Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer ~Book Review

As I browsed through the children’s section of Liberty books with my elder brother, I happily chippered away;

So what if Artemis Fowl is a children’s book, I didn’t read it when I was a child, so I’ll read it now.

Thank fully, my brother agreed.

And more importantly, it was no mistake.

Artemis Fowl has fairies, a centaur, and all ingredients of a children’s book. Yet, it is enjoyable to the core.

Artemis Fowl is an astute criminal mastermind. One who happens to be a twelve years old. Filled with the ambition to restore his family’s fortune he puts himself to the task of discovering an underground world of fairies.

The fairy land, on the other hand, is not even close to what we’ve come to believe. The term fairy is enough to conjure up an image of a beautiful world, where everyone love everyone, have no unresolved issues with humans, and where everyone has their own happily everafters. A place devoid of animosity. And a place replete with magic.

However, the world portrayed by Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer is a different place altogether. There are fairies, yes. But no wings of their own. And there is even a hint of gender discrimination. (Sounds so much like ours, doesn’t it?)

They have a book. They have rules. And they have a police force. And one officer, haplessly finds herself in the siege of our protagonist, or shall I say, antagonist, the one and only Mr. Artemis Fowl.

The story continues with one after another non-magical trick by Artemis, while the fairies come up with magical ones to get them out of this mess.

Eoin Colfer, skillfully fills in the details of the underground world of fairies. Painting it different from what we’ve been led to believe in since childhood. Well, he did write it for children, afterall.

It is a must read. It’s a book you would have drooled over as a child. Doesn’t mean you’ll not love it if you consider yourself an adult now.

So go, get your hands on it, before you grown any older! I know I plan to fill my book shelf with the entire series. Yes, there is a series!

And, as usual, my favorite lines from the book: 

You have to be the best you can be, Short, and that has to be better than anybody else.

Science was taking the magic out of everything.

Desperate times required judicious risk-taking.

And if history had taught him any lessons it was that humans couldn't get along with anyone, even themselves.