It's been quite a while since I have been hearing about the Artemis series and recently it was in news when Disney came up with a movie of the same. It met with a lot of criticism in box office from the critics and fans alike. Having not read the book, I tried watching the movie first but ended up getting confused and ambiguous. I had to read the book to get clarity on the same.
Artemis Jr. is the twelve year old scion of the wealthy Fowl lineage. He is a true child prodigy and a criminal mastermind of all sorts. The Fowl family used to be involved in everything illegal and just when the family was trying to be on the legal side; Artemis Sr. gets involved in a mishap presumed dead. This leaves his mother in poor mental state. With the full weight over his shoulders, Artemis tries to kidnap a fairy; Captain Holly Short for a ransom. But is this easy? Does he know the risks involved? Does he get more than what he asked for? Did he take fairies lightly as in old fairy tales? forms the rest of the story in this surprisingly new age fantasy book.
The book was surprisingly enjoyable. The book is written in third person narrative It was bit of a slow start for me but once into the story; it was fairly good. Artemis is shown as a some what serious character and possess the usual traits of the many prodigy characters I have come across in other books. I loved the way technology was imbibed into this story involving fairies. Compared to other fantasy series, this book did not keep me glued to my seat but then it definitely did grab my attention. May be more books into the series might keep me rooted. But the story does have a lot of potential. I loved the way characters like Foaly, Mulch Diggins and Butler were developed. Mulch and Foaly were definitely funny and I would like to see more of them in the other books. The themes of good/evil and greed are focused in the story. Artemis even though a brilliant boy was greedy enough to keep a fairy as hostage. The fairy; Captain Holly Short; on the other hand; in spite of her shortcomings strives to make her own path. Having said this; there was some ambiguity throughout. May be it will be clear with the other books of the series! I loved the part where Artemis had full control over the execution of plans showcasing his brilliance. The confidence of fairies were tested by Artemis' insights at almost every juncture. And also the way how Holly stuck back.
Any book lover will tell you that a movie can never surpass a book. This is very much true in case of Artemis Fowl. The clarity in the book was totally missing on screen. Artemis Jr was reduced from a child prodigy to a helpless chap in most instances. There were many variations from the book which I did not enjoy at all. But as a novel, this one did catch my attention. I will not name this as one of the best fantasy work; but a definite potential with a nice story base to build upon. Hopefully I will enjoy the series more on reading the sequels. In short, fantasy lovers can definitely try this first book to a wonderful series.
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