Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first read this book in 2007, and liked it enough to read the rest of the Artemis Fowl series, as it was constituted at the time. I wanted my kids to try out this series, so on our spring break road trip we listened to this book together. I still think it is a worthwhile read, but the family had a lot of criticisms for the book, mostly from mismatched expectations in my estimation.

Artemis Fowl is great for the 10-13 yr old reader. There is action, [crude] humor, and just enough emotion to keep the characters from being totally fake. If you pick it up with expectations beyond that you might be a little disappointed. I will also say that Colfer took a risk by involving time shifting as part of this plot. It is a little complicated for his target audience. I had to explain it twice to my 11 yr old and 13 yr old.

At a solid 3 stars, Artemis Fowl is a respectable start to this series and a good choice if your expectations are in the right place. If I remember correctly, I enjoyed the rest of the series more than this opener the last time through, although I don't know if I will read the whole series again right now to verify that.