Artemis Fowl
By: Eoin Colfer
My Rating: Four out of five stars
Best for: 10 and up

I guess I’m the boring one.

I first read Artemis back in 2011. It was my young teen who recently read it and declared it “AWESOME” that prompted this re-read. That, and the upcoming, strait-to-Disney-Plus movie coming out next month.

My first time through, I was bored. It’s interesting how perspective changes experience, because apparently the 2011 me was boring. This time I agreed with my teen–Artemis Fowl was a lot of fun!

It’s a grudge match:

In one corner, we have one super genius 12 year old trying to restore his family’s honor and fortune.

In the other corner, we have the entire fairy civilization trying to protect their secret society with all the fairy tech and magic they have their disposal–including dwarfs, who tunnel underground by unhinging their jaw to eat dirt and opening up the flap on the back of their pants to blast it out the other end.  Explosively.

How can that not be fun?!

I needed to get okay with the idea of the good guy being a bad guy. The idea that I was supposed to be rooting for both sides of the conflict grated against years of book reading experience. But once I grasped that, the rest flowed! The humor is unique and oh so clever, and I got the sense there is more to Artemis than we’re meant to know in book 1.

That means now I want to read book 2.

Incidentally, there are no cliff hangers here.  Book 1 is well contained.  I suspect I’m going to find that this is a series where each book stands quite well alone.  Excellent.

No content concerns. All audiences, but keep in mind these books are middle grade.  Adults may be disappointed if you expect anything more.

I’m a little leery of the upcoming movie. Why would Disney buy the IP for Artemis Fowl and then produce a movie that is nothing like book? Because according to the trailer, that’s exactly what they’ve done.

But then again, why should I be surprised?

Happy Reading!