Criminal genius runs in the family... Myles and Beckett are eleven-year-old twins, but the two boys are wildly different. Beckett is blonde, messy and sulks whenever he has to wear clothes. Myles is fanatically neat, he has an IQ of 170, and he wears a fresh suit every day like his older brother, Artemis Fowl.
Perhaps you have heard of the Fowl family and their adventures?
This Fowl adventure is filled with the most unusual of individuals: an immortal duke, a miniature troll, a nunterrogator and a Police Specialist that's 42% elf. And of course, the Fowl twins - one a certified genius with a criminal leaning, and the other possessing an unusual talent that has not been fully explored... yet!
Here begins the second documented cycle of Fowl Adventures.
I'll admit that I don't listen to nearly as many Middle Grade level books as I probably should, and this one makes the case for it. Mr. Parker provides one of the most entertaining performances I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. More than the huge variety of voices he provides, all with distinct accents and easily distinguished personalities attached, he also exudes an unmistakable feeling that he's having fun in everything he's doing.
I believe one of my complaints upon first reading was that neither of the titular twins had much personality to start out with. Consider that completely erased with this audio, as both twins personalities are readily apparent after just a couple sentences. I admit I wasn't too fond of Beckett's voice, it being rather squeeky in comparison to everyone else's, but I eventually came to accept it as the unbridled joy grew to be too contagious to ignore. The main antagonist, Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, Duke of Scilly (yes, that's really his name & title), was similarly treated to a humorous interpretation, what with his blustering, jowly British voice seeming to take way too much pleasure in his thoughts and dialogue.
That was another thing that struck me about this—the thoughts of characters, even those not distinguished by italics were always read in the same voice as if the character had spoken aloud. There was also a part where the three types of fairy were spelled out, which is simply a visual cue in the text, making it obvious that the production had gone out of its way to better translate the text to an audio medium. While one would hope for that type of thing to be more standardized, it's sadly not, leading me to always be pleasantly surprised and appreciative when it's there.
Overall, a fantastic and memorable production through and through. Though it's hard to say whether the production's overall tone was tweaked for the age of reader, or if the story itself simply lent itself more readily toward that joy-filled reading, I'd highly recommend this audiobook for listeners young and young-at-heart regardless. And as I jump right into the next story, I am eager to experience more of the same fun and fancy I got out of this one!
The second Fowl Twins adventure starts with a bang – literally.
Artemis's little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. The twins plus their fairy minder, the pixie-elf hybrid Lazuli Heitz, are lucky to escape with their lives.
The Fowl parents and fairy police force decide that enough is enough and the twins are placed under house arrest. But Myles has questions, like: who was tracking the Fowl jet? Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky? These questions must infuriate someone, because Myles is abducted and spirited away from his twin.
Now Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him – not easy when it was Myles who was the brains of the operation. Their chase will take them across continents, deep underground, and into subaquatic super villain lairs. They will be shot at, covered in spit, and at the receiving end of some quite nasty dwarf sarcasm. But will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand…?
Not much more to add from the first audio's review.
I think Beckett's voice improved for me, as it didn't seem as high-pitched or peaking as it did in the first book. Though I'm not sure if this was more due to Beckett not being as hyper in the story, or if it was a conscious change made by Mr. Parker of the production, I am appreciative regardless. I loved the variety given to the dwarves, especially Axborn. Though the main two (Gveld & Gundred) did sound fairly similar to one another, it was still fairly easy to tell them apart by the difference in delivery—even if Gveld's clipped delivery did make it harder to hear at 2x speed.
I did notice a surprising difference between audio and text right at the very end, where there's an entire paragraph(?) missing from the ebook. I assume this was edited out of the ebook later, as there was also a change in a couple numbers here and there. It's not super distracting or offensive or anything like that, it's just something I couldn't help but notice as I read along.
Overall, another greatly entertaining production by Mr. Parker and the Listening Library crew. With just as high quality as the first story, fans are good to go in continuing the series. Which I will be doing myself as I continue to the 3rd book!
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