A Gem (Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel - Eoin Colfer)

Member Name: Adam X

Product:	Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel - Eoin Colfer
Date:	17/05/01 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Characters, Excitement, More grown-up than it's rivals

Disadvantages: The wait before the sequel comes out...

Why? Why now when a book is written about a child, must everyone immeadiately compare it with Harry Potter? Why can't it just be that a good book has been written, and it should be seen on merit and not in comparison. Yes, Harry Potter is good, but in order to get anything out of books, we've got to understand that by just reading Potter, we're not going to gain a wider range of fictional depth, and so pass over gems like this Artemis Fowl.
Right, that's my rant out of the way...

Artemis Fowl is a 12 year old Dubliner, who has the criminal mastermind of that Hans Gruber fellow, minus the sticky ending. In fact, this book has been described as 'Die Hard with Fairies', and that's a good enough comparison. It's nice to see that finally a book has been published that doesn't partonise children.
Artemis is in search of the Fairies' Gold, and in order to get it, he must first learn their secrets, and for that, he must come into possesion of 'The Book'. This he does, and, when he kidnapps Holly Short the fairy, he doesn't count on the fact that she is a prominent figure in LEPrecon department of the Underground organisation. Cue a massive seige on his Manor in Ireland, with explosions, fights, trolls, dwarfs, and plenty of big, big guns.

It's fair to say that this book isn't for children, but for teens and young-at-heart adults. It's a refreshingly different take on the genre, in fact, it's practically a new genre in itself. There are as many twists and turns and Brans Hatch in there.
The characters are also fantastic. For once, there is no 'Hero'. Artemis is likeable in his roguish sort of way, but after all, he is a criminal. The fantastic Mr. Root (Commander of LEPrecon), and Foaly (Centaur technical genius) are just a few of the colourful examples of Colfer's imagination. Not forgetting Mulch Diggums, Butler, Artemis' out-of-sorts Mother, and to a le
sser extent (But I feel he will figure more prominently in further episodes), Chix Verbal.

It's brilliantly exciting from start to finish, with a tremendous narrative leading it on. It's a tale of heroism, derring-do, and lots of action set-pieces.
Intelligent, witty, imaginative and original. What more can you ask for?

Summary: