The Daily Booktalk: #tbt:

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. 279 p. Hyperion Books for Children (Disney), April, 2001. 9780786808014. (Own first edition copy)

Welcome to #tbt! #tbt features older titles and this week's feature is Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. This Irish import was published in the U.S. in 2001 by Hyperion Books, which later became Disney. It is the story of a twelve-year-old boy named Artemis Fowl II. He lives on the Fowl estate in Ireland with his fragile, mentally ailing mother and his father, scion of an underworld empire, is missing. Artemis is a genius and he has cracked the fairy code and stolen the fairy's gold. Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon unit is on the case and Artemis does not know what he's up against. This was the first of what became an eight book series. It is wildly funny, peopled with memorable characters, and action and intrigue keep you turning the pages. I own a first edition and prefer the original cover, shown left above. The newest cover is to the right. The audiobooks are especially well done as the narrator, Nathanial Parker has a large repertoire of voices, which add richness. 

The book was optioned for a movie ages ago but, it wasn't until 2015 that it was announced that Kenneth Branagh would be directing with an anticipated 2018 release. The series has a website. Here's the link, but I couldn't get into it. (Kept getting a message that I needed to download Flash even when I did.) The UK site works and I was a bit startled by the UK covers! Take a look!