Artemis Fowl
Since I’m now reviewing good books, today I’m doing one of my favourites, arguably my top favourite.
The series is Artemis Fowl, named for the main character, a twelve-year-old Irish genius. With the help of his assistant/bodyguard, Butler, he discovers a secret world of magic and three-feet-high fairies hidden deep underground.
But Artemis is not your regular protagonist. Unlike most characters in these magic books, he does the logical thing.
By which I mean, he uses his knowledge and vast family fortune to kidnap the other main character, an elf named Holly Short.
He outsmarts the fairies at (almost) every turn, and at the end of the book, he successfully trades his captive for a ransom of one metric tonne of gold. Not bad for a preteen criminal genius.
In the next book, the fairies find out that humans are trading with the underground world, and Artemis is the prime suspect. Strangely enough, he’s innocent this time.
Despite Holly’s protests, the chief of the fairy police chooses to negotiate a deal with Artemis. If he helps the fairies discover the source of the trading, they’ll help him rescue his father from the Russian mafia.
From that point onward, Artemis helps the fairies, messing with their stuff only occasionally.
I don’t think they really mind. After all, Artemis helps them stop a revolution, defeat an evil pixie genius a few times (a really evil one, not a sort of half-bad genius like Artemis), save a world of demons (which the author pretends never happened. Some of the characters just disappear without explanation between that book and the next), and more.
There are a few reasons that this is among my top favourite series.
If you’ve read my last post, two of them are rather easy to guess. The books have an Irish main character and have magic in them.
I also liked the fact that Artemis isn’t a goodie-two-shoes like in most books. He’s more like a bad guy with a conscience.
Last of all, these books are incredibly funny. The author has the typical sense of humour I tend to find in books by Irish authors.
My brother Cyborg has volunteered to be the photo for this post, since the series is about an Irish genius. I have declined his offer, instead putting in this nice picture of a leprechaun.
