The final book in the Harry Potter saga is being released in just a few hours. The Harry Potter phenomenon has been credited with bringing reading back into young people’s lives, by showing just how enjoyable a good book can be. Waterstone’s buyer Sam Harrison has mentioned before that many authors, including Colfer, experience a sales spike when a new Harry Potter book is released. It would seem that we do owe J.K. Rowling something, and she certainly deserves credit for her series, but how much exactly?
I’ve seen the Artemis Fowl series written off by Harry Potter fans before as a cheap spin-off, and even in positive reviews, it has been dubbed an “Irish Harry Potter.” Is that a little unfair, considering how diverse Colfer’s world is, or is there a justification?
What are you thoughts? Is it Harry Potter one of the first books you remember really loving as a child? Or would Colfer have been just as successful if Potter had never come along?
PS – I’m a huge Harry fan as well. Can’t wait for tonight!
Artemis Fowl would definitely have been more popular if HP just hadn’t existed. Besides, I, my family, and the friend I have who like Artemis Fowl all agree that AF is much much better written than HP. We also agree the plot is more interesting and less predictable and many other things. Artemis Fowl is NOTHING like Harry Potter!!! >:(
I don’t think Artemis Fowl is anything like Harry Potter, but I do think Harry has had a positive influence on the series, if only to remind people how amazing fantasy literature is. I first read Artemis Fowl 3 years after I first read Harry Potter, and I never had any “this is like Harry Potter” thoughts whatsoever, although that could be because the reason I got into HP in the first place was because I’ve always loved fantasy books, and the same can be said for AF. I think the only thing the two series shares is that they are both about a separate, magical world, that is nonetheless a part of our own world. However, that can be said for a plethora of fantasy novels, and is not something JK Rowling started (she is just the most famous of authors to have used this idea).
Just saw the comment above mine, and I have to say I disagree with it (maybe because I’m a huge HP fan, maybe I do have a point). It says AF is better written, however there have been times when I was reading AF that I’ve winced at the grammar. In fact, if I didn’t enjoy the stories so much, I couldn’t have made it through the books. However, I will concede that the narration of AF is far more humourous than the narration of HP.
Yes, there were times where I winced at the grammar in AF too. But there were an equal amount of times when I winced in the first HP book. As the series continued, both authors got better.
I was a HP fan before I was an AF fan. And I think I’m still more of a HP fan. I can’t pretend that I don’t compare the two, and I can’t pretend that they’re not alike. They’re alike in many ways, though not as alike as the marketing people would like you to think. I actually just don’t care very much- does it matter, really? I think HP helped Colfer, since it really got people into fantasy and fiction in general. Another way it helped Colfer is that I think HP really opened the doors for many more foreign authors to get there books published in the US, where much of AF’s fan base is.
I was going to go on about how much I’m looking forward to Deathly Hallows, but this comment is already too long. 🙂
Artemis Fowl rocks ur socks nuff said.
Harry potter is old news lol
ok i own and read all artemis foel books and soon i am going to own and read all harry potter book they are completly differt harry potter dosnet use tecnology and artemis foel does i bet it you make a list of things that are differnt in the books you will end up with a long list
Im a big fan of both serieses, but the thought that AF was just a spinoff from HP never really crossed my mind. i prefer HP more but i still love AF, it has a great and unpredictible plot. i own all books of both series 😀
I’m a big hp fan I guess all my famly is like hp crazy even my brother who claims not to like books with magic. I love artemis fowl like more than hp cause I think harry is kinda a jerk anyways I never though af cou;ld be in anyways connected to hp .
Well… there are a lot of comparisons, but differences also. And of course they are both great.
I think that AF is very much better than HP.
Colfer rules!
By the way, did you know that in Nurmes in Finland,
(My homeland)One book store selled the new HP (english version). I have it. It is very good but not that good as AF.
I think that J.K. Rowling is great author even if I not HP fan.There was comment on cover of AF book(don’t raely know which one) that says:Artemis will be for fairies that is Harry for wizards.I agree with it.HP helped many authors but the others are not coping J.K. Rowling at all.Good authors are learning from others and create their own world.I don’t think that Colfer and AF owns anything to Rowling and HP!
AND JUST SO YOU KNOW WHAT I. THINK HP IS ABOUT EQUAL WITH AF. BUT AF DOSENT OWE THEM ANYTHING.
LOVE YAS *Blows kiss*
Artemis Fowl owes Harry Potter a little, but a very little. I don’t think I could have gotten my friend to read Artemis Fowl if she hadn’t thought that Harry Potter (which I also convinced her to read) was okay. However, it is not a spin-off in any way, shape, or form. That would be like saying Eragon was a spin-off of Star Wars. It just doesn’t make sense!
ARTEMIS FOWL IS SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!! but that’s my opinion. Other people can think differently. 🙂
Artemis FOwl is NOTHING like hp. That’s so unfair!!!! Have those people even read AF?????? And i am extremly angry that the don’t have Fowl-Friday where i live , but they have Harry Potter HUGE harry potter parties EVERYWHERE !!!! Even in places that don’t sell many books!!!!! But , the harry Potter Books are EXTREMLY AMAZING, but when i first tried to read them i thought they were too boring but I’m going to try again soon. But AF is still ALOT better in my eyes. As too whether AF or Hp is better, it depends on your opion , i guess.
My whole entire family has read AF , even my grandparents!!! But i’m going to read them soon, probably
But then again my whole entire family has read AF too, except my mom, who really wants me to read Hp.
I mean thjat my Whole family has read Hp except me
Whoa!!! Fowl does not owe Harry anything! The reason? Fowl’s world is so much better. Harry’s world is full of witch craft and spells while Fowl just uses his brain and a little bit of fairy magic. Besides, Artemis Fowl could beat Harry Potter in any competition. Harry sucks, Artemis rocks!
BE LOGICAL GRACE C.
If Harry and Artemis lyk had a duel and no help from others Harry would win because he has a weapon (aka wand) and all Arty has is his brain.
And Harry has fights with voldemort and his death eaters at least 9 times in all the books (including the deathly hallows) and always survives. Where as Arty plans and the fairies or/and Butler does the actual fighting.
Anyway to put them in another perspective its like a warlock fighting a swear toad.
uh uh! Artemis is sooo much better than Harry! like Grace C. said, Arty uses both magic and technology. Now that Arty has magic himself, he would probably win the fight, since he would probably go to the scene of the fight and lay traps or things that would help him win. BRAINS ARE BETTER THAN MAGIC!!!! anyway, waht does a fight have to do with it?? ARtemis is just better! Nuff said!
U have a point but if they WERE fighting each other and only each other artemis really only has brains and the power to heal. But harry has the powers to summon, torture and kill if he wanted to.
Artemis wouldnt have a chance.
the fight is a way of determining who is more powerful with only themselves and personal belongings.
Hehe – It’s nice to see all the devout AF fans disagree! Personally, I’m not sure. I think AF might well be more popular (Because AF is fantastic! 😀 ), but fantasy books in general would be less popular. 🙁
So, it’s a yes and a no from me. ^_^
Hello Out There – I’ve deleted all of your messages where you posted spoilers. Please don’t do that again, you’ll force me to have to ban you. 🙁 (There will be NO spoilers on this site, especially not for a book like Deathly Hollows!)
Thanks,michaelM, because i am still on chapter 14!!!!! I just started it this morning though… I have to say in comparison they tie.
Micheal M because u have now read my spoliers u knows who dies so My evil plan worked! *Evil laugh*
Anyway I expected u to delete them so i dont really care.
HP is way better than AF!
NO IT IS NOT!! in AF, the plot is less predictable, the characters are more interesting, the writing is better, (i could go on)…
i’ve finished the hp book now yay only befor I was even close to the end I read one of ur list of peoples who dies well thje first 2 peoples
Katya i find that Harry potter is less predictible and the language describes places better so for me it is easier to ‘fall into’ the story.
Excited as I was when I got my Harry Potter 7 on Saturday, I fail to see that musch similarity between Potter and Artemis. Of course the magic is there, but everything else is completely different. Where are the criminal masterminds, macho fairies, and the relation to Die Hard in Harry Potter? I truly believe that if Harry never existed, Artemis would have been just as popular. Both series have an equal place on my bookshelf. In my opinion, neither is inferior to the other.
Hello Out There – I’d already read the book. >.< I think the similarities aren't in the actual plot, but in the style, eg. They both jump between dark and light moments, they're both about teenagers, both are fantasy books with magic and strange creatures etc. That's why the plots can be totally different, but it's still not uncommon to find fans of one being fans of the other as well. 🙂
I think Artemis owes Harry something. If sales of AF book spike with the release of a Harry Potter book, all the better for bringing in new readers. But even if the sales spike, I think that with all the hype that Harry Potter gets, readers will be so enthralled with that series that they’ll forget to read Artemis Fowl very closely.
I personally have to wonder what would happen to the Artemis Fowl series if Harry Potter. I have explained to a lot of my friends what Artemis Fowl is (for all but my closest friends had no idea), and they dismissed it, saying it was ripped off of Harry Potter. Obviously that’s not true. I actually believe that if Harry Potter had never come along, Artemis Fowl would have had a good chance to become the top kid’s book series.
i have to say YES! AF does owe HP something… there were reviews that said that AF is like another HP, for me (if i haven’t read AF) that will make me want to read AF for maybe i like HP (but i really don’t) and then if i have finished reading it, i will say “Who the hell said that AF is like HP? Dang! this is bood is much better! The protaginist is like the antagonist! Man! this book is soo wicked!”
but if HP didn’t really come along or maybe if AF was released before HP, i have to agree that it will be on the top list (but please to all the bookstores, pls don’t put AF on the Children’s section? i beg of you! everytime i loook for AF its always on the children’s section!) 🙁
HP and AF are both essentials in my life, and both series share the same bookshelf, and I REFUSE to move either of them to make room for something else. While I do think that AF owes a bit to HP because of the fantasy genre, the two are almost nothing like each other. HP deals with more “traditional” magic: wizards, witches, brooms, small fairies, cloaks and hats, etc. AF, on the other hand, deals with a much more warped version: technologically advanced fairies, limited magic, etc. I feel that Artemis Fowl started off more mature, while Harry Potter BECAME mature. I do think that AF has a chance of becoming a very popular series now that the HP hype is dying down.
Very Well Said Micheal. Im just sneaking on during the week. So I wont be Able to write untill Sat (in Aust).
I dont know how the comment of AF being a ‘Cheap spinoff of Harry Potter’ can be justified considering how diverse Harry’s world is from AF. The differences are endless. Although I am a HP fan and I love the series, this doesn’t help the fact that this comment is particularly unfair. You must admit, AF owes something to HP but the stories are completely different in many ways.
P.S. Anything new on the 6th book yet?
Cookie Monster – Not much really. Have you read this page:
http://artemisfowl.fangathering.com/books/book-6/
That’s all there is. 🙁
In a way Hp owes Af because if Hp didnot exist Af would be as popular as Hp is now. But Hp is still better. Sorry Ppls
okay, im a huge fan of both of the books but i dont think either owe each other anything. harry potter has kinda defined our generation’s standards in reading and writing but i think that colfer should be happy that he has survived those standards so well! but i don’t think arty should be thanking harry on bended knee or anything. i think they stand alone as one pure fantasy and one fantasy sci-fi hybrid. seriosly im shocked that harry fans think that arty is even romotly similar!
Wow, Until I read this, I had no idea people were actually comparing Artemis to Harry Potter! They’re COMPLETELY different! Maybe they just meant he’ll be as famous, or the books are as good, when they said Artemis will do for fairies what Harry did for wizards. That’s what I think, anyway. .. ok I kind of forgot what I’m supposed to be writing about. What am I commenting on? I could go up and read it again.. Ah, “Does Arty owe Harry Anything?” .. I agree with the people who said Harry Potter got people to read about fantasy, and I think that now that Potter’s over people are going to be looking for something else to read, and they’ll find Artemis.
2/a they will come to artemis after potter but when they read iit they will be disapointed as they have been reading harry for years and then come across something completly diferent. they would probably go “Hey cool it a another fantasy book with fairies’ but Artemis Fowl doesnt have as much action and because they read Harry first they will be at least a bit disapointed.
*Sigh* Artemis is totally different from Harry. I did not read HP then see AF. I saw Artemis in a book order 2 years ago and went “boy mastermind? fairies? That sounds like me. I should give it a try.” So I did and became engrossed in the world of the People and Artemis. I have told all my friends to read the series. They had never even heard of it. Example, I was at the fair last week and my friends were dicussing HP’s final book. I sat there and was bored out of my skull. Ugggh… no clue who did what to whom, when, and where. Also, this is the first I have heard that HP and AF are similar. ARTEMIS IS NOT A SPIN OFF! Rowling and Colfer have differnet styles. I cna not dis HP because I have yet to read the first book. Reason: It takes forever to get going. I need to have some sort of drawing piont that catches my eye. Well I’ll stop raving now. TTFN! =)
I think HP fans are only saying that AF is a cheap spin off because they’re jealous of AF being soooo much better than HP.
i came across the artemis fowl book firstin my freind`s house and she told me its somthing like a cheap imitation of harry potter.but when i read the book a year later,i found it amazing.it totally doesnt compare with HP.I am a huge fan of HP too,but i gotta say this ,artemis fowl is a lot smarter than harry potter.(u cant argue with that)way to go artemis fowl!!!!
I can see why some think the way your friend did but the little inside cover descriptions are different.
bones is out>>>>>
I absolutely loath how people are so small minded that they have to compare everything they read to Harry Potter. I like Harry Potter as much as anyone else, but I personally am so tired of hearing about the books. The whole world makes it out as if Harry Potter is the only damn series of books in the universe. And I hate that. There is so much more to read, so many books that are so much better than Harry Potter could ever hope to be that are lost in the hype of an over-analyzed story of a boy who is the key to an over-used plot of good verses evil.
I cannot see how people could compare the genius, originality, and captivating story of Artemis Fowl to the long drawn out, tiring and over-told story of Harry Potter.
Artemis Fowl is its own story, as is Harry Potter. Harry Potter was wonderful while it lasted, but his story is over and done. It is time to move on. Artemis, as does so many others, lives on. So swallow your pride, open your mind, pick up a book and read it! Remember Harry Potter as it was, but leave thoughts of the series behind when you dive into another book and I know it’ll exceed your expectations.
*Appulase* Well said Lily. I agree. Wow. *Appulase again* Very well said.
bones has left the building>>>>>
Thanks, flamingbones! 🙂 Though I expect I’ll get a lot of bashing from avid Harry Potter fans once they read my comment! 😉
But I stand firmly by what I said. When I first read Artemis Fowl, never once did my thoughts stray to Harry Potter. I honestly can’t see where these people are coming from. *shrugs*
yeah, Lily, i agree with you. same as you, i never thought AF was anything like HP. But I just have to say, I’m reading the Lord of the Rings and it actually says something along the lines of “some believed Sauron the great, the Dark Lord, was dead while there was a rumor of him just resting and regaining his strength. Does it bring Voldemort to you mind or what? And I must remind people that LOTR was written nearly a century before?
@Laurenator: You may want to look at these links: HP vs. LOTR and How Much was Rowling Inspired by Tolkien.
To get back on topic, everyone might want to read this link where Colfer says that,
Be that as it may, darvit, but Artemis Fowl still owes Harry Potter nothing. The Artemis series will not only survive, but thrive, with or without Harry Potter. The writing and the story of Aretmis Fowl is so strong and creative kids loved it then, they love it now, and they will continue to love it in the future. The books–old and new–will go on to be sold worldwide, even now, even after Harry Potter is finished.
Yes, very idealistic, Lily, and I agree with you. However, I would like to point out that I did not say that Artemis Fowl owed Harry Potter anything–truth be told, I am anti-Harry Potter, actually. 😛 For fear of offending more people–seeing that every AF fan is an HP one as well–I will leave it at that. 😉
Anyway, I just gave everyone a quote from Colfer himself because I think it would spark more reactions. I mean, don’t you all find it interesting that he did admit that? What do you think of his statement?
Personally, I sure hope that he regrets saying that, because I don’t really think he should have, in the first place. People–critics, and the media–feed on these statements, you know?
Sorry to jump to conclusions, darvit. I just feel so strongly about the views previously stated in my comments that I just had to jump to Artemis Fowl’s defense! 🙂 Not that it was needed, I see now. 😉
I think Eoin Colfer was looking at it logically–Harry Potter may have contributed to the sales of many books, not just Artemis Fowl, I’ll admit that. But that’s just more power to them. I think the sales would have been just fine whether Harry Potter was sold or not. And who knows? Perhaps sales would have been higher for all books if Harry Potter didn’t exist–that at least would free people from their small-mindedness.(Not saying I wished Harry Potter didn’t exist, just that people would get over it already!) Everyone is so wrapped up in the boy wizard, everything else gets overlooked and all other books lay in Harry’s shadow. People refuse to see any other story, leading back to how closed their minds are.
I don’t think Colfer regrets his statement, because that’s what he really believes. That’s what his fans are showing him, that they compare Artemis to Harry–which is a real shame.
WOW! this is a lot of comments now up to 53! and like i said WOW!
pfft harry is nothing like artemis actually artemis is like harrys oposite*didnt spell right i know* ya harrys is all positive and sociable while artemis is dark can be nice but just doesnt care and thinks of everyday people as delinquents and….HES A MASTERCRIMINAL HAHAHHAHAHAHHA
…..I don’t like people comparing Arty and Harry Potter, they are such a different thing!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT?????
ARTEMIS IS SO NOT LIKE HARRY POTTER,DUDE
artemis is WAY better
I mean, I like Harry, ‘specially hErmione, but I love Holly more!
And Juliet…
ANYONE WHO SAYS ARTEMIS IS COPYING HARRY POTTER, DAMN IT ***************!
Way to Go Colfer!
WHERE’S ARTEMIS BOOK 6? Write it quicklY
foRget supernaturalist, airman, Artemis is the BEST!
I LOVE ARTEMIS FOWL
ARTEMIS is dgreatest book ive ever read!
DIFFERENT FROM harrypotter
better…
and please, mr. colfer if u read this, make at the end holly ended up with Artemis…
I hate MINERVA!!
lol
D’arvit…artemis is just a dang good book
finish it quickly
—nyc———
HP is NOTHING like AF, and vice versa. THey are two totaly different kinds of majic, people, and the plots could hardly be more different. AF would probably not been as popular if HP hadn’t existed, though, because the people who havn’t read the AF series are convinced to read it because of HP. I’m a fan of both, but they could not be more different.
LOL! I missed that moment at that time. But it still reminds me of my childhood memories.