Artemis Fowl

Artemis FowlWritten by: Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and, above all, a criminal mastermind.  But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit.  These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories; these fairies are armed and dangerous.
Artemis thinks he has them right where he wants them…but then they stop playing by the rules.

The summary is from the book cover provided by Hyperion Books.

I haven’t read many books with fairies in them and was impressed with the level of detail in the fairy world. It is different from what I have read and I felt there was a good deal of information about background and setting without being overdone. The criminal mastermind part, though, is what drew me to this book. I once heard Ally Carter speak about the difficulties of writing about a thief and still making them a “good person” that you could root for. Artemis’ attachment to his family and his body guards shows that there is more to him than meets the eye, and while he is cunning and persistent, I found him someone I could place my hopes in even it wasn’t for the same goals that he had for himself.

Discussion/Project Ideas:

1. I felt a difference in the author’s writing style when he wrote scenes with Artemis and when he wrote scenes between the characters in the underground world. It was almost like reading from two different authors. If you feel this way, describe some of the differences you noticed. (Hint: One of mine was that he was smooth with Artemis and almost slapstick with the main underground characters. It didn’t feel as much like a difference in the characters’ personalities as a difference in the style of writing. Just a thought.) If you don’t feel this way, pick a character and tell how the writing style made you feel more connected to that character.

2. The fairy at the beginning made some mistakes that kept her from being part of the fairy world. What mistakes do you think humans can make that would make it very difficult to stay a part of mainstream society. (Humans can cause a lot of trouble – stretch your mind!)

3. Artemis Fowl is the first book in a series. Do you prefer books that are written as a series to have a cliffhanger at the end that keep you itching for the next one or do you prefer complete closure? Do you prefer series where the characters go through noticeable growth or series that focus on the stories continuing in a predictable pattern (such as The Boxcar Children.)? What are your favorite series? Why?

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