Sean Randall reviewed Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
Review of 'Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
"The boy who kidnapped Holly Short all those years ago would never have entertained the notion of..."
And of course, I'm not going to say what that is, as it'd spoil everything!
What can I say about this book? It was enjoyable, bringing back memories of my first Artemis experience and showing me just why I fell in love with the humour, the world, the plans and schemes and everything about the series.
"their only light was from a mobile phone taped to Butler's forehead."
It's always been something of a Colfer special, tricky situations with very little technology on the side of the heroes when they actually need it to work. I liked it in this one, and also particularly enjoyed the neatly foreshadowed dwarf troll angle.
"They were down to two bullets in a gun that Holly could barely lift and Artemis couldn't hit a barn door with, …
"The boy who kidnapped Holly Short all those years ago would never have entertained the notion of..."
And of course, I'm not going to say what that is, as it'd spoil everything!
What can I say about this book? It was enjoyable, bringing back memories of my first Artemis experience and showing me just why I fell in love with the humour, the world, the plans and schemes and everything about the series.
"their only light was from a mobile phone taped to Butler's forehead."
It's always been something of a Colfer special, tricky situations with very little technology on the side of the heroes when they actually need it to work. I liked it in this one, and also particularly enjoyed the neatly foreshadowed dwarf troll angle.
"They were down to two bullets in a gun that Holly could barely lift and Artemis couldn't hit a barn door with, in spite of the fact there was one close by."
Per usual, much is made of poor Artemis inability to perform the simplest of graceful movements, although unlike in the Arctic Incident, they're glossed over rather than impacted in detail. Adding to the downsides, I think the theme of having a book's major threat suddenly just appear for that novel is a little overdone. It's all placed within the context of history, of course: perhaps attention on Rowling is rubbing off; she can mention something in one book which turns out key to another. Here, things are more tight, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is different. I also couldn't help notice that Artemis audience hasn't changed, either. Some series take their teens to adulthood with them, which changes the tone of the works.
"Artemis did not feel like getting to the bottom of Mulch's mystery, as the bottom of Mulch's mysteries was generally in the vicinity of Mulch's mysterious bottom."
The fun was all there this time and we can forgive the slight ennui of having familiar faces appear inexplicably because that's just part of Artemis. The story was engaging, if a tad predictable (I mean really: Opal? No kidding!) but character development really shines through. The series had to end somewhere, and I think Colfer's done it in a most suitable and worthy way. I don't mean to compare with Rowling, honestly - but Deathly Hallows was a movie script in paperback. This, this was so much more. It was an Artemis, it had the people and the places, the technology and the message (environmental, technological, emotional, they've all got them). It had Chapter 14, which was one of my all-time favourites of the series!
And that's it for Artemis, and another series, present for over a decade of my life, draws to an end. It's been great, and although I wasn't on a super high after reading it, the final sentence gave the whole series that perfect final touch. A very fond farewell from me.