Very good read, but the main character's criminal aspects disturbed me.
Plot
Artemis Fowl is the young criminal mastermind whose goal is to restore his lost family's fortune. He finds a fairy book that will lead him to fairy treasure, but he doesn't know that he's up against the LEPrecon unit of deadly fairy folk.
Morality
Artemis is the son of an Irish crime lord, and cares only about making money. This whole theme was a little disturbing to me, though he begins to question his motives as the book progresses. In addition there is a kleptomaniac dwarf named Mulch Diggums.
Spiritual Content
Magic is used by the fairies sometimes, and a fairy performs the "Ritual" (a method of recharging their magic by planting a seed in the ground) which I wasn't thrilled with, but it wasn't graphic or frightening. Very mild, really, but magical nonetheless.
Violence
There is quite a bit of violence, mainly in the scene with the troll near the end.
Drug and Alcohol Content
An alcohol-dependent fairy is seen in the beginning, but nothing more than that.
Sexual Content
None.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
D--n, h--l, and a few made up fairy profanities. As far as behavior, dwarfs are portrayed as a variation on overgrown earthworms. They mine, of course, but they do so by in-taking dirt through the mouth and then excreting it, sometimes in explosive bursts of gas.
Conclusion
This book was quite enjoyable, and it had lots of funny moments. The characters were well-developed, and it left me wanting to find out what happened next. The values, however, are not high.
