[HPFGU-OTChatter] Artemis Fowl - is it good?

[GulPlum]

At 06:10 05/06/03 , Tim Regan wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Is Artemis Fowl any good? Are the audio versions good? How come the
>cassette version is on two casettes for 5-8 year olds while the CD
>is 3 CDs for 5-12 year olds, and the book is 5-16? Why are there
>Puffin versions of the audio read by the author, and Cover to Cover
>versions read by Nathaniel Parker, both in the UK?

I can't comment on the quality of the audio versions, but as for their 
reading length, the shorter children's version is abridged. On age 
acceptability, I'd squarely put the books in a "sub-HP&PS" bracket. Each 
book has at least one grisly scene in it  (e.g. losing a finger or a leg) 
but the descriptions are far from graphic.

The books are a *very* easy read. I consider myself to be a low average in 
terms of reading speed, and the first two Fowl books took me less than a 
couple of hours each (I've not actually bought them; I've been able to read 
them standing among the shelves in bookshops).  I read half of the third 
one yesterday and shall be completing it later today. :-)

In terms of the content, the books shouldn't really be called Artemis Fowl, 
but Holly Short, the fairy police officer who gets Artemis out of trouble. 
Although the text (and blurb) repeatedly calls Artemis a "criminal 
mastermind", it's not really borne out by his actions. He is undoubtedly a 
genius, however (among other things, he writes articles on physics and 
psychology which are published on the internet under pseudonyms). :-) 
However, he's not really anywhere nearly as nasty as he thinks he is; his 
actions frequently undermine Colfer's descriptions.

The books' plots are very linear and aren't very taxing, and there's none 
of the complexity of characterisation seen in the Potterverse. Colfer is 
very imaginative with the way his magical world works though. The People 
(i.e. magic folk) live underground in the Lower Elements and are very, very 
technological (Artemis purloins various items of fairy technology to his 
advantage).

There are clever word plays reminiscent of Terry Pratchett or Douglas 
Adams, such as what we know as Leprechauns are in fact LEP Recons - Lower 
Element Police Reconnaissance officers. Holly needs a nifty piece of 
technology to be able to fly, etc. Stonehenge is the remains of a Lower 
Elements pizza parlour. Holly's boss likes to say "my first name is 
trouble". The thing is, his first name *is* Trouble!

There are tons of little details like those, all of which make me smile. I 
also particularly like Colfer's version of Goblins, which are about as far 
away from JKR's as you can get!

The stories aren't particularly inspired and although there are a few 
running themes ("green" issues, the importance of family, etc), there's no 
clear overarching plotline running through the books or JKR-style 
foreshadowing. We readers know who the baddies are from the beginning and 
there's not a great deal of tension. The plots are more about "how are we 
going to get out of this situation using fairy technology" rather than "who 
got us into this mess".

All in all, whilst an enjoyable read, I don't rate Artemis Fowl 
particularly highly, and I certainly don't see myself re-reading the books.

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, returning to more pressing activities...