Artemis Fowl & The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #1&2)
by Eoin Colfer
Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Publisher: Hyperion
Buy #1: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository
Buy #2: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository
1: Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius—and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories—they’re dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.
2: Artemis Fowl receives an urgent e-mail from Russia. In it is a plea from a man who has been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya: his father. As Artemis rushes to his rescue, he is stopped by a familiar nemesis, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. Now, instead of battling the fairies, Artemis must join forces with them if he wants to save one of the few people in the world he loves.
Artemis is a genius criminal mastermind. The way he talks, it’s hard sometimes to tell that he’s own twelve. However, there are still signs: his single-minded obsessions to restore the Fowl family’s status, his willingness to believe in faeries, and his devotion towards his mother. With his imagination and genius, Artemis possesses the power to do one thing no Mud Man (human) has ever done before: wrangle faeries into parting with some of their precious gold.
His greatest obstacle to achieving his goal comes in the unlikely heroine Captain Holly Short. The first female member of Recon, Holly continuously gets into trouble despite being one of Root’s best subordinates. To her dismay, he expects much more of her than other members, though she eventually learns that he means the best. She has a colorful nature and will never fail to amuse readers with her smart aleck comments.
I was delighted when the two came to work together in book two. Both characters are brilliant and outstanding in their respective fields, and both have charismatic personalities that command attention from those around them, both in their world and outside (the readers). I enjoyed seeing the two reconciliate with each other (over Artemis’s schemes from book one). They are formidable as enemies but even more so when they combine their brains and firepower.
Artemis Fowl’s dark brilliance and criminal exploits will leave you hankering for the next installment in the series. With his wit and great sense of humor, Colfer brings to readers of all ages a genius antihero, futuristic technology, mind games, and a bit of magic.
Snippets taken from my review of Artemis Fowl #1
The Eternity Code & The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl #3&4)
by Eoin Colfer
Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Publisher: Hyperion
Buy #3: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository
Buy #4: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository
3: Artemis Fowl II, criminal mastermind aged twelve is off on another crazy encounter with fairies accompanied with his ever-faithful bodyguard Butler. In this adventure, Artemis builds a cube with stolen fairy technology. It is stolen by Jon Spiro, a Chicago business man….
4: Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl is back… and so is his brilliant and dangerous enemy, Opal Koboi. At the start of the fourth adventure in the Artemis series, The Opal Deception, Artemis has no memory of the fairy people and has returned to his unlawful ways. He is preparing to steal a famous Impressionist painting from a German bank, having no idea that his old rival, Opal, has escaped from prison by cloning herself. She’s left her double behind in jail and, now free, is exacting her revenge on all those who put her there, including Artemis.
While Artemis and the faeries have somewhat of an understanding with each other, one could say Artemis Fowl is too brilliant to stop scheming. Using stolen faerie technology, Artemis builds technology of his own. In his attempt to profit off it, however, Artemis’s invention is stolen by Jon Spiro, a businessman who plans to take the credit–and profits–for himself. Artemis and Holly must work together once more to save both their worlds. Following the events of the third book, Artemis is deemed dangerous to the fae, and his memories are wiped. Recon figures out several of the tricks that Artemis has implemented in order to regain his memories. The memory wipe takes Artemis’s newfound morality along with it.
Is it possible to put into words how delighted I was to see Artemis’s adventures continue? And to imagine the look on the faeries’ faces when they figure out what Artemis did in book three? It’s not polite to gloat, especially as their secrecy is on the line with Artemis’s mistake in presenting the cube to Spiro, but I just love the child criminal mastermind. I seriously had a crush on him back in the day (and I might still have one….). He’s probably my favorite antihero of all time.
When his memory is wiped at the end of book three, I knew that couldn’t be the end, and I was right. It was a joy seeing memory-wiped Artemis being dragged into faerie adventures, not knowing what’s going on and having to go with the flow. Of course, I was even happier when the faeries realize that they need Artemis-with-all-his-memories-intact. I love how Artemis has transformed over the series from a boy willing to commit crimes and hurt people to get what he wants into someone with a moral code and who will go out of his way to help someone in need.
Artemis Fowl is a series that readers of all ages will enjoy. I have the first books on my bookshelf, and I often return to them. I don’t believe that I will ever outgrow faeries and human criminal masterminds working together.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher. No payment was received in return for a review. The receipt of the book had no influence on the opinions expressed in my review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Natalie Aguirre says
I really liked this series too. I'm looking forward to reading the last book in the series. Thanks for the great review.
Crystal says
Same here. I'm super excited to see how it all ends!