Critical Reception
In general, the book received a very positive critical response – in 2004 it received the Young Reader's Choice Award and Garden State Teen Book Award, among other awards.
The New York Post said "Artemis Fowl is great ... a new thriller fairy tale that will grab your interest, no matter your age." and the Library Journal said "Fun to read, full of action and humour, this is recommended for all public libraries and to readers of all ages." Time.com said, "Artemis Fowl is pacy, playful, and very funny, an inventive mix of myth and modernity, magic and crime," while The New York Times Book Review said that "Colfer has done enormously, explosively well."
Kate Kellaway of The Observer called the book "a smart, amusing one-off. It flashes with hi-tech invention – as if Colfer were as much an inspired boffin as a writer."
The Amazon.com official review highly complimented the book, saying "Fantastic stuff from beginning to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st century romp of the highest order." and the book was also generally well received by the public, with an average score of 4/5 from Amazon users.
However, another Time Magazine review criticized the "abysmal" writing and the characterization, calling Artemis "repellent in almost every regard." It concluded that Artemis Fowl is "an awkward, calculated, humorless and mean-spirited book."
USA Today's review concluded: "All the familiar action-flick clichés are trotted out: the backstabbing, politically astute subordinate; the seemingly loony but loyal computer expert; the dabs of family loyalty; the requisite happy ending; the utterly unsubtle plugs for the sequel; the big action scenes. ... Resist the hype, parents, booksellers and librarians. This is not the new Harry Potter, nor is it a good children's book."
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