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Artemis FowlEoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl
by Eoin Colfer
A twelve-year-old criminal mastermind kidnaps a fairy officer for ransom, not realising the fairy police have technology centuries ahead of his.
A story about children and magical creatures, adventurous and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 10–13, and at a reading age of about 11 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Mild peril
- Battles and fighting
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Part of a series
This is book 1 of the Artemis Fowl series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
Artemis Fowl is a twelve-year-old criminal mastermind who sets out to restore his family's fortune by kidnapping a fairy and ransoming her for gold — except the fairies of this world are a high-tech armed police force, and Captain Holly Short is not the soft target he expected. Eoin Colfer's hook is irresistible: fairy lore rebuilt as a slick, gadget-heavy thriller, with a boy villain as the hero and a genuinely funny, action-packed plot. It reads like a heist film, fast and clever, and Artemis's cold brilliance slowly thaws over the series into something more sympathetic. There is peril and plenty of sci-fi weaponry, but the violence is comic-book rather than grim. For a nine- to twelve-year-old, especially one who likes their heroes morally complicated and their adventures crammed with tech and twists, it is a hugely entertaining series-opener, and a reliable hit with readers who think they don't like reading.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic IncidentEoin Colfer
Charmed LifeDiana Wynne Jones
The Neverending StoryMichael Ende
CoralineNeil Gaiman
Dragon RiderCornelia Funke
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan CrowJessica Townsend
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.