A Treat

I had read and adored The Wish List by Eoin Colfer years ago. But never quite took a shine to the Artemis Fowl books. Well, limited reading materials making strange bedfellows again, I settled in to read the first book in the series while I was in Chile since it was the only one I had and I can´t believe I denied myself this joy for so long!

Artemis Fowl is a criminal genius. He comes from a long line of very well to do criminal geniuses and I should mention that he`s 12 years old. About a year ago the family fortune took a hit when his father started a turf war with the Russian Mafia and was probably killed on a ship filled with merchandise. Artemis has hit upon a scheme to restore the family fortune by kidnapping a fairy and ransoming her.

Holly Short is an officer in the elite Lower Elements Police recon (LEPrecon.) Her job is to make sure Mud People (humans) never figure out that fairies are real and living in huge cities underground. She`s the first female in LEPrecon and is under a lot of pressure to succeed. She`s also running low on magic because she hasn`t performed the Ritual lately.

The two collide in a very funny way with lots of other fabulous characters and entertaining details. For me, the details are what made it. Colfer managed to lace in things that were both really funny and brought the characters vivdly to life. For example, Mulch Digger is a dwarf and a thief. He steals by digging into Mud People´s homes. When a dwarf digs, he does so by unhinging his jaw and eating the dirt which he then, ahem, gets rid of at the other end after his body has taken out any useful nutrients. This causes gas. Most dwarves relieve themselves of their gas before they leave the tunnel, but at one point in the story Mulch is in such a hurry he doesn't and ends up blowing someone against a wall. Normally, I don´t go in for potty humor, but this had me howling.

I found this book, as an adult, to be really funny. I´m sure kids think it's funny too, but they're missing out on some of the best jokes. Like F. Roy Dean Schlippe. I had to read that one twice before it sunk in. I heartily recommend Eoin Colfer books for both adults and kids. Reluctant readers will get so caught up in the story that they will forget their reluctant status and since there are a couple more books in this series they'll have read not just one book, but 2 or 3 before they realize it.