Artemis Fowl ~ Eoin Colfer

I read Artemis Fowl as a child and absolutely loved it. I adored the idea of a protagonist’s motivation being evil. Last June, the movie premiered on Disney+ and whilst the initial teaser trailer looked good, the following trailers looked so far removed from what I could remember the book being. I was going to reread Artemis Fowl before watching the movie, however, I decided that it would ruin the movie even more and so, I waited. I forgot to read it. Whilst going through my Kindle library, I saw it and remembered that I had wanted to read it.

I had forgotten how fun it was to have the main character’s motivation be impure. Artemis never once thought he was doing anything good, he wasn’t a reluctant hero, he was a very enthusiastic evil genius. 

I love Eoin Colfer’s fairy world, how he has taken inspiration from mythology but has created something so unique and modern. However, at the same time, it mimics things from the modern world, such as Holly’s struggle being the only female LEPrecon officer. Her willingness to prove that she is worthy of the place was very relatable and I enjoyed reading her a lot more as an adult than I did as I child. I remember thinking she was a bit too eager to prove herself and was annoying. 

I also misremembered Holly and Artemis’ friendship, I thought it was much more developed in the first book, but I was mistaken. They part at the end with a grudging mutual respect and I’m very much looking forward to reading the rest of the series at some point and watching their friendship grow. 

Artemis Fowl was so much fun to read and gets four stars from me. If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend that you don’t.

C🌙