happyBook #06 – Artemis Fowl
Name of the Book (Name of the Series): Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book #1)
Name of the Author: Eoin Colfer
Genre: Childrens Literature, Crime, Fantasy, Action
Pages: 280
Date: 16.10.2012 – 20.10.2012
Short description: (Taken from the book, ‘cause amazon sucks again) “If internet rumours are to believed, twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is responsible for every major crime of the new century. In this, the story of Artemis’s first encounter with the fairy People, you’ll find out how the criminal mastermind hatched a plot to restore his family’s fortune – and how he discovered a world below ground of armed and dangerous fairies and mind-blowing technology. And you’ll learn how, by kidnapping Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, Artemis Fowl almost triggered a cross-species war …”
Own Statement: First thing to be considered if reading this book is that it is literature meant for children. It is crime literature for children, to be precise – and it’s brilliant. There wasn’t much crime literature around for children when I was a kid, and the ones that I read were always boring, underestimating the cleverness of kids. Eoin Colfer certainly didn’t do that. The book manages to do something that is impressive: It is halfway written about the ‘villain’ or the ‘criminal’ without having him either be a jerk or a Robin Hood kind of criminal. The story links fantasy creatures such as fairies and leprechauns and our realistic world with the internet and the guns, and merges them, creates something completely new. And most of all: the schemes going on aren’t that easy to see through, but if you give it a try, you can do it. The book exercised and furthers the mind of children.
I’m twenty now, and I still had fun reading the book, which say’s something bout it, I guess. But still – I enjoyed it mostly because I was aware, that it was meant for children. The language and the characters were designed to appeal to younger readers, and the plot also still shows that kids shall be able to enjoy it. While it isn’t all rose coloured glasses and glittery fairies, you certainly shouldn’t expect to read an Elizabeth George type of Crime Fiction here, or too much criminality or violence. If you expect to have a few nice hours of reading, without having to think too much about it, you will enjoy Artemis Fowl. You will enjoy the wit of the characters and the wit of the author and his twisting familiar fantasy plots and creatures. I read the book on my way to university in the train, and it was perfect for those occasions. It’s full of humour, a bit of action, it’s fast-paced and once in a while a bit ironic.
