If I had thought of this story, I would have told it, but I would have done quite a few things differently, if possible. In other words, I like the story itself: with his family's wealth dangerously on the wane, criminal mastermind and 12 year old boy, Artemis Fowl, formulates a bold plan to kidnap a fairy and seize a ransom of gold. But his is not the only point of view on either side of the incident. We hear from his loyal employee, Butler, as well as the fairies. This equal billing actually undermined the story for me, since it effectively confused my sympathies, not quite to the point of indifference but to something far short of involvement. This was exacerbated by a acerbic narrative voice that sometimes served the story but also unfortunately dulled character development to a sheen above caricature but below fully formed. 
 So the incident, the kidnapping and its consequences, is a fine idea for a chapter book, hip hip hurrah, but the execution was not to my liking in ways that may or may not matter to you or its target audience. 
 For me another big muck up included the vision of fairies. No way anyone must emulate anything in particular but Colfer's fairies rely on advanced technology and interact with each other as if human, which was ironic since they claimed to be so much more superior. 
 His trolls, however, are wickedly offishly delightful.