Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)

by Eoin Colfer

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

While I love the Artemis Fowl series, book two has never been one of my favorites. The second book in the series is all about getting Artemis's father back from the Russian mafia, with a much more entertaining subplot of a goblin rebellion underground. It's necessary in that it sets up much of the events of the rest of the series (with its directly to The Opal Deception and The Time Paradox, and that's just off the top of my head). However, Artemis really shines when he's plotting, and plotting is minimal in this one.

Fortunately, the faeries are excellent in this one. In particular, Mulch Diggums and Foaly shine as strong, individual personalities and they held my attention. You have to know that a series that went on as long as Artemis Fowl has some good content, so there's bound to be a book here or there that isn't shiny. For me, the series gets boring whenever Artemis is with his family. Thank goodness he spends more time with Butler and Holly.