Jazz has been experiencing a revival lately. Numerous artists are responsible, but none so much as Michael Bublé. The name is likely to be known even among those who do not ordinarily listen to jazz. Bublé’s pop-jazz renditions of the classic standards has reintroduced famous jazz pieces back into the mainstream, and some even bigger than they were back when they first came out.

Call Me Irresponsible (2007) sees a continuation of Michael Bublé’s contemporary renditions of jazz classics. Generally, the album is an excellent demonstration of what makes Bublé so popular. The opening track, a cover of Frank Sinatra’s famous “The Best Is Yet to Come”, is tastefully performed; Bublé’s vocal dynamics, ranging from the soulful opening to the jubilant ending, are skilfully executed. It is evident from the title track - made famous by Frank Sinatra, as well - why Bublé is so popular today: Bublé’s smooth, sultry vocals in “Call Me Irresponsible” with its playful lilts portray the bad-boy persona of the song with finesse, but the upbeat and well-structured instrumentation accompanying him ensures that a young audience which grew up on the likes of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears are not lost on complex rhythmic changes or lengthy improvised solos. Bublé’s light-hearted rendition of “I’ve Got the World On a String” has got just the right swing feel, and is bound to make anyone happy.

The album, however, is not just about upbeat music. Many of the tracks prove that Michael Bublé is a master at sentimental music too. The more pensive and soulful tracks such as “Me and Mrs Jones” and “Always On My Mind” display an expressive and emotional side to Bublé that is seldom heard in his earlier albums. “Me and Mrs Jones” is movingly rendered; Bublé’s vocals brim with emotions, and show that he has grasped very well the inner turmoil of the song’s persona who is involved in a relationship with a married woman.

“Call Me Irresponsible”, unlike many of Michael Bublé’s previous albums, does not contain solely of covers. There are two original songs in the album, “Everything” and “Lost”, both of which Bublé himself had a part in writing. “Everything”, in my opinion, is the better of the two because its feel-good melody and admittedly sweet lyrics are far more memorable and captivating. That is, of course, not to say that “Lost” is bad; in fact, it is well-composed, and has a set of powerfully heartfelt and emotional lyrics.

Towards, the album lapses into quieter and slower music which may or may not be able to hold the attention of an audience accustomed to a fast-paced, hectic life, but that does not mean that the tracks are not worth a listen, of course. The bonus track, a cover of the classic “Love”, is a great song to end the album with not only because it is a familiar tune, but also because Bublé’s haplessly-in-love rendition of the song is captivating to listen to and creates a happy ending to the album’s musical ups and downs. Overall, Call Me Irresponsible (2007) is a testimony to the talent of Michael Bublé and to his pivotal role in bringing jazz back.

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Since they began in 2004 with their debut album “We all know is falling”, Paramore has recently shot up to fame within the pop rock, Paramore never really got the ball rolling. However, with the 2007 release of their second album “Riot!“, this respectful band has hit the right spot with their audiences, shooting themselves to some fame. Paramore’s music has been noted for it’s rare youthful enthusiasm, the main factor which contributed to their explosive music. It is so apt that their choice of title, “Riot!” itself actually means a sudden outburst of energy or emotion.

Let me admit personally that my first impression of the band was not exactly positive, after listening to their single “Misery Business”, yet I felt that I would not be doing them justice unless I got the entire album to listen to myself. With an entwining mixture of slow paced (such as “When it rains”, “We are broken”, “Let the flames begin”) and fast paced songs (”For a pessimist, I’m pretty Optimistic”, “Born for this”, “Misery Business”), I feel that on a general note, I’m impressed with the album as well as the band as a whole.

After my first run through the entire album, I was actually amazed when I found myself subconsciously repeating after their beats, which are simple, yet fits to the mood of their various songs to a T. Despite being what many would consider “simply yet another pop album”, “Riot!” actually has some redeeming qualities which distinguishes them from the rest.

With incredible catchy choruses, as well as an interestingly unique set of lyrics, courtesy of their lead singer Hayley Williams and backup vocalist Josh Farro, the songs would dance at the tip of your tongues for some time after listening to most of the songs. Paramore tries to be unique in the way that it tries to mix and match some of the monotonous tunes by having a sort of “roller coaster” tempo in some of their songs, for example “Crushcrushcrush”, and it has worked to some extent. Furthermore, Hayley William’s versatile vocals is able to cope and adapt to the changes in tempo and mood of the sings accordingly, while still being able to capture the essence and tone of a teenage pop girl.

However, at the same time, their experimenting with this technique has caused some songs(in my personal choice, “Misery Business”) to have some difficulties to flow. Yet, I feel that Paramore has already made up for it plus interest with the rest of their tracks. For pop enthusiasts out there looking for something new to sample, “Riot! (2007)” is a gem that gleams slightly brighter than the other albums out there. Injecting old ideas from fresh perspectives, their sounds would be stuck in your mind for ages. Another young prospect to look out for in the near future.

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21 years after the destruction of the Death Star II in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the New Republic (free and democratic successor of the corrupt and authoritarian Empire) faces a new and fearsome threat - invasion of a species alien to the galaxy. Set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, The New Jedi Order is a series of 27 books detailing this crisis and the events that unfold after the invasion.

After the collapse of the Empire with the death of Emperor Palpatine and the destruction of the Death Star II, the New Republic was born. This democratic and free society of planetary systems was headed by the heroes of the Rebel Alliance, like Leia Organa. Luke Skywalker then strived to rebuild the Jedi Order, basing a temple on the moon of planet Yavin. After years of hard work, the New Republic prospered and enjoyed peace, safeguarded by the growing ranks of new Jedi Knights. However, this peace was shattered with the discovery of a sudden invasion of this galaxy by an alien warrior race from another galaxy called the Yuuzhan Vong.

This was the first adversity that called upon the new order of Jedi Knights, however, during the first few waves of skirmishes the Jedi Knights were slaughtered. It soon dawned that the Yuuzhan Vong was devoid of the ‘Force’, an energy field that binds all living organisms in the galaxy, a source of the Jedi Knights’ power. The Yuuzhan Vong were formidable foes - their entire society is made up of numerous warrior clans and they see death in battle as honour to their clans. Planet after planet fell to the onslaught, with populations wiped out. Heroes from the old Rebel Alliance like Han Solo, Chewbacca and Wedge Antilles took to arms again and seek to repel the attacks. New heroes were introduced, namely Anakin, Jacen and Jaina Solo (the children of Leia and Han); and Ganner Rhysode, a Jedi Knight.

During the course of the stories, several key characters were killed in battle. Chewbacca, a prolific character from the original six episodes and Han Solo’s loyal companion, was killed in battle early in the stages of the invasion. Anakin Solo was also killed in combat; he single-handedly fought off thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors to aid the escape of his siblings and friends, and was later consumed by the Force. Ganner Rhysode also martyred himself in battle, holding back wave after wave of enemies to allow the captured Jacen Solo to flee.

This New Jedi Order series of novels was eagerly anticipated by Star Wars fans as it continued the Star Wars saga after the original sexology of movies. Fans gleefully waited to see how the newly-rebuilt Jedi Order would withstand against malicious threats like the Yuuzhan Vong. Each of the books features one, if not numerous, epic battle scenes. You can expect large scale battles for planetary control between the two warring factions - expect starfighter battles, Jedi melee combat and even ground assaults. The battle scenes are described to the usual fantastic Star Wars detail and never fail to leave Star Wars fans like myself craving for more. In particular, the scene which Anakin Solo martyred himself was outstanding.

Despite the abruptness of an out-of-the-blue invasion of an alien species, the plot was intriguing. The Yuuzhan Vong made use various methods of subversion, espionage and brute military might to cripple the New Republic. I respect the authors for taking the time to brainstorm, coming up with such intricate and meticulous details. War was not fought only on the military front with issues like internal conflict and unrest, and this gave a realistic feel of warfare in the series. Towards the end of the series, the novels left me with very uplifting spirits, seeing how the Jedi Knights and other heroes bonded and worked together to repel the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong.

It was a huge pity that key characters of the Star Wars franchise had to die, but still, this added to the ‘dark’ nature of The New Jedi Order series and this is the very fact that makes this series of novels a very compelling read.

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P.S. I Love You is a book that has drawn a variety of comments. This debut novel by Cecelia Ahern has won over many sentimental readers, drawing rave reviews; it has also drawn flak from critics who think that her work is amateurish.

The story revolves around a couple Holly and Gerry living in Ireland. They lead a happily married life and were madly in love with each other, treasuring each other’s companionship. They always joked that Holly would not be able to cope if Gerry departed first, Holly being so dependent on Gerry. The solution was to come up with a ‘List’ of instructions to teach Holly what exactly to do in the event of that. However, neither of them expected to part so prematurely, when Gerry was diagnosed with brain cancer and shortly passed on.

In the months that followed Gerry’s demise, Holly became self-absorbed, brooding at home. She became a depressed wreck, unable to cope with the massive loss of her beloved spouse. Despite her family’s and friends’ best attempts to console and cheer her up, she remained despondent. It is at this juncture that Holly’s mother mentions to her about a parcel addressed to Holly with the word ‘List’ on it. Reluctantly, Holly agrees to take a look at the parcel and finds a letter from Gerry together with 10 sets of envelopes. It dawned onto her that Gerry, acutely aware of his impending demise, forced himself to pen a whole series of written instructions for her, to help her cope with his departure.

Each of the 10 envelopes is to be opened on the first day of every month, and each letter tasks Holly to do something to help her regain her confidence and step out of the shadow of the tragedy. The types of tasks range from amusing to quirky to touching - Gerry instructs Holly to go on a much-needed vacation with her buddies, to buy a new dress for herself and start dolling up and so on. Holly follows the instructions to the letter, as a form of tribute to her late husband. Where her eccentric family members and best friends failed, Gerry manages to gradually help Holly out of her plight even when death claimed him. Amidst worries that the letters might cause Holly to cling on to the past and exacerbate the situation, Holly actually starts to find her life moving forward and slowly accepts her new lease of life.

This is a romantic tale of loss, hurt and learning to cope with it; it is a very heartwarming story. On one side, we can see how deeply Gerry cared for and understand Holly that he could predict what would happen to her in the event of his death. He forced himself through the draining task of writing the whole set of letters just to make sure that Holly would be alright. Holly is a largely naïve and slightly immature woman, who has a strong bond and dependency on her husband. Reading her struggle to put behind the love they shared and then the love that she lost certainly does pain me at times. Cecelia Ahern does manage to communicate the grief felt by Holly and the reluctance to let go of something so dear.

Critics found Cecelia Ahern’s style of writing amateurish, that she does not have sufficient experience to write about something as drastic and somber as death and rehabilitation of grief. I felt that this novel was conflicting as Cecelia Ahern seemed to be using light-hearted language and style which was not appropriate at times, especially during Gerry’s death. However, this does not fault the creativity in coming up with such a remarkable plot and storyline. It is a very captivating read; Cecelia Ahern makes you want to continue reading to find out what happens next in Holly’s rehabilitation process. At times, the story is absolutely heart-wrenching and embarrassed as I am to say this, but it is difficult to remain dry-eyed after this read.

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American Idol has already spawned so many Idols and created so many seasons. Yet the only Idol that we can fairly call a ’success’ is the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson. Winners of the following seasons have faded into oblivion after one or two singles, including the likes of Ruben Studdard. It seems that the trend is showing us that Idol participants who do not go on to win are able to perform to greater success in their careers. Clay Aiken was one, and now Chris Daughtry is proving to be another post-Idol success story.

Being ousted from the semi-finals in the fifth season of American Idol did not stop Chris Daughtry from being hastily signed by RCA Records and 19 Entertainment. He eventually teamed up with his former band, humbly named ‘Daughtry’, to record a debut rock band album. This debut self-titled album ‘Daughtry’ recorded phenomenal success within weeks of release in November 2006. In the space of 5 weeks, the album sold 1 million copies and made it to #1 on the Billboard charts on its ninth week. This was the fastest selling album by an American Idol contestant since Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Thankful’.

Daughtry’s distinctively gruff vocals are a perfect front for his band’s pop-rock tunes. His throaty, mellow voice however has a surprisingly large vocal range. In songs like ‘Over You’ we can hear him belting out and maintaining high pitches without much problem. Daughtry’s very first single, titled ‘It’s Not Over’, is a remarkable rock track that is catchy yet not preppy. The tune is catchy and it does resemble a decent authentic rock song, unlike most of Simple Plan’s songs despite their claims. Although reminiscent of Nickelback, many of Daughtry’s songs are mainstream-oriented and are inclined more towards pop-rock than Nickelback’s brand of emo-rock. Rock ballads such as ‘It Feels Like Tonight’ and ‘Breakdown’ show off Chris Daughtry’s crooning side, starting soft and building up to a all-rock yelling climax, and he does a commendable job for a singer on his debut album, with his popular trademark growl.

Despite the pleasant-sounding tracks, you cannot help but observe that majority of Daughtry’s tracks sound similar. There was one instance, after listening to the CD on repeat for an hour or so, that I subconsciously mistook ‘Over You’ for another track. I felt that Daughtry has built his own style of singing and created a distinctive sound for their music, but each song was not unique on its own. The album felt more or less like the songs were produced with reference to a model, before making subtle changes to each of them.

All in all, this record is still something I would recommend to rock fans. Be sure to listen to ‘Over You’ and ‘Home’, two of my favourite tracks. ‘Chris Daughtry is a man. Daughtry - like Van Halen and Bon Jovi - is a band.’ A band that has proven that it is capable of making some pretty damn good music.

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The British singer with the towering, distinctive beehive hairdo brought home the biggest haul from the recent prestigious Grammy Awards 2008. She matched the record previously set by world-class artistes like Alicia Keys and Norah Jones by winning five Grammy Awards - Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album. She is now the only British singer to record as many as five awards in one night.

Amy Jade Winehouse was born in 1983 in London and established her career in the R&B and soul music industry. Her debut album named ‘Frank’ was released in 2003 in Britain and earned her rave reviews from peers and critics. ‘Frank’ was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize, the annual prize for the best music album in the United Kingdom. Her sophomore album brought about even more stellar results - six Grammy nominations and five wins, a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist and two Ivor Novello Awards.

‘Back To Black‘ is a delightful mix of soul, jazz and modern ‘pop-py’ R&B with, more often than not, dark lyrical content. It is an artistic blend of the evergreen ’60s retro and modern-day pop engineered to near perfection by Amy Winehouse and producer Mark Rhonson. Her album has drawn much comparison to Lily Allen and Macy Gray; however, Amy Winehouse’s sounds appear darker and more mature, as opposed to Lily Allen’s hip-hop and reggae-like style. Her smash single ‘Rehab’ is a cynical insight into her alcoholic and drug addiction and rehabilitation. ‘Rehab’, I feel, is actually representative of her transition from her debut to sophomore albums - from Frank’s jazzy blues ballads to Back To Black’s more commercial and preppy feel. Yet, Winehouse manages to retain that retro groove and vintage style.

She is endowed with a husky, mellow voice that manages to bring out fully that distinctive Amy-Winehouse-retro sound. Her powerful vocals create soulful ballads, transforming her own experiences into powerful heart-wrenching statements. Her album is also laden with playful and cheeky tracks like ‘Me And Mr Jones’ which is full of profanities. This obvious clash of old-school classy vintage retro and brash, modern pop is what appeals to me the most. She manages to incorporate both successfully, giving her modern songs that popular nostalgic theme.

Evidently, ‘Back To Black‘ is intended for mature audiences. Profanities aside, tracks deal with very mature themes. In ‘Just Friends’, she croons about trying to break off from an illicit relationship and part of it goes ‘…the guilt will kill you, if she don’t first…’ The soulful fusion of Mariah Carey-crooning, Alicia Keys-R&B and Aretha Franklin-retro will guarantee great songs. This album will definitely yank at your heartstrings with the borderline-seductive ‘Just Friends’ or the somber ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ coupled with Winehouse’s naturally-bleak vocals. This album was rated by her fellow artistes to be worthy of five Grammy Awards. This fact by itself already speaks volumes about the quality of her work.

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The name “Simple Plan” is almost synonymous with the punk rock genre of music. Formed almost a decade ago in 1999, Simple Plan has had major successes world wide. Releasing “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls” back in 2002 and then “Still not getting any…” in 2004. Both albums achieved double and single platinum in the United States respectively as well as quadruple platinum in Canada. Just recently (a week ago as a matter of fact), they released their 3rd studio album, simply titled “Simple Plan” (no pun intended).

However, the standard of this album falls far behind that of the other 2 albums in my opinion. The most popular song in this album, Your Love is a Lie, as well as I Can Wait Forever remind me of the boy bands of the 1990s (ala Backstreet Boys/Westlife), especially the chorus. Not to mention Take My Hand sounds like an oddly “cheerful” song (S Club 7?) and The End is practically indistinguishable from all the other punk rock songs (Yellowcard, Good Charlotte… take your pick) as do Generation and Time to Say Goodbye (both sound like Bowling for Soup, and the latter is just irritating me by repeating the song title over and over again in the song itself). Save You almost sounds like a boy band singing along to rock music in the background (ie. completely weird).

The only songs in the album which I can bring myself to remotely like are When I’m Gone, Holding On, No Love and What If (ironically the first song and the last 3 songs). Yet, even then, there isn’t anything completely unique about these songs that sets them apart from all the other punk rock songs out there, including Simple Plan’s own songs from previous albums. In my opinion, the music found in Simple Plan (I’m referring to the album here) simply hasn’t evolved much over the years.

In fact, I loved Simple Plan’s debut album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls and Still Not Getting Any… When it comes to the punk rock genre, I’ve always enjoyed their songs, unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing about this new self-titled album of theirs. Honestly, these type of songs were fresh when they first appeared a few years back in their earlier albums, but it’s time they injected something new into their songs. I don’t know what that secret ingredient is, all I know is that it’s missing from this album.

All in all, I expected better from a band of this standard and am pretty disappointed by this album (I’m not alone). Simple Plan’s plan for this album was perhaps a little too simple (pun intended this time).

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Marie who? I am willing to wager a good portion of my savings that majority of readers have not heard of Marié Digby. She’s a singer living in Los Angeles, California. What makes her stand out from the whole wave of pop singers is that she plies her trade in the online world, in communities such as MySpace and YouTube.

Marie Digby is a country/pop/soft rock singer who shot to stardom after she posted homemade videos of her singing on the popular video-sharing website YouTube. Singing acoustic versions of mainstream pop songs like Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ to the soulful ‘You Give Me Something’ by James Morrison to even rock tunes like ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park, she garnered near-overnight fame. Legions of fans and admirers left many favourable comments and encouragement and also brought about many hits on her MySpace page.

This highly-versatile singer could be seen playing instruments like the acoustic guitar as well as the piano, belting out beautiful cover versions of popular songs. By far, her most popular video was that of her strumming her guitar, singing a cover of ‘Umbrella’ (as attached). This YouTube video attracted 2.4 million views up till the end of 2007.

According to Marie, this was a desperate attempt on her own part to gain some much-needed publicity for her fledgling music career. The record label that she signed for in 2005, Hollywood Records, did not manage to provide her the visibility that she wanted. Fortunately her persistence paid off and shortly, Hollywood Records released a high-quality studio recording of ‘Umbrella’ onto iTunes and other online stores. She also was invited to perform live on ‘Last Call with Carson Daly’ in August 2007, and is now currently on tour, performing at various locations in the United States, much to the delight of her online fans.

A big break for her followed, when her ‘Umbrella’ was played on radio and subsequently featured in an episode of the MTV serial ‘The Hills’. Eventually, her songs were chosen to feature on popular serials like ‘Smallville’ and her self-composed single ‘Say It Again’ was released to American radio stations earlier this year.

The brand of soulful music that Marie Digby delivers can be easily identified with. The melodious crooning of her takes on modern pop songs are a refreshing sight and a joy to hear. It is a welcome and delightful change to the sleaze and glitzy glamour of MTV - it offers a very stripped down insight into a musician’s world. What really impressed me, aside from her excellent vocal ability, was that she was a perfect role model of a musician. She separated herself from the sensationalism and glam, using solely her songwriting and singing skills to impress. Her videos are in sharp contrast with typical MTV music videos. Visit Marie Digby’s MySpace page for snippets of all her songs, do leave a comment of appreciation for a commendable singer/songwriter who focuses on music more than the hype that it brings.

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When you’re talking about a legend in the media industry you’re talking stars that never fail to provide the headlines for many popular tabloid magazines, gossip websites and of course, global newspapers. But when you’re talking about legends in the music industry, that would be the fallen queen, Miss Britney Spears. Ever since she and childhood/long-time beau, Justin Timberlake went on with their decisions to go their separate ways, her life went on a downhill bringing down her multi-billion career down with it. It was obvious she didn’t take the break-up too well considering the hasty marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander which lasted less then 55 hours. Being one of the most biggest-selling female stars in music history, she has been trying to redefine her image from that of innocent teen idol to raunchy sex icon. Her fourth album, In the Zone which was released in November wasn’t well received by media critics but it did however, hit the top of the Billboard 200 album chart. It wasn’t surprising because the singer has sold more than 54 million albums around the world.

Blackout, is her fifth album in total and first album after she decided to take a long career break after her marriage to Kevin Federline of which she had two sons, Sean Preston (2005) & Jayden James (2006). Officially scheduled to be released in November 2007, the album released date was pushed up to October 2007 due to a number of leaked album tracks that were circulating the Internet rapidly. According to the company’s record label it was an attempt to stop song piracy and of course to ensure the success of the lead single. The current awards that the album has received to date are the Billboard Readers’ Choice Album of The Year and holding third place in the Album of The Year category in Virgin Media Music Awards 2007.

Critics have been rather harsh on the album after the disastrous performance at the Video Music Awards (VMAs) earlier on before her album release in 2007. Billboard stated “This is still pop, but the last bits of Spears’ song-and-dance girl veneer are cracking, along with the rest of her public persona.” Newsday titled its review “Save your money” and labeled the album “terrible”. Critic Jim Farber wrote that “If a blow-up sex doll could sing, this is what she’d sound like.” The New York Times panned it calling the album “The electronic beats and bass lines are as thick as Ms. Spears’s voice is thin, and as the album title suggests, the general mood is bracingly unapologetic.” There were many comments about the lack of solid quality vocal elements in the tracks in Blackout. Most critics also said that a majority of the tracks had an overwhelming overdo of studio vocal editing in her voice making her sound annoyingly robot like.

Despite being bombarded by slicing reviews, there have been rather positive says on the album. As reviewed by Digital Spy, “the most danceable, modern and thrilling album that Spears has ever made, the disc where she finally shakes off the last remnants of her Mickey Mouse Club image”. Rolling Stone also went on to give the album three and a half stars out of five and joked that Spears will “continue to crank the best pop booty jams until a social worker cuts off her supply of hits”. This album was ranked at number fifty by Rolling Stone in its annual publication of top 50 albums of 2007.

Personally, I thought that she could have done a lot better to make a real comeback to the music industry. This album spells party, club and dance. The beat of certain tracks are appealing to dance such as her hit single, “Gimme More” and the other one, “Piece of Me”. Basically 90% of the songs in there have playful hints on sexually contents like, “Get Naked (I’ve Got A Plan)”. You wouldn’t call this a very vocal album, thanks to all the background beats and overups, so don’t be too hopeful if you’re expecting something like her third or fourth album. Overall I think she’s trying too hard to be sexy and ends up sounding quite constipated in some tracks but if you’re a Spears kinda person, in for the bass and the beat, I’d say go for it.

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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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