Fans of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl novels will relish this action-packed, gadgets-a-go-go new series. In fact, this cracking book heralds a second cycle of Fowl escapades as the eponymous eleven-year-old Fowl Twins are none other than the younger siblings of Artemis himself. But only Myles bears any resemblance to the twins’ big bro. A stickler for dressing smart, Myles is smart in mind too, with an exceptional IQ and a penchant for taming his wild hair with special seaweed gel that nourishes both the hair and brain. Beckett, on the other hand, is more of a crash-bang-wallop kind of boy, and prone to sulk when forced to wear any kind of clothing. But it falls to them both to step into Artemis’s shoes when the fairy folk need help while he’s away.
As they bicker and irritate each other to hilarious effect, the twins are visited by a mysterious nun who sends Beckett’s imagination into overdrive: “Myles, it’s a nun with a helicopter! You hardly ever see that. This is the start of our first real adventure. It has to be - I can feel it in my elbows.” And he isn’t wrong, for it turns out that stylish Sister Jeronima of Bilbao is on a mission to prove that magic creatures really exist, and her “organisation has eyes everywhere.” Adding to the cast of jump-off-the-page characters, we meet the dastardly Duke of Scilly, who’s desperate to get his hands on the tiny troll Beckett finds near their fortress, and Lazuli, an ambitious pixie-elf hybrid known as a ‘pixel’.
Heady with high-stakes high jinks and high-octane action, this fiendishly funny firebrand of a book will keep kids reading long after the lights were supposed to be out. And when they’ve raced through this, they’ll be desperate to dive into book two, The Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges.
Myles and Beckett Fowl are twins but the two boys are wildly different. Beckett is blonde, messy and sulks whenever he has to wear clothes. Myles is impeccably neat, has an IQ of 170, and 3D prints a fresh suit every day - just like his older brother, Artemis Fowl.
A week after their eleventh birthday the twins are left in the care of house security system, NANNI, for a single night. In that time, they befriend a troll on the run from a nefarious nobleman and an interrogating nun both of whom need the magical creature for their own gain . . .
Prepare for an epic adventure in which The Fowl Twins and their new troll friend escape, get shot at, kidnapped, buried, arrested, threatened, killed (temporarily) . . . and discover that the strongest bond in the world is not the one forged by covalent electrons in adjacent atoms, but the one that exists between a pair of twins.
The first book in the blockbusting new series from global bestseller Eoin Colfer
It's a wildly entertaining ride with all the high-adrenalin action, whip-smart dialogue, and ingenious gadgets you could hope for, filling something of a gap in the market. Fiona Noble The Bookseller
Colfer's playfulness is in full swing... Kitty Empire The Guardian
Colfer is a hugely entertaining writer who unravels his plot at breakneck speed while never stinting on the detail. Emily Bearn, The Daily Telegraph
Lots of high-tech gadgetry, thrilling danger and unexpected turns as Eoin Colfer delivers his distinctive brand of mayhem. Don’t miss it. Daily Mail
Author
About Eoin Colfer
Both Eoin Colfer’s parents were teachers and young Eoin was taught by his dad Billy at Wexford’s Christian Brothers primary. Eoin remembers his dad’s presence in school as “witty…[he] made school fun.” Colfer junior’s first attempt at serious writing came in the sixth grade. “I wrote a play for the class about Norse Gods. Everyone died in the end except me.”
Eoin followed in his parents’ footsteps and trained to be a teacher but his writing didn't stop and his first book, Benny and Omar, appeared in 1999 and instantly achieved bestselling status in Ireland. Then in 2001 the first Artemis Fowl book was published and he was able to resign from teaching and concentrate fully on writing.
Eoin Colfer was nominated for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
picture copyright Michael Paynter.
Here's a hilarious clip from Eoin Colfer Virtually Live:
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT EOIN COLFER... Praise for Artemis Fowl
“Wildly original… and you thought fairy stories were just for kids.” - T2 (The Telegraph)
“It’s a highly original adventure story with an action-packed plot which twists and turns right to the end – a kind of William Gibson meets the Hobbit/Irish Legends. It has all the right ingredients.” Marc Lambert, Children’s Programme Director at the Edinburgh Festival
“Make sure you buy it!” Denise Van Outen, Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast