And there is a kleptomaniac dwarf who is capable of passing gas with the intensity of a cyclone and most of them, except the trolls, are about three feet tall. These creatures have an amazing collection of special weapons and magical abilities. Except, these aren't fairies like Tinker Bell or leprechauns like the Lucky Charms guy. The short(ish) line that I give at work at the bookstore when trying to hook a reader goes like this: Have you heard that story about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Well, Artemis Fowl is a child genius and he decides that he is going to figure out how to trick the leprechauns and fairies out of their gold. There are so many intricate, interconnected details that it is near impossible to describe this book with a handful of sentences. Colfer takes such care and precision with the intellects, emotions and motivations of his creations, human or magical, that it is difficult not to be drawn into the stories regardless of your genre preferences. And, amidst all the spectacular weaponry, reconnaissance gizmos, fairies, trolls, dwarves and centaurs, the characters are truly the heart of the books.

Ages 12-up.Artemis Fowl by Irish author Eoin Colfer(first name pronounced Owen) is an impressive series of books that is a mash-up of fantasy, science fiction and spy novels with a twelve-year old genius at it's heart. Technology buffs may appreciate the imaginative fairy-world inventions and action-lovers will get some kicks, but the series is no classic in the making.

The narrative hops from character to character, so readers intrigued by Artemis's wily, autocratic personality have to kill a good deal of time with the relatively bland Holly and her cohorts, and the villain/hero anticlimactically achieves his final escape by popping some sleeping pills (it renders him invulnerable to the fairy time-stop). The rapid-fire dialogue may work as a screenplay with the aid of visual effects (a film is due out from Talk/Miramax in 2002) but, on the page, it often falls flat. Despite numerous clever gadgets and an innovative take on traditional fairy lore, the author falls short of the bar. However, his feisty mark, Holly, turns out to be a member of the ''LEPrecon, an elite branch of the Lower Elements Police,'' so a wisecracking team of satyrs, trolls, dwarfs and fellow fairies set out to rescue her. With the assistance of his bodyguard, Butler, he masterminds his plan to regain the Fowls' former glory: capture a fairy and hold her ransom for the legendary fairy gold.

Colfer's (Benny and Omar) crime caper fantasy, the first in a series, starts off with a slam-bang premise: anti-hero Artemis Fowl is a boy-genius last in line of a legendary crime family teetering on the brink of destruction.

Artemis fowl by eoin colfer