October Arc

Welcome to the October meeting of ARC, we are nearly at the end of the year. I haven't fully decided whether to continue this as a challenge next year or not. I am so crazy busy. Even if I don't do a monthly link up here, the FB group will stay open, so if you carry on reviewing books and doing art on your blogs then you can link up in the FB group... but we shall see..

Anyway onto this months books..

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

This is another of my son's books. It really is quite liberating going back to books that are meant for a younger person. Oh to be a teenager again...well maybe not..

There are , now, 8 books in the series. When my son was reading them, I think there were only 4. I guess he grew out of them before the final ones were even written.

So this is the first book, and we are introduced to Artemis, a 12year old criminal mastermind. He is aided by his Butler, and has every modern convenience,weapon,technology at his disposal.

My first thoughts about this book were that is was very,very similar to the Lara Croft story lines...rich girl, lots of technology, loyal staff member etc etc

Where this book differs, is in the introduction of fairies. Very advanced fairies. But nevertheless, the magic is still there. There are references to old gold,leprechauns,wishes etc but in the main the fairies are described as being very high tech. They use human satellites, they are computer savvy, and they no longer rely on natural wings. They have strap on mechanical wings... Several models are mentioned, a bit like the differing broomsticks in Harry Potter.

I have to say this was a great read, ideal for the age range that it is targeted at, but also for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book appears to be a quick read, with only 9 chapters, however they are long chapters, so you do get value for money. There is just the right amount of old magic versus technology, witty banter and likeable characters. I find it to be quite an entertaining read, the ideas,plots, characters are well thought out.

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

My journal page started with some leftover paint sprayed and dripped.. I liked the colours, they seemed earthy, and as the fairies in the book live underground it seemed fitting. However on reflection I wish I had used brighter colours, as the end result is a bit drab for me. 

I added some interest/texture, using leaves stamped onto book pages, and the moon cut from book page. I also added some torn up /recycled painty baby wipes.

The oak leaf stamps are from plates HP1104 and HP1105 from PaperArtsy...

I also added Treasure gold... the texture of the baby wipes really works well with the wax. 

I then decided to even out the background by adding cinnamon Fresco paint...

Finally I cut out  a fairy silhouette , and touched up the edges with treasure gold..

and so the page is finished. not entirely happy with it, but it's ok. 

Here is where you link up, if you are playing along with ARC...