Heitor Jos Jos itibaren 40320 Puyol-Cazalet, फ़्रांस
Historicals are not usually my thing but I'm a huge fan of Tinnean's free on-line fiction and am glad I picked this one up. I enjoyed this tale of 'Awful' (Ashton). His tentative romance with Geo and ultimately his triumph over his harsh upbringing were well written and engaging.
The Arctic Incident, the second book in the series, is where I really began to get in to the Artemis Fowl books. Artemis Fowl, our protagonist, begins the series as the young genius who as heir to a criminal empire is determined to defraud the elusive fairies of their gold in order to fund the search effort for his missing father. The first book details this adventure, and admittedly Artemis is not enormously sympathetic or likeable in it. However, it’s necessary as the first book sets up the entire series: it explains the hows and whys of Artemis discovering the existence of fairies, and it establishes the starting point of Artemis’ character. He begins the series as a somewhat unlikeable anti-hero, and over time transforms from anti-hero to hero. This book is the first step in that journey, and definitely more readable as a result; this time, the reader is free to root for Artemis as a likeable character, and instead of being at odds fairy magic and technology are now combined with Artemis’ genius to foil an ambitious plot in a truly rollicking adventure. This is why I recommend trying this sequel if you do read the first book and can’t quite get on board with it; with the world of this series now established, the plot is thicker, faster, and more exciting than ever, and the protagonists are now much more sympathetic. Everything that makes this a great series is in place here – a sophisticated plot and a breakneck speed adventure, combined with show don’t tell character development and dynamics between characters. As I recall, without giving away spoilers, my favourite bit back on first reading was (view spoiler) – and it still is. If that isn't exciting enough, I don't know what is. 8 out of 10