Artemis Fowl on five CDs
I've been raving about the library here, which puts the Rogers Park library to shame. It's huge, for one thing. The collection of children's books, adult fiction, art books (including trade paperback comics) and DVDs puts my old Chicago haunt to shame. The librarians are all nice, there are structured activities and unstructured activities for kids, you can check your due dates online, all great improvements.
It's one of those great libraries where there's odd staircases that lead to odd book filled places and it's kind of a little maze lined with shelves after shelves of books. It reminds me of the library at college, which always inspired me to imagine secret collegiate espionage agents on chases up and down the stairs, grabbing at collars through open spots on the shelves, and the heroes only catch up with the evil library infiltrators by throwing a book through the security gate just as the infiltrators are leaving, locking it and causing them to fall helplessly to the ground.
The final blow against Chicago's library is that it's also good looking on the outside, making the "award-winning facade" of Rogers Park seem a little flimsy.
The one area where it's lacking, however is books on CD. There's a sizable audio book section, but they're all books on tape. I was so disappointed with last week's offering that I gave up and sought out the children's audio book sections.
I picked Artemis Fowl because I've often heard it mentioned in the same breath as Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. And I can see that. All three prominently feature bespectacled adolescent boys. And all three have a chapter about trolls (except Lemony Snicket). But although I enjoyed the book, Artemis is clearly a distant third after Harry and
Klaus. He is easily the least likable and the least funny of the three, and his supporting cast of characters is not nearly as rich as either the world of the muggles or the world of the VFD.
I suppose it's unfair for me to compare this series against those two heavyweights, though. It's good on its own merits. I was pleasantly surprised to learn the Artemis, the eponymous adolescent kids are supposed to relate to, is the antagonist. He's the one doing all the mean things in the book, but he's still very interesting, and you find yourself torn between wanting him to win and wanting justice to prevail. He transcends the evil rich genius persona to be more of a tragic figure and less of a bond villain with a thing for leprechauns.
The heroes are also more ambiguous than most adult fiction likes to venture into. Me, I like that. Makes them more believable, easier to understand their motivations. Gives them someplace to go in the upcoming books. And oh yes, this book makes no qualms about setting up years upon years of sequels, several of which have apparently already come out. By the end of this book, you get mentions of various plot points of a few of them, and everyone is left in a position that could best be summed up as "ready to cross paths again for another rollicking adventure."
So I liked Artemis, I liked the pacing, and I really liked the narrator. Irish accents, Scottish accents, German accents, and even one of those adorable American accents by a British speaker who tries really hard but sounds kind of like if John Wayne was in the movie Fargo. I was a little let down by the supporting cast, the war cliches, and the big reveal at the end that explains why Artemis was so confident about his theft/kidnapping/boat-blowing-up plan all along. You know, the one about Santa Claus. Kind of lame.
Does it all balance out? Yes. It was a good "read". I'd try another Artemis Fowl book. Especially if the library's CD collection continues to favor kid's books over grownup books.
It's one of those great libraries where there's odd staircases that lead to odd book filled places and it's kind of a little maze lined with shelves after shelves of books. It reminds me of the library at college, which always inspired me to imagine secret collegiate espionage agents on chases up and down the stairs, grabbing at collars through open spots on the shelves, and the heroes only catch up with the evil library infiltrators by throwing a book through the security gate just as the infiltrators are leaving, locking it and causing them to fall helplessly to the ground.
The final blow against Chicago's library is that it's also good looking on the outside, making the "award-winning facade" of Rogers Park seem a little flimsy.
The one area where it's lacking, however is books on CD. There's a sizable audio book section, but they're all books on tape. I was so disappointed with last week's offering that I gave up and sought out the children's audio book sections.
I picked Artemis Fowl because I've often heard it mentioned in the same breath as Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. And I can see that. All three prominently feature bespectacled adolescent boys. And all three have a chapter about trolls (except Lemony Snicket). But although I enjoyed the book, Artemis is clearly a distant third after Harry and
Klaus. He is easily the least likable and the least funny of the three, and his supporting cast of characters is not nearly as rich as either the world of the muggles or the world of the VFD.
I suppose it's unfair for me to compare this series against those two heavyweights, though. It's good on its own merits. I was pleasantly surprised to learn the Artemis, the eponymous adolescent kids are supposed to relate to, is the antagonist. He's the one doing all the mean things in the book, but he's still very interesting, and you find yourself torn between wanting him to win and wanting justice to prevail. He transcends the evil rich genius persona to be more of a tragic figure and less of a bond villain with a thing for leprechauns.
The heroes are also more ambiguous than most adult fiction likes to venture into. Me, I like that. Makes them more believable, easier to understand their motivations. Gives them someplace to go in the upcoming books. And oh yes, this book makes no qualms about setting up years upon years of sequels, several of which have apparently already come out. By the end of this book, you get mentions of various plot points of a few of them, and everyone is left in a position that could best be summed up as "ready to cross paths again for another rollicking adventure."
So I liked Artemis, I liked the pacing, and I really liked the narrator. Irish accents, Scottish accents, German accents, and even one of those adorable American accents by a British speaker who tries really hard but sounds kind of like if John Wayne was in the movie Fargo. I was a little let down by the supporting cast, the war cliches, and the big reveal at the end that explains why Artemis was so confident about his theft/kidnapping/boat-blowing-up plan all along. You know, the one about Santa Claus. Kind of lame.
Does it all balance out? Yes. It was a good "read". I'd try another Artemis Fowl book. Especially if the library's CD collection continues to favor kid's books over grownup books.
