Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex

[sawyl]

We're almost at the finishing line with Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, the penultimate book in Eoin Colfer's series about fairies, centaurs, teenage geniuses, and, in this case, a nasty bout of trauma-induced mental illness.

Having invited a group of his most trusted friends from the fairy community to witness a test of a new device which should stop global warming, Artemis Fowl discovers that his paranoid preparations have been in vain when the group is attacked. Following the assault, Artemis and Holly set off in pursuit of the dangerous vessel only to realise that it poses a risk to the Lower Elements city of Atlantis. But not everything as it seems and the pair soon realise that an enemy from Holly's past has managed to use the resulting confusion to slip out of prison.

Butler, meanwhile, is in Mexico after receiving a distress signal from his sister Juliet. But it quickly transpires that Butler's absence may have more to do with Artemis' sudden attack of Atlantis Complex, a mental illness that triggers obsessive compulsive tendencies — including a fear of the number four — and paranoia that causes the subject to lose trust in everyone around them. Realising that they've been duped, the Butlers fight their way back to their employer's side.

Despite some fun moments, the The Atlantis Complex is the flimsiest book in the series, although kudos to Colfer for showing that mental illness can happen to anyone, regardless of how smart or how entitled they are. Sadly though I can't really bring myself to buy into the menace of the Big Bad who emerges from nowhere with no foreshadowing, and much as I like revisiting some of the minor characters from earlier in the series and enjoy seeing the butler siblings kick loose in Mexico, the book really doesn't work for me. But that's not a huge deal: I'm well and truly outside its target demographic...