Bookish Reviewish, The Artemis Fowl Series~ In Which Mistakes Were Made By Everybody Involved (And In All Likelihood That Includes Me)

Salutations, old friends!

Well, as you may have gathered from the title of this post, today I am here to talk about the middle-grade (possibly borderline-YA) fantasy book series Artemis Fowl, by Irish author Eoin Colfer. (You may question my reading choices. So do I.)

I read the first four books at the tender age of twelve. I stumbled across the second book in the series, The Arctic Incident, at a used bookstore and read it without realizing right away that it was part of a series.

I liked it well enough to seek out the first book (magically transformed into a prequel) and then the third and fourth. The fifth book gave me pause, though (there was a demon on the cover, which to me seemed rather scandalous).

Since book five seemed questionable, and I wasn’t terribly involved in the series anyway, I easily moved on to other things, such as Percy Jackson (which, I’m sure you know, doesn’t have anything sketchy in it at all).

Over the years (all…fifteen of them??) I gave precious little thought to the Artemis Fowl series. I remembered it vaguely as a semi-entertaining story with some annoying/disappointing things about it (unfortunately I never forgot about Mulch Diggums and his disgusting bodily functions), and though I sometimes wondered how the rest of the series played out, it wasn’t something I ever really pictured myself picking up again.

So…so…what happened, hm?

What it really comes down to is my weakness for accents, I guess.

Recently, I’ve been getting more into audio-books, because multi-tasking=more book consumption. It is frowned upon to sit for too many hours just reading a book, but doing chores and taking long vigorous walks is encouraged so why not listen to books while you do those things? (I’m astounded that it’s taken me this long to catch on to this brilliant way of life.)

Anyway, several years ago, my sister Elizabeth Hyde listened to the first Artemis Fowl book* and told me that they had Irish accents. I think that this fact stuck in my mind somewhere, and one day when I was trying to think of a book to look up on the audio-book app I have through my library, the fact resurfaced. And I pounced upon it.
*she was actually asleep a significant portion of the time

Accents. I love accents, especially Irish, Scottish and any kind of British accents. I don’t know why. So I ended up revisiting the Artemis Fowl series, and at least 85% of the reason was the Irish accents that the audio-format promised me. Now you know.

My library had the first five books in audio format, which I consumed rapidly, and then I borrowed books six, seven and eight from the library in traditional bookish format because at that point I was too dang invested to give up due to lack of accents, you see.

You: Invested? Was it a good series, then?
Me: *laughs hysterically for five minutes*
Me: …
Me: I can explain (maybe??).

Well…that was an unnecessarily long prologue, but now that the scene is set, it’s time to get to the reviewish part of this thing. I’m going to follow my regular “bookish-reviewish” format, but at the end I’ll have “miscellaneous thoughts” on the series as a whole. And also rank them, because why not?

NOTE: I will attempt to keep these reviews as spoiler free as possible, though minor spoilers are unavoidable since I’m reviewing an entire series. Inevitably pieces from previous books will trickle into the reviews for the later ones, but I will do my best to avoid it happening excessively.

Artemis Fowl (reread)

Artemis is a genius, and nobody knows that better than himself. His father has gone missing, his mother is in a state of decline, and it is up to twelve-year-old Artemis to restore the Fowl family fortune. Because nothing could be more important than acquiring as much money as possible, am I right? With the aid of his loyal bodyguard Butler, Artemis is scheming to get his hands on something that humans have coveted for centuries: fairy gold.

YEA:

• the purposefully over-the-top fantastical tone (there’s a certain kind of story where we accept that at any moment our twelve-year-old protagonist might be writing his own computer program or a troll might be dropped onto his house, and this is it. It’s ridiculous in a pleasing kind of way)
• the high-tech fairy underworld (the world-building is haphazard, certainly, but it’s fun and creates a quirky, relatively unique backdrop for the story)
• Artemis as the villain (I really appreciate that the author allows him to be the bad guy. The story doesn’t try to justify his actions, but it still gives us enough context for them that we can like him as a character in spite of his moral ambiguity. It does NOT try to tell us that kidnapping is okay if you have a good reason. You’d be surprised by how many books try to tell us that…or maybe you wouldn’t)
• Artemis, in general (is he an insufferable brat with an inflated ego? Undoubtedly. But the author does a decent job of showing us why, and making us care anyway. Also, his dramatic side is quite entertaining. Not to mention his old man energy)
• Artemis’s relationship with his mother (because, you know, trauma)
• Butler (my enjoyment of Butler’s over-the-top skills is rivaled only by my attachment to Butler’s deep regard for his principal. Sure, his actions are questionable at times, which perhaps I’ll get into later, but we love him anyway)
• Holly and Foaly and Root’s working relationships (snarky coworkers for the win)
• the Irish accents (you know I’m here for them)

NAY:

• when the over-the-top vibe is too over-the-top (there’s a balance there, and it wasn’t always struck. There’s tasteful over-the-top and then there’s “oh boy this is a middle-grade novel that’s trying too hard to be slick”)
• dwarfs and their bodily functions (just…gross. It’s supposed to be funny, but it is not. It’s just gross. And there is a deplorable amount of it in here. Like, maybe this book was written for ten-year-old boys, why am I even here)
• the writing (it’s sub-par, though not terrible. Or possibly it is terrible but I was too distracted by the accents to notice?)
• the way Artemis outmaneuvered the fairies in the end (…eh?)
• the fairies being too “good” (fairies are painted in an almost sickeningly righteous light, because they care more about the environment than humans do, I guess. They do not hold human life in a very high regard. Also their nature is not at all in keeping with traditional fairies, which is okay for the story but not satisfying on a “lore” level, if that makes sense)
• Can fairy magic really cure that kind of problem? (seems like it would be superficial at best)

Verdict: If you want something fast-paced and fantastical with a decidedly heist/spy flavor (but also some emotions, don’tcha know), this book can be a lot of fun. Despite some annoying (mainly dwarf related) things.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (reread)

Artemis has a lead on the location of his father, but something shifty is going on in the fairy world and naturally Artemis is one of the LEPs first suspects. But it turns out that maybe Artemis can help the fairies this time around instead of outwitting them, and possibly Holly Short will be willing to help him in return?

YEA:

• the fairies and Artemis working together (even if it IS rather ridiculous to think that they are totally lost without this thirteen-year-old human, but we just roll with it)
• Artemis’s growing conscience (granted, it’s still very wee, but still)
• the plot (slightly more complex than the first book, I think)
• the deepening of character relationships in general (particularly Artemis’s relationships with Butler and Holly)
• Butler’s encounter with that one door (the essence of everything we love about Butler)
• Commander Root being Holly’s dad (he always is)
• the climax (better than the first book)
• those 60 seconds (so precious)
• the Irish accents (obviously)

NAY:

• excessive bad guy POVs (we do not care all that much about any of the bad guy groups and what they are doing, so please stop taking the time to tell us about them)
• convenient assets that Eoin failed to mention until the last moment (you gotta load the gun before you fire it, you know. Things need to be set up properly)
• dwarf functions (good grief, why)
• mostly all the same complaints from the first book (sub-par writing, middle grade vibes, etc.)

Verdict: If one enjoys the first book, the second is sure to please as well. It has the same flavor and builds pretty well on the established character relationships and Artemis’s personal journey.

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (reread)

Artemis has decided to turn over a new leaf. At least, sort of. But there is just one last job that he can’t possibly abandon, because that’s just the way this kid is. When things don’t go exactly as planned and the secrecy of the fairy world is threatened, Artemis may have to lose something far more precious than gold in order to set things right.

YEA:

• Artemis’s moral crisis (his confusion is so perfect)
• Artemis’s diary entries (he is so clinical about it but also he’s grappling SO HARD)
• Artemis personifying human nature (dang)
• Artemis losing stuff (different stuff at different points. But all very emotional)
• the heist antics (this one is really more of a heist book than either of the previous two)
• Juliet (Butler’s sister is a feisty gem who adores her brother. I enjoyed getting to read more about her)
• consequences (They are REAL, okay??)
• continued development of character relationships (are y’all friends now?)
• Accents (I do not tire of them)

NAY:

• ridiculously stupid henchmen (while the main villain of this book is actually somewhat intimidating, his henchmen are obscenely idiotic. Like, their favorite TV show is Barney. Please no)
• the idea that Juliet is too tender-hearted to be in the personal-protection business (I mean, have you MET Butler??)
• excessive bad guy POVs again (this is basically a problem in every book excepting the first one)
• And yes, there are still dwarf functions (also it’s getting worse because in each book a new dwarf talent is revealed, a talent so convenient to the plot that it makes you want to grind your teeth)
• the writing/middle-grade vibes (consistently so-so throughout the series)

Verdict: Builds nicely on the previous books and if you are taking Artemis’s character arc as seriously as I am, then there will be feelings.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (reread)

Artemis has reverted back to his criminal ways (shock!), but an old enemy is stirring and hungry for revenge (that sounds so melodramatic but that is quite fitting for this character). Once again Holly and Artemis are forced to overcome their differences and work together to thwart the evil fairy’s diabolical scheme (mwahahaha).

YEA:

• Artemis disguised as a “regular” teenager (he goes so hard. It’s hilarious)
• Root and Holly’s relationship (he is such a dad and it’s really a beautiful thing. I love the advice that he gives to her. He’s wise)
• Holly’s character development (this is the first book where I feel like Holly has real development as a character, rather than having a static arc to combat Artemis’s volatile nature, like she basically does in the previous books)
• the Artemis/Butler dynamic (no, I do not get tired of this, even if it’s much the same as it has always been)
• Artemis and Holly’s friendship (actually pretty sweet at this point)
• Foaly’s loyalty (good man, good man)
• Artemis’s blatant lack of physical prowess (“He had climbed ladders before. One ladder at least. Surely.”)
• Artemis’s character development (he’s growing, okay?)
• Accents (would I have gotten this far if I wasn’t listening to an audio-book, I wonder?)

NAY:

• “DNA never lies” (why is this such a hard-and-fast saying if y’all KNOW that cloning technology exists, hm??)
• stinkin’ dwarf functions conveniently appearing to suit plot needs (SUCH CHEAP TRICKS)
• a certain experience not impacting Artemis quite as dramatically as I might have wished (like, I get that your brain is big and everything but that has to be overwhelming, I don’t care how brilliant you are)
• the ending for the main bad guy (…I don’t get why she couldn’t just run away)
• mostly same issues I keep repeating (sub-par writing, bad guy POVS, you know)

Verdict: There are some satisfying pay-offs concerning characters and relationships that have been developing over the course of the previous books, and the plot is compelling. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

Artemis has discovered an anomaly in the space-time continuum (as one does) and believes that the time-spell on Hybras (an island inhabited by demons) is unraveling, which could have catastrophic consequences for the world at large. Artemis and Co. are hindered in their attempts to save known civilization by, of all things, a little girl (which is inconvenient for Artemis in particular since he just hit puberty, and the girl happens to be extremely pretty).

YEA:

• Artemis vs. Puberty (Artemis’s perplexity about the subject was more entertaining than I thought it would be. Also it’s endearing the way he asks Butler questions like “I’m still thinking about that pretty girl, is this normal??” He may be a genius, but he’s also fourteen)
• the climax (possibly my favorite thus far? Because emotional turmoil happens. Possibly its tied with book 2 for greatness, though)
• Artemis trying to help Minerva (you may blame puberty, but I also think it shows us how far Artemis has come since he was twelve)
• No. 1 (as mild-mannered as you could please)
• Butler in a shack by the sea (feelings)
• the wibbly-wobbly time stuff working weirdly well (the climax. It worked)
• consequences, again (good grief, child, STOP PLAYING WITH FIRE)
• Accents (gotta love them)

NAY:

• Holly’s convenient career shift (this is NOT what we needed and I don’t think it serves her character development very well)
• Foaly getting a bigger budget (we did not need this either)
• Section 8 (really, now)
• the demon thing (could we just…not call the lost colony’s inhabitants demons? It makes it weird. If the point is to say that “demons are just misunderstood” or something then I object, but could they not just be another species of fairy? the fact that they are “demons” is basically irrelevant)
• all the writing/POV/dwarf things I keep saying (call him “the Irish teenager” ONE MORE TIME, why don’t you)
• the flippant tone of the last few sentences (it was beautiful for a moment and then you wrecked it)

Verdict: While Artemis’s character development kind of takes a back seat for most of this one, the ending makes up for it. The integrity of the overall plot is starting to flounder, though, and the demon thing is undeniably troubling, even if it’s not as bad as it could have been.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox

Angeline Fowl is sick. Again. And Artemis has a brilliant plan to go back in time to rescue a lemur in order to cure her. (This makes a bit more sense in context, but not much.) Of course he’ll need the help of his fairy friends to do this, and he’s willing to go to any lengths to get it. Saving the mum is clearly more important than friendship.

YEA:

• Artemis’s “one step forward, two steps back” mentality to personal growth (it may be aggravating, but it’s very realistic)
• Artemis hanging out with the twins (precious)
• Artemis grappling with how the heck he’s supposed to interact with his family (it kind of hurts)
• Artemis vs. Artemis (how far you’ve come, son. Even if you’re still a jerk most of the time)
• the time-travel not being nearly as much of a disaster as I was expecting (it was actually satisfactory, which is kind of shocking)
• consequences (though, not as many as there should be)
• the climax (satisfying action and our boy making us proud)
• Artemis and Angeline TALKING (it’s about time)

NAY:

• the “romance”/hormone disaster/atrocious destruction of wholesomeness/totally messed up, whatever you want to call it (WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK, EOIN?? This made me SO MAD. I DO NOT CARE how young Holly is in elf years, she is still very much an ADULT and Artemis is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. HOW DARE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING?? I don’t mind if Artemis has a crush on Holly, but it can’t go the other way. Holly has no excuse)
• when consequences aren’t as severe as they should be (this confused and disappointed me)
• the premise (a lemur? Really, now?)
• Butler starting to exhibit his “no-kill policy” (guys, it makes no sense that Artemis senior, a criminal overlord, would hire a bodyguard for his son that had any qualms about killing, okay? This was not Butler’s training. Yes, he’s a nice guy, but he’s not THAT nice)
• all the extreme environmentalism (it’s overkill at this point)
• no accents (no more audio-books for me *sniffle*)
• the usual things (you know, the POVs, writing, dwarfs, corny middle-grade vibes etc.)

Verdict: The bizarre shift in Artemis and Holly’s relationship really soured this one for me, and the whole premise was pretty weak. Major drawbacks aside, there was still some interesting character development and a surprisingly satisfying plot.

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex

Artemis has decided to go full environmentalist. Instead of focusing on criminal enterprises, he is using his big brain to come up with an ingenious scheme to counteract global warming. But he’s…not quite himself. And he’s hoping that his friends won’t notice.

YEA:

• Artemis’s problems (very much over-the-top but no less entertaining for it. It’s equal parts angsty and downright hilarious)
• actual consequence to something Artemis did in the end of book five (YES, I was hoping that would have negative effects. YAY CONSEQUENCES)
• the Butler siblings (they are the best. They should have their own TV show, I love them)
• Orion (this kid. He bursts upon us with the sappiest poetry in his heart, and it’s hard not to enjoy his sheer ridiculousness)
• Artemis’s character arc (I do love it. I really do)

NAY:

• the plot (actually nobody cares)
• the climax (decidedly underwhelming)
• the villain (you can’t just suddenly invent an evil brother for Julius Root and expect us to accept that he’s always existed. It doesn’t work like that)
• Mulch’s blatant formulaic nature at this point (please just stop)
• the things (you kinda get used to them, but also…just be better)

Verdict: Though the plot is notably lackluster in this book, Artemis’s internal struggle prevents it from being a total failure. His character arc is making an insane amount of sense considering how haphazard the external plot arcs have become.

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian

Our favorite melodramatic villain is back, and she’s completely overturning all the logical rules of time-travel that have been thus far established. Artemis will have to deal with the consequences, and figure out how much of a hero he can actually be.

YEA:

• Juliet being the best body-guard for the twins (you know she is)
• Butler being his loyal self (bless him)
• the fact that Artemis still hasn’t gotten around to exercising regularly (most relatable character trait)
• Artemis being the hero (spoilers. But I’m so proud of him)
• It’s Dublin (don’t you ever get tired of it being New York?)

NAY:

• all of the established time-travel rules going COMPLETELY out the window (this is so very irksome. It’s almost impressive that the book could fail so abominably in that regard)
• all of Artemis’s psychological problems from the previous book being neatly solved by the time this one begins (it doesn’t work like that. It cheapens an arc that, up to this point, was surprisingly well-thought through)
• Artemis getting to have his cake and eat it too (you can’t do this, son)
• apocalypse!! And zombies!! (we did not ask for this)
• the weird mixed messages about cloning (…it was really weird)
• Artemis’s lack of concern for the twins at times (like, I know you’ve got a lot on your mind but ALSO)
• Artemis still not trusting people enough to be straightforward with them (I mean, old habits die hard, I guess, but are you going to grow out of the pathological lying thing or aren’t you?)
• the ending (just…no)
• the things (yup)

Verdict: This book was something of a disaster. It has its moments, but overall it was a severely disappointing climax to the series.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

What is the structure of this series anyway?

The plots of the Artemis Fowl books are largely self-contained, and plot-wise there is no focused direction for the series. We don’t have a Lord Voldemort or a returning Titan Lord to tie things together (there is kinda sorta a “main villain”, but she just pops in and out with totally unrelated schemes each time and not enough grounding as a character to really merit the title).

This isn’t necessarily a problem, as the story is driven by Artemis’s character arc rather than external plot forces. Artemis and Co. are faced with new problems in each story, mostly isolated incidents, and they grow and change through them.

The problem is that some of the time, particularly towards the end, it felt like the author was trying to tell us that there WAS a through-arc. Specifically in the last book, it feels like it’s trying very hard to tell us that we’ve been building towards this “final showdown”, even though it kind of comes out of the blue. It wasn’t earned, and thus it fell abysmally flat.

The series doesn’t NEED an overarching plot in order for the characters to develop, and the way it keeps sort of trying to have one hinders rather than helps the character journeys. The stories generally suffered when the stakes become too grandiose, because we didn’t actually build towards it, it just kind of came out of nowhere.

This series didn’t know if it wanted to be purely episodic or have a through-arc, and it settled in a very awkward in-between kind of place.

What is the deal with these fairies?

The fact that the fairies in this universe are not playfully conniving, cruel and half-mad doesn’t bother me too much, even if it’s not at all accurate. What DOES bother me is the way they are painted as this peace-loving, self-righteous group of environmentalists who demonize humans, and that they are supposed to be RIGHT. It’s only their great peace-loving natures that prevent them from obliterating the awful human race.

It could be interesting if they were just (understandably) biased against humans and throughout the story the main fairies realized that things are more complicated, but no. Instead, when they develop positive relationships with Artemis and Butler and Juliet, these Mud People are seen as an exception to the general rule that all Mud People are terrible. And it’s these enlightened humans who realize how despicable their race is and end up agreeing with the fairies.

I have problems with this.

We have moral issues concerning Butler…but also continuity issues

As to the moral issues, we love the guy and his relationship with Artemis, but it is worthy of note that he aided a twelve/thirteen/fourteen-year-old kid in all sorts of blatantly illegal activity. As the responsible adult in this scenario, we can’t just let Butler off as some kind of helpless victim, no matter how disapproving he was of what was going on.

I like to think that he helped Artemis commit crime because he felt that the only way to protect Artemis was to stay close to him and the only way to stay close to him was to maintain Artemis’s trust in him. But Artemis didn’t need someone who would go along blindly with whatever scheme he’d concocted. What he really needed was someone to tell him NO. As wonderful as Butler is, since he is functioning in a “loyal manservant” type of role, he can’t really be an ideal influence on Artemis’s life.

Also, early on we get the idea that Butler has a pretty sketchy past. He doesn’t necessarily have the rock-solid moral compass that Artemis is lacking.

Honestly, I think he makes a great morally grey character. But here is the problem. As the story progresses, Butler undergoes a weird retrograde transformation. It’s not that he develops an aversion to all types of killing or learns to be more tender-hearted, he just sort of starts acting like he’s always been that way. Butler from book one is crushing all the bones in people’s fingers without a second thought, and Butler in book six thinks that killing a lemur is the gravest of sins. By the end of the series, you get the idea that Butler would never dream of harming a fly. Which makes no sense for a bodyguard.

It’s very weird. And disappointing. It feels like an oversimplification of Butler’s character. He can be a ruthless protector and a sweet guy. He can love Artemis to death and still sometimes encourage him in the wrong direction. But by the end, all the moral ambiguity that makes him complex has been conveniently stripped away to leave him as a vaguely threatening teddy bear who can do NO WRONG and has NEVER done wrong. It’s like we’re expected to bow down and do worship here. It doesn’t fit with how the character was initially established.

What happened to Holly’s character arc?

Holly starts out as a likable character. She’s a young, hot-headed captain who is veritably allergic to following orders. She cares deeply about protecting people, but has an overwhelming disdain for humans. She is a generally decent person who has room to grow.

The question is, does she grow? A compelling arc begins to shape up for her by book four, but it is sadly abandoned as quickly as it is established. For a moment we think we are going to see her learn to follow orders every once in a while and to sacrifice some of her personal job satisfaction for the good of her people. But no. After this brief moment, these potential character developments are abandoned and never brought up again.

The truth is, Holly functions mainly as an inspiration for Artemis’s character development, which is all fine and good, but as such a major character she should have an independent arc of her own rather than existing solely to react to Artemis and/or cause Artemis to do stuff. Her only notable development pertains to her relationship with Artemis. She goes from hating him to…not.

Over the course of eight books, it would be nice to see Holly grow in some capacity that doesn’t relate to Artemis (Artemis may think he’s the center of the universe, but let’s not encourage that, okay?). But it feels like after book four, she’s just permanently stuck in her cocky-captain stage of life with no sign of developing out of it. I was very disappointed to see the threads of her arc be abandoned so unceremoniously.

Speaking of abandoned things…

There are a lot of abandoned concepts/arcs/characters, actually. It’s like setting up Chekhov’s gun and the gun never going off. And then another gun that was never set up does go off. This happened quite a bit.

• Opal and Foaly never have a showdown, despite all the foreshadowing (since book 2, guys)
• Minerva falls off the face of the planet (not that we really care, but still)
• Turnball Root suddenly exists for no good reason (this annoyed me so much, it added nothing)
• the all-important lemur suddenly exists for no good reason (so contrived)
• the time-travel rules change drastically with no explanation (WHY)
• Holly’s arc promises growth, but it doesn’t pay off (terribly disappointing)

Just to name a few of them. Actually, this kind of hearkens back to the “series structure” point. It’s like Eoin couldn’t make up his mind about what he was doing. Just stop foreshadowing things if you aren’t going to follow through with them, sir. It’s okay if the stories are largely disconnected, just allow them to be instead of trying to tell us that they actually ARE connected.

Artemis’s character arc is surprisingly...good?

Considering how cobbled together the majority of the series is, Artemis’s character arc has a striking continuity. He makes slow progress and backslides pretty hard on multiple occasions, which makes it much more believable than a simple, straightforward arc. I won’t say it’s as impeccable as Zuko’s character arc (and it’s not nearly as drastic of a change and Butler is no Uncle Iroh) but it did remind me of that in regards to the way the character’s journey takes so many halts and detours, if that makes sense.

Funnily enough, one of the biggest detriments to his character arc is the author/characters trying so hard to tell us how much Artemis has changed. We can already see it without you rubbing it in, guys. You going on and on about it actually makes us less convinced than otherwise.

My other main issue with his arc is the quick bounce-back from his struggles in book 7 upon entering book 8, and the way that everything turns out in the end. Despite a few good moments, book 8 is essentially unnecessary when it comes to his development. It’s showing the result of all the previous books’ development…just not very well. All the interesting growth part has already been accomplished by this point.

Overall, the series does a great job of allowing Artemis to sit with his flaws and slowly work through them. Nothing happens overnight with this kid. He has to struggle and grapple with everything along the way, and learn to let go of things. And by the end of the series, he’s still far from perfect. I just wish it could have stuck the landing better.

Ranking from worst to best

8) #8- The Last Guardian (by far the worst book in the series. Totally disregards the few established rules and isn’t even integral to Artemis’s character development)

7) #6- The Time Paradox (significantly better than book 8. My main issues with this one are the oddly convenient existence of the lemur and of course the repulsive excuse for a romantic sub-plot that fills me with rage whenever I think about it)

6) #7- The Atlantis Complex (this one is probably about the same as book 6 when it comes to quality, but I ranked that one lower mainly because of the hateful romance. Holly is more of an adult in this one. Also, I have a weakness for mental turmoil, which this book contains in abundance)

5) #5- The Lost Colony (while I do love the climax and the plot itself isn’t half bad, the death of Holly’s character arc in a real blow to the series, and the whole demon thing is a little weird for me)

4) #1- Artemis Fowl (this book does an excellent job of establishing the world and the characters and the lighthearted-with-surprise-emotions tone)

3) #2- The Arctic Incident (builds nicely on the first book and follows through with arcs established therein)

2) #3- The Eternity Code (again, builds very nicely on the previous books when it comes to Artemis’s character arc, and has a solid heist-style plot)

1) #4- The Opal Deception (possibly this one and book 3 are actually tied for first place? Holly’s arc is the best in this one. Also the first four books give Artemis a satisfying arc that could be independent of the subsequent books and this is the conclusion of it, so points for that)

In summary: I would say that books 1-4 create a satisfying arc (and I speak mainly of Artemis’s character development) and are the strongest in the series overall. Books 5-7 give us a compelling arc that builds on the 1-4 arc, but with noticeably weaker plots and stagnating arcs for the supporting characters. Book 8 is supposedly the result of all that development but doesn’t stick the landing and we could easily do without it for a plethora of reasons.

Epilogue

Well, that was a bit of a mess. I include both the series and this blog post in that statement.

It may be a poorly written fiasco, but somehow Artemis’s character arc kept me invested. I just wish there was a better story to go along with it.

Did you read any of the Artemis Fowl books when you were a child? Have you ever read a largely abysmal series with a surprisingly well-developed character? Who is your favorite reformed villain in literature? What was the last romance you read that made you want to tear out your hair?