Artemis Fowl Read-Along

[Battery]

UPDATE September 9, 2020: We have finished The Eternity Code, and have moved on to The Opal Deception! All information about current readings in this post now reflects our TOD read-along. If you'd like to jump straight to our discussion of TOD, you can find the first post here.

If you want to read our discussion about The Eternity Code, you can find the first post here.

If you want to read our discussion about The Arctic Incident, you can find the first post here.


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For those of you who aren't already aware, a few of us have decided that since we're stuck at home for a while, it would be fun to read Artemis Fowl together! Here's a quick overview:



Which book are we reading? Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

How fast are we reading? Here's the current schedule! Please let us know if you'd like an extra week to catch up at any point, we'll all be happy to wait for you

Week 1 (September 14 - 20): Prologue, chapter 1, chapter 2: 51 pages
Week 2 (September 21 - 27): chapter 3: 39 pages
Week 3 (September 28 - October 4): chapter 4: 28 pages
Week 4 (October 5 - 11): chapter 5, chapter 6: 50 pages
Week 5 (October 12 - 18): chapter 7: 59 pages
Week 6 (October 19 - 25): chapter 8, chapter 9: 34 pages
Week 7 (October 26 - November 1): chapter 10: 62 pages
Week 8 (November 2 - 8 ): chapter 11, epilogue: 19 pages

Discussions about what we've read each week will "officially" be on the weekends, but don't worry about dropping in or out whenever you like or whenever time allows

What if I don't have a copy? See if your local library will let you borrow an e-book or audiobook copy online!

Can I still participate even if I'm not reading along/caught up? Absolutely!


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Go ahead and drop any questions/comments/suggestions here, or feel free to just say hey if you're planning on participating Can't wait to read with you guys!


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This week's reading (October 12 - 18): The Opal Deception - chapter 7 (59 pages)

Please let us know if you'd like us to wait for you to catch up!

[Cabaline]

So far I've done the Prologue and Chapter 1. I've been writing stuff down as I think it so far, ready for the discussion at the weekend!

Re-reading it is bringing back so many memories and making me smile! This is gonna be great

[Battery]

I just now finished with this week's section, it's so nice to read all of this again

My biggest takeaway from the first few chapters was how well Artemis is written as a protagonist. In the first chapter, he's pretty patently awful - and then we get to see that flash of vulnerability in chapter 2 with his mother, and it's just enough to show that there's some good in there somewhere before we go back to cold, hard "They would be ants beneath his feet" Arty. I'd almost forgotten how much I love him as a character

[Iris]

I completely agree! And the sheer amount of action, suspense and twists that are packed in only two chapters. It's such a small portion of the book, but it immediately makes you want to read the rest.

[Cabaline]

When reading this I actually saw more bits of good in Arty than I did the first couple of times. These were my thoughts that I jotted down as I was reading:

• So it is an answer to an online ad (hello craigslist) that gives them the tip. But Bulter vouches for the integrity of the guy. Which means Butler either knew him already, or Arty had Bulter watch the man to discover his integrity. Either way, there is more effort going into this than appears on the surface.
• That childlike excitement that we see more than once, reminding us that though he is mature and learned, he still just has a child's brain.
• A boy playing on a GameBoy! That dates it!
• "Cripples and beggars huddled on rice-mat islands." I love this metaphor because it is a subtle way of emphasising how different they are to Butler and Arty. These poor people are like islands, they are far out and isolated with no one wanting to endure the journey it would take to visit the island.
• Despite everything, the fact that he had confirmation of a new species and had the thing he wanted most in the material world, he chose to check in on his mother before anything else. Showing underneath it all that he is emotional and loving! But it is easy for a child, especially 12 years old to learn how to hold that inside and never show it, when your own mother rejects you on a daily basis (even unknowingly). It all has a psychological effect! I imagine that at first he really struggle to emotionally process it until he learned to lock it in a box rather than become like his mother.
• Lucky that the poem of the people rhymes in English, you'd think that would be a million to one shot considering it was written in another language.
• He shut down the CNN computer because now, for the first time, he is sure that he can provide for the family in the way his father did. It wasn't a cold choice, he had already grieved, but CNN was his safety net, now he is realising that he doesn't need his safety net because he has a workable plan. This is a moment of confidence, rather than greed.

What do you all think?

[Battery]

I completely agree! And the sheer amount of action, suspense and twists that are packed in only two chapters. It's such a small portion of the book, but it immediately makes you want to read the rest.

Yes!! Agreed, it was so hard to put down and not forge right into the next chapter right away And everything flows so well, it's easy to just read 20 pages and barely realize it

A boy playing on a GameBoy! That dates it!

Haha, it sure does! The section about Butler emailing the photos to Fowl Manor also reads like it's such an impressive, highly-advanced feat to send a picture from your phone to your computer. 2001 :')

Lucky that the poem of the people rhymes in English, you'd think that would be a million to one shot considering it was written in another language.

I thought this as well! Come to think of it, Iris, you were saying you'd read most of the books in Dutch, the other day. Does the poem translate pretty much the same way?

Also, Gnommish sounds like a pain to read. Whichever fairy came up with the spiral reading style must have had a real dramatic streak

But it is easy for a child, especially 12 years old to learn how to hold that inside and never show it, when your own mother rejects you on a daily basis (even unknowingly). It all has a psychological effect! I imagine that at first he really struggle to emotionally process it until he learned to lock it in a box rather than become like his mother.

This is really interesting, and I wonder how much of it bleeds into the rest of the story. I don't remember a lot with regards to Artemis and Angeline, or how it might have affected how he acts in other situations - that'll be something interesting to watch this time around

Also, taking notes is a great idea! I'm going to try that this week

[Cabaline]

A boy playing on a GameBoy! That dates it!

Haha, it sure does! The section about Butler emailing the photos to Fowl Manor also reads like it's such an impressive, highly-advanced feat to send a picture from your phone to your computer. 2001 :')

Hahah, yeah, the way it talks about fancy servers and Macintosh computers. And the fact that Butler had to take out a separate digital camera. If this was set in 2020, Artemis would have a bot that trawls the internet for images that have a match for someone with green skin. The one we meet would have been flagged in a TikTok, in the background of some kids doing a dance challenge, and Arty would have got the location from a geotag. Butler would have taken the picture of the book on a modified prototype Samsung S30+ that he got from a contact, and it instantly would have synced with 5 different devices and be on 3 different cloud services.

Also, taking notes is a great idea! I'm going to try that this week

I barely ever need an excuse to take notes on something. I used to do it when I watched Game of Thrones, and I would watch each episode twice (or at least I would before it became a chore to watch through it even once).

[Percy Jackson(sorry)]

Cabaline wrote
A boy playing on a Gameboy! That dates it!

Haha! Except I still use a Gameboy. Technically it's a Gameboy Advance, but it's still my only source of gaming. That makes me feel dated. I' not even old, just really behind the times.
Eh? What's that? Dagnabbit! You youngsters are always typing too fast!

[artymon I\/]

^One letter at a time, bahaha. I have a co-worker who's taken back up with his Gameboy.....

Whew, I'm going to need to take notes as well! Love all the points I've read so far. Especially for the CNN metaphor!

Definitely is amusing to see how far we've come technologically since then, but kudos to Artemis for being forward thinking.

Certainly interesting to consider with the Butler/Nguyen observation. I wouldn't think Butler would vouch so readily for someone he didn't personally know.
"Nguyen is a good man."
It's not much of a vouch, sure. But it's not something I'd expect Butler to say, unless perhaps he did subtly stake the guy out, which is what I'm leaning towards as it seems Nguyen had initially hoped to spy on Artemis and Butler with his infamous waiter disguise.

My question: Book 3 establishes Foaly has a system set up that monitors Fairy buzzwords (the People, LEP, magic, etc). Did he not have a system in place yet to trawl the internet for words of that nature as well? Was it not until after the Artemis Fowl Affair he began to implement such a system?

Also, Gnommish sounds like a pain to read. Whichever fairy came up with the spiral reading style must have had a real dramatic streak

I do believe Holly or one of the others eventually points this out xD

So this next week we're on 3, 4, and 5?

[Cabaline]

Yup 3, 4 and 5!
I cannot wait to see what I rediscover

[Battery]

Me neither! This is a lot of fun

Also, just so it's said: as long as we've covered a section already, it's fair game to talk about in this thread whenever Just because we're moving on to reading the new chapters doesn't mean we have to be done with the previous ones

If this was set in 2020, Artemis would have a bot that trawls the internet for images that have a match for someone with green skin. The one we meet would have been flagged in a TikTok, in the background of some kids doing a dance challenge, and Arty would have got the location from a geotag. Butler would have taken the picture of the book on a modified prototype Samsung S30+ that he got from a contact, and it instantly would have synced with 5 different devices and be on 3 different cloud services.

Nothing since the release of TLG has made me want to write an AF fic more than this Another thing that's going to be interesting if we get past book 1 (since I don't remember very much about the later books) is to see whether/how scenes where real-world technology is involved reflect all the advancements that were actually happening at the time.

[Cabaline]

Also, just so it's said: as long as we've covered a section already, it's fair game to talk about in this thread whenever Just because we're moving on to reading the new chapters doesn't mean we have to be done with the previous ones

Yes, feel free to dip in and out at any time if you like, and catch up in here whenever

If this was set in 2020, Artemis would have a bot that trawls the internet for images that have a match for someone with green skin. The one we meet would have been flagged in a TikTok, in the background of some kids doing a dance challenge, and Arty would have got the location from a geotag. Butler would have taken the picture of the book on a modified prototype Samsung S30+ that he got from a contact, and it instantly would have synced with 5 different devices and be on 3 different cloud services.

Nothing since the release of TLG has made me want to write an AF fic more than this Another thing that's going to be interesting if we get past book 1 (since I don't remember very much about the later books) is to see whether/how scenes where real-world technology is involved reflect all the advancements that were actually happening at the time.

Hahaha Yeah I am looking forward to seeing just how things have changed, especially since I am way way way more tech savvy than I was when I read them for the first time

[Iris]

You guys are so diligent with your note-taking and analysis xD I should have taken notes too.

On the other hand, I like how this book still just makes me go 'yeah good story' even as an adult.

[Battery]

Hey folks, if anyone is still in need of the book, the Internet Archive has a few copies of Artemis Fowl you can borrow! You'll need to make an account on their site to access them, but then you can basically use it like a library I'd probably still advocate for trying your local library first, as they could probably use the support, but it's another option!

[Iris]

^I'm very pleased with that option, thanks!