Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

Name: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
Author: Eoin Colfer
ISBN: 9780141325866

by Eoin Colfer

Ages 10–13 Reading age 11 Novel Set in somewhere magical adventurouswry

Artemis's father is being held in Russia, so he strikes a deal with the fairy police, who have a goblin uprising of their own.

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 2 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

In this second outing, Artemis's father is being held captive in Russia, and the young mastermind is forced into an uneasy alliance with the fairy police he robbed in the first book — just as a goblin uprising threatens both the human and the fairy worlds. Eoin Colfer keeps the pace ferocious and the gadgets flying, but the real pleasure of the sequel is watching Artemis shift from pure villain towards reluctant hero, working alongside Holly Short instead of against her. It is funnier and more assured than the first book, with a proper thriller plot and plenty of action-movie set pieces. The peril is comic-book in style, exciting rather than disturbing. For a nine- to twelve-year-old already hooked by the first Artemis Fowl, it is a satisfying step up; it assumes you have read the opener, so it is best met after that, and it keeps a bingeing reader firmly locked into the series.