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With the Harry Potter series at its end with the 7th book finally being published this year, I took some time to search for other books with roughly the same genre, teen fantasy. Through a friend, I stumbled upon the Artemis Fowl series, written by the Irish author Eoin Colfer which began in 2001. This series has been ongoing with roughly 5 books, with the last one projected to emerge in 2008. Although it lacked publicity compared to the Harry Potter series, it still made up by becoming quite successful, receiving a favourable response.

The setting is relatively simple to understand and intriguing at the same time. Artemis Fowl II is a child prodigy, a genius, at 12 years old, he has an IQ debatably one of the highest in the world. He is the sole heir to the affluent Fowl family line, a long line of infamous Irish criminals who reside in their traditional Fowl Manor. Accompanying him are his personal bodyguards and servants, Juliet and Butler.

The story begins with Artemis brooding over his family’s recent misfortune. His father, Artemis Fowl I was recently lost in the Arctic during a business transaction, driving his mother to insanity due to his absence. Normally, a 12-year-old kid might be stunned with not knowing what’s next to do, but not Artemis. Immediately, this classical “evil genius” tries to hatch a plot to reinstate the Fowl name as the wealthy family they were once were, by amassing another fortune, illegally. This leads to the main plot of the first stolen gold from fairies.

The stereotypical image of fairies are little “pixies”, small hand sized humanoids who fly around with their wings, accompanied by the Irish myths of leprechauns with their magical pots of gold. However, in Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer not only utilises this myth thoroughly, but pushes it beyond our wildest imaginations. In the story, fairies are a large colony of humanoids including pixies, dwarves, goblins, the usual mythical group. Centuries ago, they had war with us (humans) and after being defeated, they fled underground where they stayed hidden for centuries using their superior technology and fairy magic.

Artemis, through someway was able to come to the knowledge of their existence, and knowing their secret, plans to steal gold from them to help reinstate his family’s wealth. What we are given in the end is an interesting plot full of mythical twists and turns as we see this boy, not even a teenager, attempt to outwit the other races based on his cunning plans. Artemis, in this way, plays a lovable “evil genius”, whose plots for personal power and greed against the fairies form the basic plot line of the series.

As with the Harry Potter series, one thing I noticed was that as the series progressed, the themes of the books become more and more mature. Having read the entire series, I can safely say that the unique setting would draw the interests of both the young and old into the very possible scenario that we are not the smartest beings on this planet. I personally recommend getting hooked onto the series, which has its last book coming out some time in 2008, in addition to a movie in the works.

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