Artemis Fowl

[Editor's Note: This is a combined review with ARTEMIS FOWL and THE ETERNITY CODE.]--Colfer's series features two complex societies: the wealthy, if felonious, above-ground world of the human Fowl family and the elaborate, technologically advanced underground world of the fairies. Artemis Fowl, the 12-year-old scion of a famous Irish crime family, sets out to restore the ancestral fortunes depleted by his father's supposed death at the hands of the Russian mafia. The young criminal mastermind's plan rests on the kidnap and ransom of a fairy. The ransom demanded will be fairy gold. Into this world of adventure, corruption, and extraordinary technology comes narrator Nathaniel Parker, who has a distinct voice for everyone--from the young Master Fowl to the kidnapped LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police) Captain Holly Short and the astonishing computer genius of the fairy world, the centaur Foaly. Parker creates a complete pantheon of accents and pacing to complement Colfer's worlds. The sequels, in which Artemis--strangely developing what appears to be a conscience--invokes the help of the fairies to save his father (THE ARCTIC INCIDENT) and to rescue both the humans and fairies from the evil Jon Spiro (THE ETERNITY CODE) maintain the impeccable voicing and pacing developed in the first book. The recurring characters are instantly recognizable from one book to the next, encouraging the listener to suspend disbelief and become completely immersed in the escapades, often laced with humor, of Artemis and his various companions. While the pronunciation the Vietnamese surname "Nguyen" may startle some listeners, and the 1940s-style Asian accent is somewhat stereotypical, this does nothing to diminish the rip-roaring adventure. Parker's splendid narration should lead to family listening that might just encourage discussion of truth, friendship, and loyalty. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

[Editor's Note: This is a combined review with THE ARCTIC INCIDENT and THE ETERNITY CODE.]--Colfer's series features two complex societies: the wealthy, if felonious, above-ground world of the human Fowl family and the elaborate, technologically advanced underground world of the fairies. Artemis Fowl, the 12-year-old scion of a famous Irish crime family, sets out to restore the ancestral fortunes depleted by his father's supposed death at the hands of the Russian mafia. The young criminal mastermind's plan rests on the kidnap and ransom of a fairy. The ransom demanded will be fairy gold. Into this world of adventure, corruption, and extraordinary technology comes narrator Nathaniel Parker, who has a distinct voice for everyone--from the young Master Fowl to the kidnapped LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police) Captain Holly Short and the astonishing computer genius of the fairy world, the centaur Foaly. Parker creates a complete pantheon of accents and pacing to complement Colfer's worlds. The sequels, in which Artemis--strangely developing what appears to be a conscience--invokes the help of the fairies to save his father (THE ARCTIC INCIDENT) and to rescue both the humans and fairies from the evil Jon Spiro (THE ETERNITY CODE) maintain the impeccable voicing and pacing developed in the first book. The recurring characters are instantly recognizable from one book to the next, encouraging the listener to suspend disbelief and become completely immersed in the escapades, often laced with humor, of Artemis and his various companions. While the pronunciation the Vietnamese surname "Nguyen" may startle some listeners, and the 1940s-style Asian accent is somewhat stereotypical, this does nothing to diminish the rip-roaring adventure. Parker's splendid narration should lead to family listening that might just encourage discussion of truth, friendship, and loyalty. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

This follow-up to THE OPAL DECEPTION features an island stuck in time, an army of creatures bent on destroying humans, and teenaged genius Artemis, who must solve these problems against daunting odds (including a rival child genius). Artemis discovers a time tunnel used by demons who've sworn revenge on humans and whose "materializations" call potentially disastrous attention to the entire fairy world. Nathaniel Parker's narration highlights Colfer's action-packed drama, delivering the story's chilling implications of murder and deceit with a breathtaking accuracy of tone while highlighting the humor and sarcasm that the Artemis Fowl series is famous for. Fowl fans will be thrilled, and newcomers will race to catch up on what they've missed. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

[Editor's Note: This is a combined review with THE ARCTIC INCIDENT and ARTEMIS FOWL.]--Colfer's series features two complex societies: the wealthy, if felonious, above-ground world of the human Fowl family and the elaborate, technologically advanced underground world of the fairies. Artemis Fowl, the 12-year-old scion of a famous Irish crime family, sets out to restore the ancestral fortunes depleted by his father's supposed death at the hands of the Russian mafia. The young criminal mastermind's plan rests on the kidnap and ransom of a fairy. The ransom demanded will be fairy gold. Into this world of adventure, corruption, and extraordinary technology comes narrator Nathaniel Parker, who has a distinct voice for everyone--from the young Master Fowl to the kidnapped LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police) Captain Holly Short and the astonishing computer genius of the fairy world, the centaur Foaly. Parker creates a complete pantheon of accents and pacing to complement Colfer's worlds. The sequels, in which Artemis--strangely developing what appears to be a conscience--invokes the help of the fairies to save his father (THE ARCTIC INCIDENT) and to rescue both the humans and fairies from the evil Jon Spiro (THE ETERNITY CODE) maintain the impeccable voicing and pacing developed in the first book. The recurring characters are instantly recognizable from one book to the next, encouraging the listener to suspend disbelief and become completely immersed in the escapades, often laced with humor, of Artemis and his various companions. While the pronunciation the Vietnamese surname "Nguyen" may startle some listeners, and the 1940s-style Asian accent is somewhat stereotypical, this does nothing to diminish the rip-roaring adventure. Parker's splendid narration should lead to family listening that might just encourage discussion of truth, friendship, and loyalty. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

The underground world of the fairies again confronts the evil genius of the nefarious pixie, Opal Koboi. Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police) needs the help of young mastermind Artemis Fowl to save both humans and fairies. But Artemis has been mind-wiped and has no recollection of his previous adventures with the LEP. Nathaniel Parker strides confidently into the worlds of fantasy and technology that unite humans and fairies. He unerringly re-creates the many voices from the first three installments, and his appropriately hurried pacing takes the listener from one breathless calamity to another. Parker's stereotyped Asian accent becomes a bit annoying, but this is a small complaint in an otherwise welcome revival of Colfer's panoply of characters. S.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Well . . . it's different! And it's a lot of fun. We are definitely not in Kansas. We are, however, "at the dawn of the twenty-first century" in North Dublin, where we meet Master Artemis Fowl. He is descended from a long line of legendary lawbreakers and is a criminal mastermind himself. He is a kidnapper, a conniver, a computer genius . . . and he loves his mother. He is 12 years old. His father is missing, his mother is temporarily out of her head with grief, and that leaves Artemis out of school and free to skedaddle about the globe with his trusty, bonded-to-him-for-life manservant, Butler (an avid Guns and Ammo reader), on a spree to refill the family coffers with fairy gold, thereby restoring the Fowl family fortune to its billionaire status, a status that was plunged into jeopardy by his father's bad investments and involvement with the Russian Mafia just before his ship was blown to bits along with Butler's uncle and 250,000 cans of cola. Whew! Let me catch my breath. Enter Holly Short (the kidnappee), generally known as a fairy, technically an elf, also a leprechaun, "but that was just a job." Holly is a renegade member of LEPrecon, an elite branch of the Lower Elements Police. Fairies, trolls, goblins, gnomes, sprites and pixies live a rich underground life all around the globe, their existence unbeknownst to humans. But Artemis has discovered the People (such a precocious lad) and has cracked their code. He knows secrets. He devises a plan that could "topple civilizations and plunge the planet into a cross-species war." Does he do it? Do Holly and her crack team of commandos curb Artemis Fowl? Do we all wake up in the morning? The cantankerous cast of characters includes a troll with a monumental case of flatulence and more high-tech gadgets than a dozen James Bond movies. This is a raucous romp through Irishman Eoin Colfer's imaginative world, where ulterior motives are the order of the day and we are promised that this spectacle will continue "across several decades" (and a movie in 2002) and that our antihero will continue to win some, lose some, but always come back for more, "after eighteen solid hours of sleep and a light continental breakfast." Deborah Wiles' first two books for children, Freedom Summer and Love, Ruby Lavender, were published this spring.