Review of Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

I fared better with the second installment in the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. When I polled my friends about how they felt about the series, many of them said that they felt the series started to go downhill, starting with this book. I beg to differ. I liked this one better.



First, there was much less violence. I don't mind action movie. I even enjoyed Die Hard, to which the author compares the series. Somehow, though, I don't like it as much, as it was presented, in a book for kids.

Second, Artemis Fowl actually has a softer side. At the end of the first book, he begs for Holly to help his demented mother. In this one, he teams up with the LEP to rescue his father, who is being held for ransom up in the Arctic. Many of the characters from the first one book make an appearance. Holly and Artemis even seem to form an attachment to each other as they have to save each other's lives.

This installment was a little bit more interesting to me, as I already knew the characters. I thought the story flowed better than the first one, with a more understandable plot line. I also managed to read it within a couple of days, whereas it took me several weeks with the first book. I feel more optimistic about reading the rest of the series in preparation for the release of the final book this summer.

Review of Artemis Fowl

Artemis Fowl is a name I had heard time and again, but had never tried to read. When NetGalley announced that Disney Hyperion was going to release the ebooks for us reviewers, two at a time each month, I decided to check them out. The final book is coming out in July, so they wanted to offer us the opportunity to catch up on the series should we want to check out that one.


Starting the book, I have to say that I was torn about whether or not I liked it. Artemis Fowl is a despicable character. He has no patience for his mother, who suffers from dementia. He plots to kidnap a fairy to gain riches. He comes from a long line of corrupt people. And he is only 12 years old.

Artemis is also highly intelligent. His plot to kidnap Holly, the fairy, is so intricate and so well-planned, that he is always one step ahead of her army. They keep playing right into his hands. An amusing part of this whole part of the story is the seriousness of tone and how it mimics movies that I have seen about armed forces and how they speak to each other. When I did a bit of research about the book, I found that the author supposedly even describes it as "Die Hard with fairies."

It took me a while to get through the story. Basically, Artemis has discovered the existence of fairies and goes after them. Meanwhile, the fairies are going after trolls. Artemis manages to kidnap a fairy named Holly. Her people come after her and actually pay Artemis a ransom for her.

Yes, there are a lot of other things that happen and a lot of other characters. Honestly, this was all I got out of the book. It was hard for me to read, but so far the second one is easier for me to get through. I did a brief poll of my friends. They either loved the series or hated it. We shall see how I manage with the rest of it.

What do you think of Artemis Fowl?