So when the main trailer for the new Artemis Fowl movie came out, I was rather disheartened, as it seemed like they had abandoned much of the story, changed character relationships, and even some of their motivations! In an effort to reconcile this, I decided to read through all 8 books, reviewing them across two articles. Given that they're YA novels, it didn't think it would take that much time, especially since I had read the first four before.
Well, the film got delayed, and then thrown onto Disney+, and even then I've only gotten through the first four books. While I do intend to read the other four, it may be some time before the second article comes out. Still, it's been fun to go back over these, and I hope that it will inspire people to check the series out, regardless of how the film ends up.
The first book, and in my opinion, the best one I've read in the series. Artemis starts out a devious and terrifying foe for the LEP, and remains one of the best anti-heroes in all of fiction. Of course, the fairies are no slouches either, as Colfer gets a lot of mileage from their technologically advanced society, and perhaps even showing that things aren't all that different between them and the "mud people."
If there is a hang-up, the environmental themes seem a little heavy-handed, as the fairies lament how humanity has treated its world. While certainly not an unjust condemnation, it comes up in ways that can take one out of the experience. Also, you're mileage may vary when it comes to how dwarves do their business. Mulch certainly leaves an impact, for better or worse!
However, these doesn't drag down a great book with a clever plot about a genius boy staying one step ahead of a race of fairies who are used to having the advantage. And having Butler take on a troll is just icing on the cake! It's a shame that the movie probably won't have any of the fun back-and-forth between the two sides as they try to out-smart each other.
The second book is definitely a deviation from the first, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of Artemis having planned things way out in advance, we see him having to improvise on short notice, and given the circumstances, it causes him to doubt himself a number of times, showing potential for real character growth.
Most of it is driven by a desire to get his father back, who has been picked up by the Russian Mafiya, which works as great tension when Artemis and his manservant get thrown into a competing conspiracy to overthrow the LEP and the fairy world as a whole. Artemis is forced to go along with the circumstances, often having to make sacrifices and getting his hands dirty.
While it moves along very well, it doesn't have the clever touches that the first one has, resulting in a story that feels a little sloppy but gets by on sheer momentum. We definitely do get a better peek at Haven and its various dynamics as the villains are from the underworld this time. Overall, a decent follow up to a great book.
This one feels like the best parts of the previous two books. You see Artemis get in over his head, relying on the LEP to get him out of trouble, only to then put together a plot that would show his genius in a clever and devious way. The result is a solid installment that doesn't quite meet the first book in quality, but comes pretty close.
It also spends a lot of time developing some of the other characters, most notably Juliet, Butler's little sister, as well as considering the impact that Fowl's crew and the LEP have had on each other. If there is a downside, I'm not fond of how Butler ended up, mostly because he's my favorite character of the series, but I suppose it does force the story to not rely on him to save the day all the time.
Of course, it helps that the book does have a pretty solid villain in Joe Spiro, a paranoid con man who's almost as devious as Artemis. I also like this books ending, with the mindwipe being mandatory, resulting in some pretty solid closure (even with the small sequel hook provided!). If this series had ended here, I would have been pretty satisfied, and often feel these three are the most recommendable.
Despite all the closure of the last book, the series carries on. This one does get a bit clunky as it has to take time to reset things and get our human characters up to speed on everything they knew before. Unfortunately, they don't have much time, as Opal Koboi, one of the villains of The Arctic Incident, has come back, having had a year to plan out her revenge, intending to enjoy every minute of it. For what it's worth, it does make her a much more compelling and entertaining villain.
However, because the villain is driving so much of the plot, the heroes get battered and chased around for most of it, only finding the opportunity to reverse things at the end (and even then, the ending is bittersweet). While that's not a bad way to tell a story, as the urgency raises the tension, it does make things feel rushed and haphazard. There's hardly a trace of the scheming side of the title character (except for a novel little robbery at the beginning of the book) as he's pushed to come up with plans on the spot.
The final this book sets up, though, is a new status quo, probably meant to set up the following books in the series. It certainly shifts a few characters around, setting them up for some kind of supernatural detective agency as opposed to the LEP-related adventures from before.
Still, it's not a bad book, and I admit I enjoyed how things panned out, even if the heroes' survival had more to do with luck then any kind of skill. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here.
So that's the first four books. Like I said, before I started this article, these were the ones I had read. From here on out, I'll be diving in blind. I don't know when I'll finish the second half of the series, but I'll be sure to let you know when it happens!
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