Translated from: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident; 360 pages; September 2006; Gramedia Pustaka Utama
I think it has been a year since I read the first book of this series: Artemis Fowl, but I still remember that it was a nice treat. Cause you must’ve had read a lot of fantasy books that offered you adventures with the elves, dwarfs, trolls, pixies or any other magical creatures nowadays—the result of the after Harry Potter effect. Artemis Fowl gave you a sort of Richie Rich met Eragon with a splash of Beverly Hills’ Cop. In more humanly language: an adventure of a rich and genius boy with fairies who instead of behaving in a fairy-like manner, they come with the attitudes like human cops in a police story, complete with fairy’s version of bad cop-good cop. Interesting, right? RIGHT-O.
If you thought the first book was fun, you would’ve loved the second one. I know I did. On this story, instead of fighting against the People and any other Lower Elements’ officers, Artemis had got himself into a situation where he had to work with them, more specifically with his past nemesis, Captain Holly the elf.
Artemis was on his routine life, making criminal genius plans and giving headaches to his educators in Saint Bartleby’s School, when a video mail came. In it: a ransom demand for a man—a victim of a ship wrecked in Arctic, North Pole. The abductors claimed that this man was Artemis’ father, Fowl Senior, who had been listed by any governments as already deceased. Artemis and his trustworthy and deadly bodyguard, Butler, quickly made traveling plans, knowing that they didn’t have the time to stay put and think. They would have to figure out the rescue plans along the way.
At the same time, Haven City and its Lower Elements Police (LEP) were on a panic because they just discovered that B’wa Kell, goblins’ notorious triad, had been smuggling Class A goodies: human batteries for powering old soft-nose lasers. These weapons were already declared illegal decades ago and were supposed to be on LEP’s recycle list. But the goblins didn’t have the brain to think all of this alone; there isn’t even enough electricity in their brain to light a 10-watt bulb. So who’s behind it? One name stood up in Captain Holly’s mind: the kid that had robbed them the elves’ gold, Artemis Fowl himself.
Holly had to swallow her pride when she accepted that Artemis was not the brain in all this commotion. The kid was busy with his own concerns. Skillfully, the thirteen years old boy flipped the situation to his advantages. He would helped the People unraveled the elf behind the smuggling and the potential plan behind it—after all they need his and Butler’s expertise to move around the upper ground—if they help him rescue Fowl Senior. The plan was simple enough but complications aroused: a coup d’état by the Council’s ex-golden boy seeking sweet sweet revenge, and sabotages to the elves’ technologies that had leaved our heroes vulnerable to goblins’ attacks.
What I love so much about Eoin Colfer was his sense of humor. He really could make characters that are loveable with their own traits. My favorite was of course the head of LEP, Commander Root, who was “lovingly” nicknamed Beetroot by his officers, due to the likeness of his face with this certain vegetable when he’s steamed. And then there was Foaly, a centaur who was the LEP’s tech genius with a horse sized ego. I was very glad that these two characters got more parts in this book. Couldn’t stop giggling cause of their witty dialogues.
Bottom line, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident promised and delivered tons of fun actions. Therefore, you certainly will see me sitting nicely, waiting devotedly for the translation of the third.
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