Boek
Artemis Fowl
| Auteur | Eoin Colfer |
| Eerste Uitgave | 2001 |
| Uitgave | 2002 |
| Uitgeverij | Puffin Books |
| Vorm | jeugd |
| Taal | Engels |
| Bladzijden | 280 bladzijden |
| Gelezen | 2004-07-13 |
| Score | 9/10 |
Inhoud
Stay back, Human. You don't know what you are dealing with.'
Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a brilliant 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 are armed and they're dangerous. Artemis thinks he's got them just where he wants them, but then they stop playing by the rules...
Bespreking
A magical and brilliant parody
People have been known to look for gold in the strangest of places. But the twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl, a brilliant criminal mastermind, decides to beat them all. Everyone knows that faeries possess a lot of gold, and they are exactly from whom Artemis wants to steal it away. But to accomplish his evil scheme the young master Fowl will have to learn the laws and rites of those long forgotten People. He has first to get a hold of one of their Magic Books. When one day his faithful servant Butler brings him a message from their sneaky contact Nguyen Xuan it seems that they finally found what they were looking for. And indeed, what better place is there to start their search from than Ireland, the land of Goblins and Faeries?
First of all an important message: stop comparing this book to Harry Potter! It is like comparing it with Shakespeare, just because it also is published on paper. If you cannot resist comparing it to any book, then take a book written by Terry Pratchett. Maybe Artemis Fowl is in a way more a parody of life than it is a fantasy novel.
But then again, Artemis Fowl is quite unique. Contrary to the older generation of adolescent novels, it treats its readers as a smart, intelligent audience. It is refreshing to see a story unfold where the difference between good and evil is not necessarily defined on the first pages.
Although the novel is action packed and can easily be classified as a page-turner, in the end the complexity of the story is not its biggest asset. Like most first novels in a series it pays more attention to getting the characters and settings in place than it is concerned about the storyline. Even more reasons, I would say, to run to the shop and buy its sequel - something I will definitely do, right now...