by Eoin Colfer
“Let us proceed under the assumption that the fairy folk do exist, and that I am not a gibbering moron.”
12-year-old Artemis, father gone and mother’s health failing, undertakes the restoration of the Fowl family fortune by exploiting the faerie world he’s just discovered. But the new world is formidable, with magics and technologies much further advanced than man’s, so the young criminal mastermind’s plot is met with opposition at all times as he’s forced to be one step ahead of the faeries.
The novel’s written for young adults, and there it’s perfectly placed, although adults will most certainly enjoy it as well. It’s fast, it’s funny, it has an amazing character backing up Artemis in the form of Butler, a servant whose stature seems to resemble ‘Bubbles’ from Lilo & Stitch in all the best ways, and Artemis himself is a devious joy.
It’s also interesting to point out the hilarious perspectives of faeries on the human world. They’ll relentlessly make fun of our existence and foibles while at the same time their world is a bureaucratic, blundering display of gross incompetence much like the U.S. DMV. And this is one of the areas where the book truly earns its keep: An individual can’t help but learn something when he sees an idiot making fun of another idiot for being an idiot–the human condition pared to its core.
There’s a lot to love here, and even if you tend to take your reading seriously, this book presents a wonderful afternoon off.
“Now get out of here, and don’t come back until you’re full to the tips of your ears with magic!”
4- (4) stars
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