Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Exciting Fowl story has rogue robots and a devious villain.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX: ARTEMIS FOWL, BOOK 7, Artemis invites fairy officials to Iceland to demonstrate his latest invention. Before he can unveil it, unwanted guests arrive: a fairy space probe reprogrammed to take out Artemis and friends. But reprogrammed by whom? And where is it heading next? As Artemis barely escapes with his life, he's having a hard time pondering it. His mind is in the first stages of the Atlantis Complex, a psychosis common in guilt-ridden fairy criminals. He's having paranoid and OCD thoughts (Number 5: good, Number 4: really bad) until Holly stuns him and another personality named Orion takes over Artemis' mind almost entirely. Sadly for Holly, Orion is an insufferable romantic and no help at all when she decides to follow the rogue space probe.
Is It Any Good?
This penultimate Artemis Fowl adventure delivers action, a conniving criminal, squishy robots, a giant squid, fairy psychosis, gassy dwarfs, and pro Mexican wrestling. You know, the usual, at least for Artemis and friends. Readers of the Artemis Fowl series are never bored, because Irish author Eoin Colfer always keeps his characters on the move and plotting. It's hard for Artemis to be as in control of the plotting in The Atlantis Complex as he usually is because of the fairy psychosis brewing in his brain. His mental state is yet another adversary for Artemis to face and makes him rely on friends more than usual here.
The main villain, Turnball, proves just as deliciously devious as Opal Kobai from earlier books, and with a surprising softer side, too. As his plans slowly unfold from his Atlantis prison cell, the old Artemis crew assembles to face him. Mulch Diggums always has a role to play, and a gassy one, along with Butler and Juliet, who have their own separate misadventures at the start of the story -- that's where the Mexican wrestling comes in. The Atlantis Complex closes with no hint of how the finale will play out, but with so much exciting fodder thus far, there's no need for spoilers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Artemis works through his fairy psychosis in The Atlantis Complex. And how do his friends help?
What makes Turnball a villain? What are his good qualities? Do you think he deserves what happens to him in the end?
Will you read the finale of the Artemis Fowl series? What do you think will resolve with Artemis and his fairy friends?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship , Animals ( Ocean Creatures ) , Robots
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Disney-Hyperion
- Publication date : August 3, 2010
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 10 - 18
- Number of pages : 368
- Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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