Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident
Review by Elvira Atsuko
by Eoin Colfer
This is the second book in the 'Artemis Fowl' series, and it completely lives up to the reputation of the first. In this book, Artemis receives a ransom e-mail from the Russian mafia who are holding his father hostage. His father went missing two years previously in Russia, and nearly everyone except Artemis believed him dead, which is what he will be unless Artemis can pull of an ingenious rescue attempt in the freezing reaches of Russia.
This is not the only drama unfolding in this book. Underground, in Haven City, the capital of the fairy realm, the Goblins, a usually very stupid breed, are organising and rebelling in a decidedly clever way. They’re also getting their hands on human products such as batteries. Holly, Artemis' unfortunate kidnap victim from the first book, believes Artemis to be at fault, and hauls him down to Haven for interrogation. When it's proven that Artemis is actually innocent for once, Holly's commander, Julius Root, and Artemis make a deal; Artemis will help with the Goblins if Julius and Holly help with his father's rescue.
A perfect continuation of the first book, this book has everything the first did (I would say 'and more', but there really wasn't anything that could make that book better). The characters are reintroduced and sent on another adventure, put in new and terrifying situations and forced to look deeper at their own psychology.
About the only thing I find lacking in this book, is the fact we see very little of Artemis' evil plotting. There's plenty of evil plotting from other characters, and plenty of plotting from Artemis, but I found I missed the genuine criminality of the Artemis from the first book. He is by no means a 'changed man', but he is far too preoccupied with saving his dad than evil plots, which is understandable, as he's only twelve. Still, I missed it, though that is not to say that it made this book any less intriguing than the last, and was completely hooked from beginning to end.
Star Rating: *****
Out of Ten: 10/10
