Some basic background on Artemis Fowl is that he is a criminal genius. However, he is only twelve years old. His family has been broken apart by the disappearance of his father and he is trying to bring them back into the 'billionaire' status by taking advantage of the fairy world. They are called 'The People' in this series. Fairies, goblins, trolls, etc all have gifts that humans don't have and advanced technology. These stories are based off the interaction of Fowl and The People.
Some cool things about the novels are the fact that the hero is actually a villain, who you grow to appreciate. He definitely prefers to be underhanded but somehow, good comes out of him at the end of the books in small doses. Also, the description of the various fairy world characters are quite amusing and the devices that they have are just remarkable. The action sequences are very exciting and the book goes by so quickly because of how fun the scenes are.
I don't feel the need to actually go into what each novel is about in depth but the first is Fowl's attempt to re-establish his family fortune by stealing from The People; the second is about Fowl helping The People stop a human/fairy trading group as well as the recovery of his father. I would say the first book is more interesting but both were definitely entertaining.
For me, the enjoyment of reading these books comes from the visualization of an alternate world. I wouldn't look to learn anything too deep from these books. The one lesson I did "learn" is that humans are slowly destroying the world. I already knew this but it's sad to see that it has even become a topic in our kids' books. There is a constant berating of the filthy "mud people" which is fairy-talk for humans.
All-in-all, these books were amusing enough for me to want to read the whole series. Hopefully I'll be able to find them at a Barnes or Borders so I can just take an hour or two to read them.
Overall Score: 7/10
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