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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Continues the entertaining absurdity of the first, sometimes delving too much into the vein of too absurd (but that's classic Colfer). Better antagonists than the first, but overall it retains nearly all of the initial charm, though still not quite up to par with the original series. Plenty of hilarious moments and a fast-paced diction that makes it easy to read, it nonetheless also has a few too many convenient happenstances and lightly explained lore that might have been better a tad more flushed out. Regardless, Colfer remains enjoyable and sticks to his well-established story formula.
This was a fun listen. I think i still prefer the previous series, this book I enjoyed a little bit more then book one. I also liked that this book expanded the world a bit. I also did like the adventure in this story, It went in a direction, I did not expect. It was a fun read, but def not a new favorite!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was fine. I don't think it was early as good as the original Artemis Fowl books though. The characters don't have the same level of depth and it felt kind of cliché. The narration and tone of the book was more interesting than the plot itself. The plot also felt kind of forced. For example, the main villain didn't even make an appearance. It was entertaining, but felt kind of uninspired.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have no idea why Colfer decided to force that phrase (deny all charges) throughout the book. Perhaps it has some significance, besides being the book's title, that I'm ignorant of, but as it stands, it just got shoved in randomly and stuck out awkwardly.
The ending was okay. Nothing to write home about, although it did set up one character to be a wild card Colfer can drag in at a later date whenever. Another character from the first book is set up as a Moriarty of a sorts, which might turn out okay for the series as a whole (re: not setting opal koboi as the power ceiling in the first series then crashing and burning because of it). So hopefully he's learned his lesson in that arena.
That book could've shed at least 40% of its published content and been fine, that's how much filler there was. He also had this annoying habit of summarizing right before a thing happened, then resummarizing shortly thereafter if not right after. He was going for funny and it just got annoying. The omniscient narrator jumping in everyone's head also felt like "I need to fill a word count" more than "I'm doing this for character development/story reasons" due to the extent of thoughts shown, and restated, and resaid again. Did I mention he repeats things a lot?
All in all, solid 3 out of 5. Maybe a 3.5 on a generous day, but nowhere near a mercy round up to 4. The serial cast wasn't really meaningfully expanded, unless the parents are going to be larger players and stick around. (Heaven help Colfer's characterization of them, though. They're supposed to be ex-criminal masterminds who've birthed tgree criminal masterminds of their own? And yet they're that pathetically incompetent? Please.) The boys have mostly established themselves, but while I understand the literary limitations for mixing Artemis with the twins I really hope he brings them together. The "Artemis is in space" excuse feels lazy at this point, and if we're three books down the road and Artemis is still up there, I'm gonna yeet something
The ending was okay. Nothing to write home about, although it did set up one character to be a wild card Colfer can drag in at a later date whenever. Another character from the first book is set up as a Moriarty of a sorts, which might turn out okay for the series as a whole (re: not setting opal koboi as the power ceiling in the first series then crashing and burning because of it). So hopefully he's learned his lesson in that arena.
That book could've shed at least 40% of its published content and been fine, that's how much filler there was. He also had this annoying habit of summarizing right before a thing happened, then resummarizing shortly thereafter if not right after. He was going for funny and it just got annoying. The omniscient narrator jumping in everyone's head also felt like "I need to fill a word count" more than "I'm doing this for character development/story reasons" due to the extent of thoughts shown, and restated, and resaid again. Did I mention he repeats things a lot?
All in all, solid 3 out of 5. Maybe a 3.5 on a generous day, but nowhere near a mercy round up to 4. The serial cast wasn't really meaningfully expanded, unless the parents are going to be larger players and stick around. (Heaven help Colfer's characterization of them, though. They're supposed to be ex-criminal masterminds who've birthed tgree criminal masterminds of their own? And yet they're that pathetically incompetent? Please.) The boys have mostly established themselves, but while I understand the literary limitations for mixing Artemis with the twins I really hope he brings them together. The "Artemis is in space" excuse feels lazy at this point, and if we're three books down the road and Artemis is still up there, I'm gonna yeet something