Mitchell’s Letter Essay #7 – Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex

April 7

Dear Blog,

I recently finished reading Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, by Eoin Colfer. It is a 357 page fantasy book.  Colfer was born in Wexford, Ireland. Both his mother and father were writers. His father wrote about history, while his mother wrote plays and poetry. He is now 51 years old. I read this book because it is the seventh in the series, which is the second to last book in the series.

The book starts off on a glacier in Iceland, and Artemis Fowl, a former criminal mastermind, plans to save the world. He plans to put nano wafers on the glacier to prevent global warming. He does this with his ice cube, which is a cannon. He unveils it to Captain Holly Short, Foaly, and Commander Vinyaya. They are all friends of Artemis and are fairies. Holly and Foaly notice Artemis counting his words, and conclude that he has Atlantis Complex, a psychological fairy disease with symptoms including paranoia, OCD, and dissociative identity disorder. They are then attacked by a mysterious space shuttle, and it crashes down. Commander Vinyaya and all backup instantly die in the explosion, leaving Artemis, Holly, and Foaly stranded on the glacier with no weapons or communications. Sadly, Artemis has a mental breakdown because of the Atlantis Complex. Meanwhile, Artemis’ bodyguard, Butler, is in Cancun, Mexico, because Artemis told him his sister, Juliet, who is now a wrestler, was in danger. Butler and Juliet escape a zombie-like crowd of wrestling fans who were mesmerized. Then Turnball Root, the main antagonist, hires a gang of dwarves (more fairies) to kill Juliet and Butler. Mulch Diggums, a dwarf who is also a friend, saves them from Turnball. The three of them ultimately save Artemis, Holly, and Foaly. Then they get captured by Root and he puts a curse on Holly and Artemis, enslaving them. I will stop there.

I was very surprised when Holly, Artemis, and Foaly got stranded on the glacier. It surprised me because they have never been in this situation before. There have been times where there seems to be no hope, but in those times they did have options. Now they had literally no options, but to wait for something to happen.

I didn’t agree with Commander Vinyaya dying in the start of the book. I forgot to mention Commander Vinyaya is also the warden at the prison at Atlantis. Root was at the prison and escaped with his gang because of Vinyaya’s death. I just didn’t think it was right.

I would compare these two authors together: Eoin Colfer and Holly Black. Colfer made Artemis Fowl, and eight books with fairy magic. Black made The Iron Trial, and two other books about a different kind of magic. The magic in Artemis Fowl only comes from the fairy people, while the magic in The Iron Trial only come from humans with magical parents, or from birth.

This quote comes from the middle of the book. It is when Mulch comes and saves Artemis from their doom on the glacier. Now they all have to track down Root, and Holly does a scan of where Root is. “Quickly, Holly,” said Artemis urgently. “Follow those bubbles.” Holly opened the throttle. “Now there’s an order I never thought I’d hear from you. (Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, page 241).” I liked this quote because, one, it was obviously a joke. I also liked it because for Artemis being a genius, I was sort of not expecting this. He usually thinks of a smarter choice, not just the clear choice.

Overall, I liked this book more than the other books in the series. I mainly liked it because it had a badass and clever ending. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Worthington

 

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3 thoughts on “Mitchell’s Letter Essay #7 – Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex

  1. Mitch,

    I liked your essay a lot! I especially liked how you described the fans as zombie like. My only suggestion is that maybe you should tell us more about Vinyaya. Why was it so disappointing when they died?

    Sincerely,
    Josh

  2. Dear Mitchell,
    Great letter essay! I really enjoyed reading it. I am very thankful you did not give away the ending of the book. This will help ensure people will want to read the story. One thing I suggest is to tell the reader more about Vinyaya. How did she die? Was it significant? Other than that, great letter essay.
    Sincerely,
    Max B

  3. Mitch,

    Your essay is VERY descriptive. It really made me want to read the actual book. Considering I am such a huge geek and I love fantasy books (that include dwarves, hobbits, Elves, ETC) I think I will check out the series!

    Данила Рыбчинский

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