Title: Artemis Fowl : The Arctic Incident
Author: Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl was a brilliant anti-hero in the time of Harry Potter. Where Harry Potter was as properly British and as Enid Blytonish as they come, Artemis worked in a completely different magical world. No muggles here, just Irish. Eoin Colfer has created the Lower Elements with fairies, leprechauns, goblins, sprites(typically Irish in origin!), and even a brilliantly techie centaur – but there’s no trace of innocence here. They all belong to this day and age – and they combat evil of the normal kind in the era of terrorism.
The Arctic Incident, the second book featuring Artemis Fowl, the thirteen-year-old with a high IQ with obviously criminal leanings, seeks to redeem the hero from his anti-hero mould. Lest I give away the plot here, let me say that Artemis Fowl, the first book, was exciting and imaginative and very, very sci fi. With a missing father who was the head of a vast criminal empire, Artemis Junior is cast in the same mould – and creates an empire of his own. The first book was no more than a fight between the humans who live above the Earth and the magical beings of the Lower Elements, with Artemis none the worse for it. There was the promise of a book to come.
Now, The Arctic Incident is a just sequel. It is almost as if Eoin Colfer is attempting to save our child hero from a lifetime of villainy and evil. Artemis and the Lower Elements Police(LEP) Reconnaissance squad join hands and as does Captain Holly Short of the LEP, we find that Artemis does have his redeeming points after all. Artemis’ father is discovered in the hands of the Russian Mafiya, after the vessel he was traveling on, Fowl Star, sank in the Bay of Kola. The Lower Elements are being attacked by an unseen force and need Artemis’ help to bail them out. Who wins? It is a racy thriller and not a children’s book certainly. But older teenagers will find it contemporary and eminently readable.
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