used in a science class or as part of a book club. I think it would be useful to talk about the Harry Potter comparison and discuss how the two books differ.