Artemis Fowl general discussion

So I just learned the next book is coming out and so i figured I should actually finish reading (or rather, listening) to Books 5 and 6. I sure am glad I did.

Lost Colony is probably my second favorite book in the series, after 1. I was a bit skeptical about the introduction of Minerva (so totally unecessary to have a second Kid Genius) but since she's really a side-character and not important, I didn't mind.

Time Paradox was alright. I liked it more then Opal Deception to be sure. I'll admit though...it's because I totally Ship Artemis/Holly.

I know there's a spoiler tag thing here but fuck if i can figure it out. So SPOILERS.

I was so bummed when Artemis ruined their possible romance. But as Holly took hack her "no more Elf kisses" rule in the end, I have high hopes for their future.

SPOILERS END HERE

Overall, I think i rank the books thusly:

Artemis Fowl > Lost Colony > Arctic Incident > Time Paradox > Opal Deception > Eternity Code

Anyway, since I listen to the audio versions as it's easier on my eyes (and Nathaniel Parker has a great voice) I won't be getting to Atlantis Complex till a month after everyone else if Wiki is to be believed. I can wait though.

So, what are your thoughts on the series?

edited 11th Jun '10 3:57:46 PM by Nikkolas

Pretty good series. Entertaining. Artemis/Holly is a gross thing to ship. He's a freakin' teenager. And he's human. And she's, you know, hundreds of years older than him. But yeah, having (Time Paradox spoiler) two Opals in one time period should be wicked cool.

Pretty good series. Entertaining. Artemis/Holly is a gross thing to ship. He's a freakin' teenager. And he's human. And she's, you know, hundreds of years older than him. But yeah, having (Time Paradox spoiler) two Opals in one time period should be wicked cool.

Meh. Age is a Number!

Honestly, his youth doesn't mean that much to me. Nor her age. The problem is she'll outlive him by centuries.

That's the main problem with the ship for me. :(

edited 11th Jun '10 5:16:43 PM by Nikkolas

This post was thumped by the Shillelagh of Whackingness

Time Paradox was indeed, quite cool.

I'm just getting started on the series. I'm halfway through chapter six in the first book. So far, so good.

My favorite character is Root. Is that unusual? Prolly. I've always had a soft spot for Da Chief.

Julius Root is a Pretty Cool Guy...  ^spoiler

edited 12th Jun '10 3:02:40 AM by Mapi

My favorite character is Foaly. Dorky centaur genius with a tinfoil hat? I love it!

The blatant environmentalism and the action movie cliches always hurt me. Still love the series, but I think there's a lot more that can be done with Artemis' character. I feel like he's shoved aside in favor of the fairies a bit too much.

Book four was a low point, for me—I expected a lot more from Artemis' comeback. Also expected a lot more from the timeskip at the end of book five. It seemed like, each time, Colfer was planning on doing a retool of some sort on the series, but then decided to scrap it in favor of maintaining the status quo. Makes him seem somewhat lacking in balls. That being said, there wasn't any real decrease in quality for Books five and six, and I'm looking forward to the Atlantis Complex, and possibly future books.

Unless this next book is absolutely epic, I don't feel like the series is at a point where it can end. There've been too many missed opportunities for major shake ups to the Artemis Fowl Universe that I feel like the series needs a few books to shake its stagnancy.

And I don't see anyway that Holly and Artemis can get together. She's a legal and emotional adult, while Artemis is a pubescent boy. Maybe in ten years, but in the meantime, Artemis needs another love interest, if any at all, or even just some female presence. The only major female characters were his sick mother, holly, and opal. Maybe Minerva, but here characterization was rushed and needs to be filled out. Also the fact that she was absent for a book.

edited 18th Aug '10 2:26:02 PM by illegalcheese

I don't know why people complain about environmentalism so much. Why it is so bad the author wants us to recognize we need to respect and protect nature?

Anyway, for a romantic female presence, what about Juliet? I'd much rather she return instead of Minerva. She Took A Level in Badass in 3 but then went away. That is still bugging me.

Also i noticed no mention of Butler's kevlar chest thing in Time Paradox. Particularly blatant since his chest is described when Artemis revives him.

edited 14th Jun '10 7:51:35 PM by Nikkolas

I have read the first three books and translated all of the fairy code at the front of the book, and I remember liking it.

I have recently taken an interest in it, but it seems to have been misplaced along with all of the fairy code translations... [sarcasm] But everything is a-ok, because we have all of the other books! [/sarcasm]

My favorite is The Artic Incident.

Books 5 and 6 didn't feel as good to me. I guess it was the random introduction of new characters in 5 and a silly, confusing premise in 6.

I mean if you're going back in time to save the lemur, why not go back in time to the point where there were lots of lemurs? And Opal's powers seemed like they came out of nowhere. The first half of book 6 was pretty good though.

I remember translating the code in book one without outside help, good times.

I also really liked the Lost Colony, though the Opal Deception kinda annoyed me in how Opal forgot about Foaly to concentrate on Holly and Artemis.

Pfft, what code? It was a 1:1 alphabetic cipher. It seems that most authors don't bother going further than that.

Quit ruining my childhood memories, will ya?

/throws meta and Rule 34 at you

Double whammy!

edited 15th Jun '10 8:39:35 AM by Aoede

I love the series in general.

Except that I didn't think Opal Deception really fit with the general feel of the series - there were only like two jokes (yeah, I know there were... events... that had made jokes at some points inapropriate, and it always felt like it was only there to link - as I think of them - the two halves of the series.

And I don't like Artemis and Holly. Not for any of the practical reasons, about like it should be there, more like Colfer was just giving into fan demands for Artemis to have a love interest. I don't think this series needs romance; it's got so much going for it already.

Correction to last post: "I don't feel it hould be there." I didn't delete all of what I was already typing, sorry.

Opal Deception is my favorite one o.o

why not go back in time to the point where there were lots of lemurs?

Because it wouldn't have said as much about Artemis' character. It wasn't just about saving his mother, it was about atoning for his past wrongs and correcting his past assholery.

Although, had he done that, he could have grabbed enough for a stable breeding population and gave them all to the fairies.

I like them a lot, especially Opal Deception. Reading info on Atlantis Complex...perhaps this'll be one enemy Artemis can't beat?

...Nah.

Opal Deception is good... I just don't think fits with the general feel of the series. It has a more serious tone to it. Which is probably why some people like it best.

I enjoyed these fairly well when I was younger, but I did think at the time (and think even more so now) that they suffer from the same problem as Death Note, namely that the author has no idea how a person as smart as the protagonist is supposed to be would think, so the story indicates a character who is not nearly as smart as we are told he is.