★★★★
Meet Artemis Fowl, a 12-year old genius who is currently running one of the world's largest criminal empires. After his father went missing and his mother driven mad by grief, the young child prodigy is left to run his family estate by himself, with the help of his bodyguard and butler, whose name is simply Butler. In this novel, Artemis Fowl is out to get the one thing he needs more than anything else right now-gold. However, he has a rather unorthodox plan to attain it. You see, Artemis thinks he has confirmed the existence of fairies- and after a visit to a sprite living in Ho Chi Minh City, where he comes by the Book of the People, he finds his suspicions confirmed, and learns about an ancient fairy ritual for replenishing their power. This ritual requires the fairies to come up from where they normally dwell underground to one of 129 locations. Artemis quickly gets to work planting stakeouts, and within a matter of time captures a fairy- Holly. But Holly is not any normal fairy- she is the first female officer of the LEP, the law enforcement team of the fairy capital of Haven City. Artemis offers to give her back to the LEP, if they will pay him 24-carats of gold. However, Holly is not to be messed around with. While the LEP makes several failing attempts to retrieve Holly from the Fowl manner, she manages to regain her power and escape into the main house. There, unfortunately, she faces a surprise she thought she had already dealt with at the beginning of the book- a furious troll. The battle of wits between Artemis and the fairies drags on, with the question burning in the back of every reader's mind- who has the winning trick up their sleeve?
I thought that Artemis Fowl was a great spin on your classic "fairy" tale- no more boring prince-saving-princess plots here! I thought the spin on the fairy realm was ingenious- who says fairies can't be high-tech? All the characters are original and well-developed. The story is all very logical and little is just passed away with the vague explanation of "magic"- perfect for the modern reader. I highly recommend Artemis Fowl to anybody looking for a sci-fi- fantasy crossover that is a mix of wit, action, and a throwback nostalgia to the elements of classic fairy tales.
Review by Meagan H: Mechanicsville Library
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