Welp, Colfer opted for more “script padding” here. Spending a lot of time explaining things that were already quite plain and giving us a lot more insight into characters I’m pretty sure we didn’t need the insight into. This weird third-person limited but limited to whoever I want at any given moment mixed with third person omniscient with a wannabe in-universe narrator thing Colfer does is really not the best. It’s kind of like he’s trying to imitate Douglas Adams and failing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s alright at times, but at other times it’s super distracting and often times feels like he’s talking down to the reader. This writing style also completely leeches any sort of urgency out of the text. I am definitely not a fan.
Orion Fowl is the worst. I didn’t like the Artemis/Holly thing that started in The Time Paradox
and I like it even less now. The age gap is still gross. Will always be
gross. Orion’s ridiculously flowery language in Holly’s direction is
gross. They need to just be friends and firmly stick to that. There’s
zero reason for romance between them. Zero.
So, Butler… why the fuck didn’t he attempt to contact Juliet at any point BEFORE showing up at her wrestling match? Turnball’s entire Butler plan hinged on no one actually attempting to figure out what was going on by any other means than in person... and Artemis apparently straight up lying to Butler due to his paranoia. Still not entirely sure how that last bit managed to work out or how Turnball found out about it... but he got what he wanted, but again, this brings up Butler’s incompetence. If he’d maybe tried to ask Juliet for some details, there’s no way he’d have gone to Mexico. Just… ugh. This trope of people not talking to each other needs to fucking die. It's lazy. Especially when pasted onto a character like Butler. Butler is frequently shown to be checking out all the angles of attack and making sure exits are clear and being generally worried about anything involving Artemis being in a crowded area. But to basically NOT do any of his apparently usual prep work when it involves his sister... like, why? Oh, convenient plot development? Cool. Not cool. Not remotely cool. Annoying.
Turnball Root is… I don’t know. Interesting isn’t the right word, even if used sarcastically. He’s not stupid, either. I mean, he somehow figured out how to get the barest bit of magic and mix it with some previously unknown rune thing... He's unhinged, definitely. Not sure how I want to categorize him, but it’s definitely not up there with the great villains. I really don’t understand why anyone who ostensibly works for him does so. He’s condescending and just ridiculous. Not going to lie, I skipped his backstory with Leonor. I’m sure it was properly touching, but as I’m not a fan of the writing style of The Atlantis Complex… I just felt it was going to be eye-roll inducing, so I skipped it. I understand that. Colfer was attempting something different here with Turnball, but I really wasn’t invested and it fell pretty flat for me.
So, the Atlantis Complex as a mental illness is patently ridiculous and treated horribly. I understand that there were circumstances, but ultimately, it’s a plot device that I did not appreciate in the least. I did like that we weren’t privy as to what was going on with Artemis in the first part of the story, even if I was admittedly annoyed by it. However, that does not change the fact that a magical disease caused by remorse, of all things, is not great as a representation of mental illness. It actually kind of reminds me of J.K. Rowling’s short story “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” from The Tales of Beadle the Bard in that remorse ultimately causes the warlock’s death. Also this representation of some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder is annoying at best and not actually how that works at all. Atlantis Complex just mixes a bunch of stuff together basically to sideline Artemis unless it's convenient. Did not enjoy.
Anyway, time to finish out this hit-and-miss series with The Last Guardian. Here’s hoping it’s less eye-roll inducing than this one. Crossing my fingers because I really want to ultimately come out positive on this series.
Favorite Line
"It was more expensive in the long term, but the politicians reasoned that by the time the long term came around, somebody else would be in office."
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