Addicted to Artemis

I finally bought a copy of Artemis Fowl 4: The Opal Deception at Powerbooks yesterday with the original intention of bringing it with me to Mindanao to read. But my bad: I couldn't resist taking a peek at the first few pages—you know, just a little appetizer—and now I can't put it down.

For those not familiar, Artemis Fowl is like Harry Potter in some ways. The titles both refer to the names of the boy-heroes of the series; and it's about humans intermingling with supernatural creatures (wizards for Harry, fairies for Artemis). The only difference is while Harry is clearly the good guy through and through, Artemis is sort of an anti-hero (he's described as "a brilliant teenage criminal matermind") trying to deny that he has a good side. But thanks to the fairies, he actually finds himself saving the day from the real bad guys on a lot of occasions. Oh, and the fairies here aren't the squeaky Tinkerbell-y types of our bedtime stories; here, they're smart, sassy, and can kick ass.

The Opal Deception is definitely darker than the first three of the series--a major character gets killed early on and the villain is absolutely maniacal. Still, it's an enjoyable read. I got a headache reading it on the bus on the way home; I skipped watching Smallville last night to read it; I woke up extra early this morning to catch up on a few more chapters; and I even brought it with me to the office today so I can squeeze in some pages should I get writer's block (hey, any excuse will do).

At the rate I'm going, I'll finish reading it by today! But even if I do, I'll probably still bring it with me to Mindanao to read again. Yup, it's that good.