Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian

Gill Trueman, Library and Information Manager, Peasedown St John Primary School, near Bath is one of three ‘exceptional’ librarians on the 2012 SLA School Librarian of the Year Honour List. Here she selects her book of the year for Books for Keeps.

It was with great relish, I purchased the eighth and final instalment of the Artemis Fowl series last July. I have read the Artemis Fowl books from the beginning, and I have loved the journey! Would the last book be a fitting finale? I have to say, in my opinion, it certainly was! The epic adventure begins with the return of arch-villain Opal Koboi unleashing her most earth-shattering (literally) and fiendish scheme to date. By duping two cameo characters, gnomes aka Pip and Kip, into kidnapping a younger version of herself from another timeline, she manages to escape from prison and become a nuclear version of herself. This is just the first part of her cunning plan to exterminate mankind and become fairy queen. If she succeeds, the spirits of long-dead warriors will rise from the earth, inhabit the nearest available bodies and wreak mass destruction. Unfortunately for Artemis and Butler, his ever loyal bodyguard, three of those bodies belonged to Juliet (Butler’s sister) and two four year old twins by the names of Myles and Beckett Fowl. Could Artemis, Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, Foaly (Centaur and LEP technical genius) and Butler stop Opal, recover Juliet and the twins and prevent the end of the world? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Eoin Colfer writes with a superb comic touch, with word-play names reminiscent of the Asterix books. (An engineer dwarf called Kolin Ozkopy, and two warriors by the names of Salton Finnacre and J’Heez Nunyon). All the main characters from previous books make an appearance, including my favourite criminal kleptomaniac dwarf: Mulch Diggums, who saves the day on more than one occasion using his unique wind and phlegm-based talents. A hugely entertaining finish to a magical series.