Rating: Summary: Artemis Fowl - What Fun!! Review: Stop! trying to compare this to Harry Potter. Potter's great! and this ain't bad either. As a matter of fact - it's pretty damn good. Fast paced, fun, and full of colorful characters. I held my breath with each turn of the page. Great story... I didn't want it to end. Harry Potter's the man but, Artemis Fowl ain't chopped liver.
Rating: Summary: I'm not ready for techno-faeries. Review: I have to give credit for great imagination in concept, but I'm not impressed by the execution.The villain is obviously patterned on Moriarty, with the added interest of the master criminal at a young age. At least we're told he's twelve, I'd have forgotten if we weren't reminded because there is nothing in the writing to give the feel of youth. Instead of a classic battle between modern human technology and ancient faery magic we have faeries with even more advanced technology (but with magic too to make them so powerful we're supposed to forgive the villain his villainy). The villain is villainous but not interesting. The faeries aren't faery like (they've got a centaur for a Mr. Scott, but without the brogue).
Rating: Summary: a great book Review: THis was such a good book.It emhasizes action and that was sort of a refreshing change. It was like reading a movie--cool! the style of the book reminded me of animorphs more than harry potter. Also i loved how everthing was so modern. They talk about digital cameras, scanners, plasma computer screens not to mention bio-bombs and machine guns. This book is a little darker and more comicated than harry potter so I'd recommend it to older kids, probably over 11. Further more,the book had great sarcastic humor.it really was funny! despite what moms and reviewers are saying--kids: if you want a great,action-packed,funny but more mature read, buy Artemis FOWL. i highly doubt you'll hate it.
Rating: Summary: great roller coaster! Review: So so so so good! Best book I have read in 2k1 and I am not lying. Artemis is the smartest kid in the world but he is also nasty and a BRAT. Holly is superkool. And the cenatar computer guy is also very funny. I loved the story and read it super fast in just two days! When is there a book 2?????
Rating: Summary: Don't waste your time Review: The plot isn't all that bad but the writing is horrible. I kept being distracted from the story by the terrible and/or confusing choice of words. I'll give you an example here from page 141: "Holly sat on the edge of her bed, fingers curled around the metal base. She lifted slowly, taking the weight on her arms. The strain threatened to pop her elbows from their sockets. She held it for a second, and then slammed the frame into the concrete. A satisfying cloud of dust and splinters swirled around her knees." 1-how is she lifting the bed while she's sitting on it? 2-elbows don't have sockets. Shoulders and hips do. 3-the floor is concrete and the bed is metal. Where are the splinters coming from? I'd say maybe once every two pages on average there's something along these lines that is confusing and/or incorrect sounding. Maybe it makes sense to somebody else, but to me, it's really distracting. A lot of the jokes and puns also felt awkwardly placed and far too thought-out instead of coming naturally. The fact that Artemis' translation of the fairy book came out in imperfect english - yet RHYMED - was just ridiculous. A lot of it was just plain gross too, like the bodily fluids and stuff. Talk about going for the lowest common denominator. To be fair, I found Artemis and his life interesting. I liked Holly ok too. The secret code - though pretty easy to break - is also a neat idea. But the book just had too many other flaws, and way too much hype. An Artemis Fowl movie? It seems to me like somebody said "we're going to make a series of books and movies and toys. Magic is hot right now, make it about that! And James Bond type stuff. And Martial Arts. And fantasy worlds. Put in lots of gimmicks and make it nice and contriversial!" Instead they should have focused on making something of quality. By the way, this book really isn't like Harry Potter. There are (suspicious) similarities between the magical communities in both, hiding themselves from Muggles, errr Mudbloods, errr Mudpeople, errr *humans* and using memory wipes and that kind of thing, but the similarity ends there. The Harry Potter books are about a wonderful fantasy world that makes you feel like you're actually there, filled with characters who come to life on the pages. For me, it was like JK Rowling had reunited me with dear childhood friends of mine that I had forgotten. In Artemis Fowl... well, it's a dreary world that I wouldn't want to spend any more time in, and characters that I didn't really care about.
Rating: Summary: High-tech Magic Review: Now that my son is reading on his own I've decided to preview the books I'm buying for him. Artemis Fowl is a little more rough and tumble than I expected, but I'm going to give it a thumbs up. Yes, there is some violence, but no more than some of the Saturday morning cartoons he might watch. And no one really dies, which I found commendable. I also enjoyed the mix of high-technology and Gallic mythology, which seems a natural hybrid considering the times. I would agree with a previous reviewer that Artemis is not the character with whom kids will most identify, but rather it is Captain Short, who I see as the heroine in this caper. There is alway "good" and "evil" and the interaction between the two has always been a subject of literature. This book is no different. I think any ten year old will be able to tell you easily who's the bad guy and who's the good guy in this very enjoyable novel.
Rating: Summary: A great step forward in fantasy literiture Review: If the other book in the sequel is even half as spectacular as "Artemis Fowl" then you can expect to be reading this way past midnight! Set in the heart of Ireland, this fantasy crime tale is a classic Good verses Evil story, with a twist at the end. Artemis Fowl, a twelve year old criminal mastermind has concocted an ingenious plan to regain his families billionaire status. This involves the very dangerous task of capturing a Leprechaun and holding it to ransom for fairy gold. Yet Artemis under estimates the lengths the fairies will go to retrieve their hostage. This is a fantasy book which I would recommend to children ages 11-13. Harry Potter watch out!
Rating: Summary: This is NOT for kids!! Review: Let me preface that I have only read the first 50 pages of the book - but I feel as though I was duped! The book was displayed in the Childrens section of (store name) and when my 8 year old saw it - it seemed like Harry Potter all over agian. I read the book jacket and a review and thought this book would tide us over until HP#5 finally hit the store. Unfortunatly - this book is way too over the top for anyone under middle school age. When you start talking "fine Irish whiskey" and "syrynges shooting into her veins" - I have to draw the line, and that was just in the first few pages. Now, despite my living in the 'bible belt' - I am not a prude. I am a firm believer in freedom of expression. I also believe that if you don't like the message of a book - you don't have to ban it, just don't read it! This is just a warning to parents that this book is probably not the best choice for kids!
Rating: Summary: A Brilliant Book Review: Contrary to the opinions of the previous reviewers I believe the book was actually very original. Now since our society is following the "soccer mom" hysteria, I believe that may be the very reason for the opposition. It is merely an adventure, a boy set out with a plan, it is an adventure regardless whether it sends messages that are "immoral" to it's young readers. Children can flip on the television set and find much more immorality, so why not they actually broaden their vocabulary and literary horizon. Such words used to describe the character were that he was evil. I believe that the character was merely ambitious. It was very entertaining to watch him embark on his journey. It's a great escape from the blande themes of modern books. This book stands out in the way that it actually makes crime and illegal actions amusing to read about. It stands far away from these new selections that only promote morals. This is just a story, the media has portrayed it to be a sadastic bible, whereas it is only a story that has an ambitious character rather than a bunch of boring "good-guys."
Rating: Summary: not up to the hype Review: Definately not up to all the hype. It is NOT like harry potter at all! It lacks the character development, plot developments and twists that a harry potter book contains. Not to mention the dark feel to this book.
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