This time the Chinese cover wins hands down. All of the Chinese covers are amazing. You can find them on amazon.cn if you want a look.
Another book era has passed. This time Artemis Fowl is the person we get to say goodbye to. All three of us fantasy-buffs in this family followed along through Time Paradox. My oldest and I kept at it until the end. And what an ending it was. What responses to the ending there have been. I wonder what it is like being Eoin Colfer and seeing the engagement of his readers.
In the case of my oldest son and I, we enjoyed the ending. Artemis Fowl had evolved as a character throughout the series and ended up in the place where he was destined to end. His frustration, helplessness and decisiveness during the story led him to the spot he came to (with a little help from his friends). Holly, Butler and Foaly are there for him as always. Even Foaly has come to rely on Artemis finding a solution when no solution appears possible.
Two of the characters I truly loved in Last Guardian were the twins. The scene with Juliet, Myles and Beckett by the tower was hilarious. An absolute gem. I pity Juliet beeing the bodyguard to this pair. Beckett really shines as a berserker. The images this four-year old brought forth in my mind – well funny doesn’t even cover it.
Another favorite in many of the books has been Mulch Diggums. His appearance here was no less gooey or fraught with lack of self-confidence than the others stories. There is something very grosse yet fascinating about glowing spit and smelly indestructibility.
Opal Koboi has always been a bit insane. In The Last Guardian she jumps off the edge of sanity and loses any grip on the world most of the rest of the cast sees. Opal has finally found the world of Opal Koboi and she intends to stay there and bring the rest of the world into it.
Part of the fun of preparing for a review of one of the Artemis Fowl stories is immersing myself in the fan art. Some of my favorites are in the above collage. The other part is reading other people’s reviews.
“Foaly,” he called after the centaur. “I really think we should search for my secret birthmark. Dragons love that sort of thing.”
Of all the quotes I could have chosen from The Atlantis Complex, this is the one that stuck with me.
Orion is Artemis Fowl’s alter-ego/alter-personality/dissociated identity. I loved him. Granted, Orion was annoying and caught up in some sort of medieval psychosis. Yet he showed us to what degree Artemis confrontations with his own past and dabbling in magic had affected him. Let’s face it. Some of the events Eoin Colfer has put his young charge through have been on the dark side of extreme. In spite of that, Artemis knows that in order for his environmental scheme to go through he has to fight the disorders that are popping up (Atlantis Complex).
My grandmother suffered from schizophrenic paranoia. Eoin Colfer stays true to what that must have been like for her (going by my dad’s descriptions of his childhood). Not trusting the most trusted person in his life is just part of the parcel. When he sent Butler off on what was supposed to be a fake mission, Artemis had no idea that Butler and Juliet (Butler’s much younger sister) would end up having to fight for their lives. And what a fight. The two of them make a great team.
Butler has long suspected that something is off with Artemis. Being sent away in this manner only makes him more determined to be there for Artemis. That is what I like about Butler. I would liken his loyalty to that of a faithful guard dog. What once began as a paid assignment has turned into a strange friendship between two unusual people. Being able to bring Juliet along with him only adds spice to his experience.
Mulch Diggums is Mulch Diggums. He is now on the “right” side of the law if you want to be an upstanding citizen. Mulch isn’t certain he wants that. During The Atlantis Complex that choice will be taken away from him. Poor Mulch. Being friends with Artemis can be quite a challenge.
Turnball Root is the kind of villain I would not like to meet. He has landed on the far side of sanity and psychopathic is a mild term for where he is at. His mission is to get to the “love of his life” and somehow save her.
Like any great author, Eoin Colfer gets me to like all of his characters. I love his humor, his action scenes and the strange people that inhabit the world of Artemis Fowl. Definitely recommended.
I started reading Artemis Fowl to my oldest son until he got into the whole reading thing himself. Once there, he took over and went through the books below. After I’d thoroughly brainwashed him, I set out to do the same with my youngest – first by reading to him and then through audiobooks. Audiobooks are a miracle for dyslectics. A dyslectic brain is just as brilliant as any other brain, it’s just the whole sorting letters into the right order thing that baffles them. Needless to say, I managed to convert my youngest as well. You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m a fan of Eoin Colfer’s creation of the less than legal character of Artemis.
Artemis Fowl II is the main character of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series. Artemis is a teenage criminal mastermind on the lookout for enough gold to restore his family fortune. He considers himself fairly wicked, but as the series progresses we see that there is plenty of good deeds to balance the bad. My kids loved all of the tricks he played on both his friends and enemies. We have not read it yet, but the conclusion to the series was released in July 2012 – The Last Guardian.
Eoin Colfer begins our journey into the world of Artemis Fowl II in the novel Artemis Fowl. Some of the characters we meet will appear in all of the novels while some of them we’ll only see in a few of them. His faithful bodyguard, Butler is one of the characters that will appear again and again.
Artemis is 12 years old. His father is an Irish crime lord, Artemis Fowl, who has disappeared. Through research Artemis thinks he can prove the existence of faeries and when he tracks down The Book of the People he has his proof.
Artemis decodes the book – only natural for someone of his genius – and travels the world looking for locations for a magic-restoring ritual. They discover and capture Captain Holly Short who is out restoring her magic. Holly is then brought to Fowl mansions. The faeries are not pleased with Artemis and sends a crack team (LEP) to recover her.
A graphic novel adaptation was released in 2007. A film adaptation was reported to be in the writing stage in mid-2008, with Jim Sheridan directing.
AWARDS:
W. H. Smith Book Award
British Book Award
Whitbread Book of the Year Award: Shortlist
Lancashire County Library Children’s Book Award: Shortlist
Bisto Book of the Year: Shortlist
New York Times Best-Selling Series
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Master List (2003)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Award (2001)
In The Arctic Incident, Artemis is a year older (13). We once again meet Butler, Captain Holly Short and Commander Julius Root.
Artemis is set up to take the blame for supplying contraband to goblins. When Artemis and Butler defeat the real baddy, the LEP decides to help Artemis recover his father from the Russian mafia. The rescue group is ambushed by goblins.
It becomes apparent that Opal Koboi of Koboi laboratories is involved somehow, leaving it to Artemis and Holly to figure out how to save the day – both for Artemis’ father and the LEP.
The story in Eternity Code happens shortly after the Arctic Incident. While Artemis has changed somewhat since the first book, he still loves to scheme and steal from the fairies. Artemis has created a supercomputer which he calls the “C-Cube”. It gets stolen and in the process Butler is killed. However, Artemis comes to rescue – along with a bit of fairy magic.
Artemis convinces the fairies to help him recover the Cube and they agree – but with one condition. Artemis is to be left with no memory of the fairy world.
Our lovely Opal Koboi (from The Arctic Incident) has gotten away from the asylum where she was being held by the LEP.
She then sets out to revenge herself on Commander Root, Captain Short, Artemis and Butler.
Holly is desperate for help and turns to Artemis – against the wishes of the LEP. The only problem is that Artemis is left with no memory of the fairy world.
While Artemis likes to think of himself as someone who chooses to do bad, it turns out he is a softy after all. He is still full of trouble and deviousness, but it is difficult to come out of reading the book and not liking Artemis. Mulch provides all the laughs a kid could need.
Artemis and Butler are demonhunting. He is somehow able to predict when a demon materializes. This comes to the attention of our trusted Foaly. This brings Holly and Mulch (who now have their own PI business) into the story.
In the meantime, there is trouble on Hybras (demon island where time is nonexistent). However, it seems that the spell holding Hybras in stasis is fraying and an answer to the problem is needed. Bullying is a favorite pastime, and No1 is one of the victims. He is convinced to come to the human world.
Right now, its glaringly obvious that everyone is going to meet – probably with a huge bang somewhere. The Artemis series does have a habit of loads of action and humor. Thankfully Colfer is keeping up the good work.
When Artemis’ mom contracts a fatal disease, Artemis turns to the fairies for help. Unfortunately the only cure to the disease is through the silky sefaka lemur of Madagascar. It is extinct. The last specimen was killed 8 years ago with the help of Artemis. Talk about the past coming back to haunt you.
Through lies and deception, Artemis gets the fairies to help him time travel. The goal is to save the lemur – hopefully for good. Holly and Artemis go back in time and need to avoid their younger selves.
Everything has a price, so too Artemis’ lies to Holly. Colfer portrays this rather well. He also brings up the issue of the cost of abusing our environment. I find myself wanting to preach here, but The Time Paradox does a much better job of illustrating the issue.
One of the consequences of The Time Paradox is that Artemis is left with a clearer sense of responsibility toward the environment.
When Artemis unveils the Ice Cube – an invention to stop global warming – the fairies discover that Artemis has developed something called Atlantis Complex (including OCD, paranoia and split personality). Artemis has a break-down during the presentation. Holly and Mulch are left taking care of things, while Artemis is dealing with his episode.
In the meantime, Butler is on an adventure in Mexico. Artemis tricked into travelling to help Butler’s sister. Turns out it was a good thing after all.
humanitysdarkerside 
