Rings Tropical and you
In all my life, I have read hundreds of books, and few were so enjoyable as this book, Artemis Fowl.
The book is set in our current time and begins with a 12-year-old genius finding a fantastical creature, green and slimy and in pain from alcoholism, and forces it to give him a copy of The Book–the Fairy’s Bible in essence. From here it goes into an exciting, dangerous, and twisty story full of surprises and characters you wouldn’t expect.
The novelty of this book is the fact that it has an entirely new take on fairies. It doesn’t show them as cute little creatures who sprinkle pink sparkly dust all over you. These fairies are heavily-armed, high technology, and completely human-like. They have very human qualities that makes them appealing, but they have (obviously) many things about them that are inherently fairy. They have familiar fairy qualities, but yet Colfer was able to add other elements to the fairies that we’ve never seen before. One of the most unique was the reinvention of the dwarf. Dwarfs have been transformed into tunnelers who consume the dirt and digest it in seconds to tunnel through the ground and cover up their tracks. It seems disgusting when you first read it, but it comes in handy later in the book and in the series.
The fairy technology is one of my favorite parts of the book. Such intricate ideas and designs–truly ingenious. There are too many to list them all, but probably the most dangerous is the Bio-Bomb, or “blue rinse.” It destroys all life in its proximity, yet leaves all other structures intact. This is one of dozens of inventions Colfer’s devious mind has created.
The writing was excellent, and although it was cheesy at some points, there are some witty elements that are going to make you laugh.
A great book all in all. I would call it “required reading!”
If you liked this book, you also might want to try:
Double Life by Dawson Vosburg
The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer (Sequel to Artemis Fowl)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff
Rings Tropical