I’m sure no one actually cares about this, so this post is mainly for myself to keep track of my progress, but here is how I’m doing on my 2020 reading challenges!
Overall, I have read 24 books so far this year. I know this is small potatoes to a lot of big readers (and years ago, it would have been small potatoes to me too), but considering just a couple years ago I wasn’t reading AT ALL, this is great progress for me! And considering that in 2019, I read 29 books in the whole year, I’d say 24 is really really good. I’m on track to read approximately 50 books by the end of the year. We’ll see if that trend continues.
For my “Storm the Castle” 2020 Reading Challenge, I have read 13 of the 21 books in the challenge, so I’m over halfway there! In fact, I’m also ⅔ of the way through! I have slowed down on that front the last month or so because I’ve been reading a lot of books that don’t count towards the challenge. But I’m ok with that. Particularly because some of the books I’ve been reading count toward the “Finishing the Series” 2020 Reading Challenge instead.
For the “Finishing the Series” challenge, I have completely FINISHED the Artemis Fowl series! Eight books down! In addition, I have read books 1-6 of The Dresden Files series. I suspect I will not actually finish THAT series by the end of the year as there are currently 15 books in the series, AND books #16 and #17 are being released in July and October! Still, I am making good headway on that series. In addition, I am currently re-reading Sabriel by Garth Nix, the first in the Old Kingdom series. I read the original 3 books of that series WAY back in high school and absolutely ADORED them, but never got around to reading the 2 sequel novels and the handful of short stories in the series, so I’m working on that for the challenge as well.
Right this minute, I am reading several books. Sabriel (as I said), Dresden Files book #7: Dead Beat, and I am now starting Hyperion by Dan Simmons, which is on my “Storm the Castle” challenge list. I also JUST received the ARC for Garth Nix’s new book The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, which will be released in September. Since I ADORE Garth Nix (see above!), I will probably go ahead and start that one as well.
So that’s my reading progress and plans for the month. How about you folks? What is everyone reading right now? And how are you progressing on any goals you set for yourself for the year? Please feel free to share in the comments!
I was a junior in high school when the first Artemis Fowl book came out. Technically, I was not the target market – these are considered middle grade books, after all – but I still enjoy a good middle grade novel from time to time, and this book just looked FUN. So I didn’t “grow up” with Artemis Fowl the way some people did (I know some people who read the books starting in elementary school!), but I have loved them since they first came out.
I have read all eight books (but I haven’t read the new spin-off about Artemis’s twin brothers yet). And I just recently finished going through all eight books on audiobook. If you like audiobooks, I would highly recommend checking out the Artemis Fowl books on audio. The narrator, Nathaniel Parker, does an excellent job for the most part (my one complaint is that I really don’t like the way he voices Opal Koboi – he does a pretty offensive stereotyped “Chinese” accent for her and it really bugs the hell out of me. There’s absolutely nothing in the text to justify this decision, and I can only assume he was trying to do something different enough to separate her voice from the other characters, but it is NOT GOOD).
Anyway: I LOVE Artemis Fowl.
I think most people are familiar with at least the basic premise, but just in case, let’s cover the basics: Artemis Fowl the Second is an 11-year-old super-genius criminal mastermind. In the first book, his father (Artemis Fowl Senior, who was a career criminal just starting to go straight at the behest of his wife, Angeline) has been missing for over a year. In order to keep the family estate solvent and to fund both his criminal enterprises and his search for his father, Artemis Fowl decides to do one massive heist: steal gold from the fairies. He has come to learn that fairies are not only REAL, but highly advanced and living in secret in an underground society. So he hatches an elaborate plan to kidnap a fairy and steal their gold.
The hapless fairy he manages to kidnap is Holly Short, the first woman-fairy to join the LEPrecon (the fairy police force “Lower Elements Police” reconnaissance division – get it? LEPrecon = leprechaun? Expect many such puns…). Holly is smart, determined, and more than a little hot-headed. Her commander, Julius Root, is even more so. In the course of trying to rescue Holly, the LEP use time-freezing, release a troll, and recruit the help of a career criminal thief: a dwarf named Mulch Diggums. Meanwhile, Artemis and his faithful, long-suffering bodyguard Butler, discover they are slightly less in control than they first assume, nearly die a few times, and still somehow manage to win and keep the gold they stole.
And that’s just the first book. Each book brings Artemis and his entourage back into the affairs of the fairy peoples. Throughout the series, Artemis and Holly end up best friends pretty much despite themselves, and Artemis becomes an invaluable help and savior for the fairies on several occasions. By the end of it, the completely selfish, amoral Artemis has grown a heart and a conscience, and his character development is slow, complex, and well EARNED by the story.
On top of all that, the books are also exciting, action-packed, and utterly HILARIOUS. I think the funniest book is probably #7: The Atlantis Complex.
For the fun of it, here is the absolutely AMAZING art work for the Chinese edition of the books (which combine into one giant panorama, that I really want an enormous print of!):
by Shayudan on DeviantArt (click on image to go to high res version)
And for people who have already read the books, you should check out this tumblr which has a bunch of hilarious Artemis Fowl memes and other fun fanart: https://iesnoth.tumblr.com/
And if you really want, you can also check out my Artemis Fowl board on Pinterest, which is just a collection of any fanart and memes and silly shit that amuses me: https://pin.it/4QobV76
And now, this brings me to a painful subject. The movie.
When I first heard that Disney was doing an Artemis Fowl movie, I was cautiously optimistic. Almost two years ago they released an initial trailer, and I allowed myself to get more excited than I probably should have. The movie was originally supposed to be released in 2019. And then for unknown reasons, the release was pushed back and the movie was sent back to the drawing board for an extensive number of re-shoots and re-edits. Even the person who made the “Art and Making” of the movie book (which was apparently finished 18 months ago), says that the final product bears little resemblance to the movie HE saw while chronicling the process (that early version apparently was a bit closer to the book material, though it still had made many changes).
When the second newer trailer was released a few months ago, I was horrified. I could tell immediately that they had RUINED it. Ruined the character. Destroyed the story. It was obvious from just the one min trailer that they had removed everything that made Artemis Fowl a fun, interesting, and unique character and turned the story into the same repetitive cliche trite story about a helpless boy who discovers his father has some dangerous secret life, and how must be initiated into that secret to save his father when the father disappears. That story has been told a MILLION TIMES. And on very few occasions these days is it ever told with anything approaching originality or interest.
I had determined not to watch the movie when it came out, not to give my money to a theatre release. Then the quarantine happened and it was announced that the movie would go straight to Disney+ streaming. So, on friday my mother convinced me to just sit down and at least give it a chance.
I was annoyed in the first two minutes. I had to quit after about twenty minutes. I just couldn’t do it. The movie had absolutely NO resemblance to the books. The characters had been turned into practically their exact OPPOSITES. It wasn’t Artemis Fowl. Not even remotely. And what’s more: even if you watched the movie with no knowledge of the books holding you down, it was just a BAD movie, with stale lackluster acting, an awkward stilted script, cheap dumb-downed voice-over narration, and hack editing. It’s just NOT GOOD.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a BUNCH of articles decimating the movie:
If you don’t think that’s enough, just check out the #ArtemisFowl and #ArtemisFowlMovie hashtags on Twitter. Because WOW people are NOT HAPPY. (In other words, it’s not just me!)
I just don’t understand why anyone would bother to PAY ALL THAT MONEY for a pre-existing property, if they were going to then turn around and write yet another painfully-trite, excruciatingly-cliche story about a hapless boy who is initiated into his father’s secret life when the father goes missing. Do you have any idea HOW MANY OF THOSE STORIES have been told now? (And very few of them are told WELL). I am absolutely devastated and infuriated and frustrated (but not remotely surprised) by all of this. I know these books could make AMAZING movies or tv if they were adapted well. But I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen any time soon. Or ever, probably.
In the meantime, in an attempt to make myself feel better, I am now working on an Artemis Fowl playlist on Spotify. Because that’s just what I DO.
This will be a short post for now, because I’ve been sick all week. I came home from work on last Thursday evening feeling pretty crappy and by Friday morning I was completely miserable and bedridden. I didn’t start feeling even semi-ok until this Wednesday afternoon. So I’m a bit behind on things, including drafting the next couple blog posts.
Still I thought I would drop a quick note, at least, to share a few reading updates.
For my 2020 “Storm the Castle” Reading Challenge, I have completed four books (Solaris, Lawrence in Arabia, Monster of Elendhaven, and Binti: Home). I am close to finishing two more books (Middlegame and Disney’s Land), which will put me close to â…“ of the way through my 21 book challenge.
In addition, I have made some small progress on the 2020 “Finishing the Series” Challenge by completing books 1-4 of the Artemis Fowl series. Still, I have not made as much progress as I would have hoped in the first two months of the year (partly because I was sick, and partly because a couple of the books I chose – Lawrence in Arabia and Middlegame – are VERY long).
Next on my reading radar I have a few books lined up. First is The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt, which, like Disney’s Land, is a history/biography of those involved in the development of Disney, this time the women who worked in animation with little recognition. Second, is The Body in the Garden, an ARC I received from work (being released in April), which is a mystery set in 1815 and featuring a woman who takes it upon herself to investigate a murder (in other words this book was pretty much made for me). I also have an ARC for The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (being released in June), that I’m going to try to get to. I may also jump into the next Artemis Fowl book – they are short enough and fun enough to get through while also working on longer books, and I’d like to say I finished at least ONE of the many series’ I hoped to for that reading challenge.
So that’s it from me for now! How are your reading goals coming along for the year? What books are on your radar for March?
Amanda Haimoto Rudd 