Someone’s been selling illegal fairy technology to goblins. The Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit (LEPrecon) suspects Artemis Fowl, a 13-year old criminal mastermind, who previously cost the fairies of the Lower Elements a half-ton of gold and the embarrassment of being outwitted by a human.
Goblins, fairies, LEPrecon and a teenage criminal mastermind?
For readers of the Artemis Fowl science-fantasy series, the combination of fantasy, near-future fairy technologies and thrills is par for the course.
ARTEMIS FOWL 2: THE ARCTIC INCIDENT picks up one year after Book One. Artemis is trying to rescue his kidnapped father from the Russian Mafia when Fairies Captain Holly Short, fungus-cigar-smoking Commander Julius Root, and the tech genius centaur Foaly of LEPrecon bring Artemis and his mountain-of-a-bodyguard, Butler, to the Lower Elements for questioning.
Artemis proves he has no involvement with the illegal weapons transfers and helps the fairies realize it’s likely one of their own is behind the illegal technology transfers and may be inciting the barely-intelligent goblins to riot.
Artemis cuts a deal – he’ll help the fairies find the traitor if they help him rescue his father.
THE ARCTIC INCIDENT splits the action between Ireland, Paris, Los Angeles, the Lower Elements, and the Russian Arctic. At the start of the novel, there is a great deal of suspicion and animosity between fairies and humans, but the need to cooperate allows the characters to develop trust and admiration for each other along the way.
Like Book 1, THE ARCTIC INCIDENT is a page-tuner. The action is as fast-paced as a thriller of the Mission Impossible type. Along the way we see fairy technologies that are decades ahead of their human equivalents (example, the Pressure Elevators, the massive natural shafts that fairy shuttles ride to quickly get around the earth), get to know the human and fairy characters (the hilarious Mulch Diggums and the evil Opal Koboi), and enjoy a great deal of humor.
For me, THE ARCTIC INCIDENT is the best of the Artemis series. When I started to read Artemis, it was the first I read. But on re-reading, I realized how tightly plotted and well-written it is.
Highly recommended.
