還記得之前提過的奇幻小說常見老梗嗎？住在森林裡的精靈跟人馬，地底的矮人堡壘什麼的，反正奇幻小說都是那種老樣子吧？
但是假如他們住在現代都市呢？假如他們不是用刀劍弓箭而是很高科技的工具呢？
在Artemis Fowl這本書中，這些奇幻種族都生活在地底下的都市中，盡量隱藏自己不被地表上的人類發現。他們的科技水平遠超我們，一些我們夢想擁有的科技對他們是等閒事。不過魔法依然是存在的，只是功能遠沒有大家印象中那麼多就是了
至於Artemis Fowl本人嘛？這傢伙是個天才罪犯，善於以周詳的計劃確保自己的目標能夠達成，也是個為了成功可以不擇手段的那種人。雖然他聰明絕頂但是同時以冷酷無情見稱，加上作為有錢人家的身份，除了身邊的家人跟僕人能夠稱為朋友的少之又少。
喔對了，Artemis只有12歲。
Artemis的父親在三年前離奇失蹤之後，不但家族的事業一直走下坡，Artemis的媽媽還因為傷心過度而失去理智。為了解決家族的難題，Artemis決定做一件史無前例就是狂的事：勒索精靈族。
經過一番資料搜集，Artemis深信精靈族是存在的，只是沒被發現而已。從一位藏在胡志明市的精靈拿到精靈族的聖典之後，他開始找機會綁架一位精靈然後向精靈們勒索贖金，結果找上了一位精靈族警察：Holly Short。從此之後，Artemis和他的家族跟精靈族們結下了淵源…
這個系列的特別之處除了打破一般人對奇幻小說的刻版印象，把奇幻種族帶到現代（還有點科幻小說影子）之外，還有帶點黑色幽默的文筆跟緊湊刺激的劇情。看這本書就像進戲院看荷里活動作片…只是剛好有精靈族的出現而已。
主角Artemis跟一般的兒童文學主角不同，雖然他的目標（醫治媽媽）算是挺正當的，但是不論是他的性格還是他為了實現目標而幹過的事，都能看出Artemis不是什麼好人（頂多只能稱為反英雄吧？）但是同時間你又很難因此而討厭他。跟很多正氣的主角相比，這樣的設定還挺特別的呢～
不過隨著跟精靈族的關係愈來愈緊密，Artemis的性格也會有所成長，雖然依然說不上是很正直的人，但至少也沒有以前那麼過份。邊看著劇情發展邊留意他的改變，也是看這個系列的樂趣之一
當然，別忘了這傢伙是個罪犯，所以無論你覺得他的表現有多帥，好孩子真的不要學喔
Remember what I last said about classic fantasy story tropes? Stuff like elves and centaurs living in magical forests, dwarves building mountain fortresses, the works? What else would you expect?
What if I told you that they lived in modern cities, just like us? What if they ditched the swords and sorcery of old and embraced technology?
In the world of Artemis Fowl, fairies were very much a thing, except they lived in modern cities deep underground, taking care not to catch attention from the humans on the surface. Their technology far surpassed ours, to the point that technology we dreamed up in science fiction were a walk in a park to them. While magic indeed existed, its abilities were a lot more limited than what you’d expect.
As for Artemis Fowl himself? He’s a genius and a criminal mastermind, with a knack of making detailed plans to ensure his success. Being a very pragmatic person, he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even if it meant using less than legal means. However, despite his intellect, Artemis was known to be a rather ruthless person. As a result, he barely had any friends outside his family and servants, and the fact that he was born with a silver spoon certaibly didn’t help things.
Oh, and did I mention that Artemis was 12 years old?
Things weren’t going too well for Artemis ever since the mysterious disappearance of his father 3 years ago. Not only did the family fortune suffer a hit, but his grieving mother was slowly losing her mind as well. To solve his family problems and return the Fowls to their former glory, Artemis decided to do the unthinkable: Steal from the fairies.
After extensive research, Artemis was more than convinced that fairies do exist, except hidden from the humans. A trip to Ho Chi Mingh city nailed him a copy of the fairies’ holy book from a fairy living in disguise, and he began to formulate his plan to kidnap a fairy. The moment he captured police officer Holly Short was the beginning of a long history between the Fowls and the fairies…
The most intriguing thing about this series isn’t just about how it defies what you’d usually expect from fantasy novels, but also both the action-packed plot and the author’s darkly humorous writing style. Reading this series is like watching a Hollywood action film…except with fairies.
Artemis is also much different from your typical children book protagonist. Although he has good intentions (healing his mother), his personality and actions prove that Artemis is not exactly a good person (at most he’s an antihero). However despite all that, you’d find it pretty hard to hate him. I’d say this makes him stand out from the many noble characters from other books
Still, as he gets tangled up with the fairies more and more, Artemis gets to recieve character development. Sure he’s not quite reformed just yet, but at least he’s no longer as terrible as he used to be. It’s actually pretty fun to trace his character growth throughout the series too
A word of warning though! No matter how cool he sounds, Artemis is still very much a criminal. So kids, don’t try this at home.
Quill's Book Corner 