This was interesting...I have the second in the series, but I think I am going to wait to continue with Artemis Fowl. Still processing what I really think about book one. And I want to decode the symbols at the bottom of the pages.

Update:
So, a friend and I decoded the message on the pages along the bottom of the book. We were kind of let down that the message repeats itself halfway through. It was still fun, though.

Well, what a let down. The first book, while not a favorite, was pretty interesting. A friend and I decoded the message on the bottom, and I was really looking forward to reading the sequel. It took me FOREVER to get through this book. It is amazing that the two plot lines, which could have been interesting, actually lulled me to sleep while reading. I think the author tried to cram too much information into too short a story. The plots should have been seperated to be more fully developed if Colfer was aiming at a certain book length. OR, he should have kept them together and just made the book longer. Either way, the characters and story were underdeveloped and I was confused at times and unable to visualize what was happening.

Now I have a problem. Do I read the third book? I hate to quit a series, but I don't want to suffer through book 3 if it is anything like the second. Also, I am interested in what happens to Artemis' father. We'll see. Maybe some day down the road I will pick up the third book.

Well, it took forever (not because it was difficult or boring, but because I have been so busy lately that time for reading has been almost nonexistent). I am glad I made it through, and I wish I could have read it in larger sections. It was an interesting story - interesting enough to make me purchase the second book of the trilogy.

The premise was good - a carnival that has been operated by two evil men for over a century comes to town every few decades, always in October, and wreaks havoc. But, I couldn't get into the story. I don't know if it was the writing or the main characters - two young boys, whom I couldn't connect with and found annoying - or something else. I kept waiting for something big to happen and for something big to be revealed about the the father, but neither happened. Glad I borrowed, and not bought, this book.

This was a very well written, funny novel. The story revolves around Detective Jack Spratt - yes, he who could eat no fat - and a mix of human and fairy tale beings. Humpty Dumpty has been murdered and Spratt, who heads up the Nursery Crime Division, is on the case. There are clever plot twists, interesting and well-developed characters, and humor - all of which made this a delightful novel. I look forward to reading the already published second installation.