Having heard all the hype, I picked up a copy to read at the library. Finished it, and wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Decided I didn't. It was well written and imaginative, not your usual fantasy story, but somehow I couldn't like it. One of the things that really bothered me was the author's personal bias coming through on every page. He never misses a chance to say how horrible humans are in terms of destroying the environment and killing each other. I respect his views, but feel that a children's book isn't the place for them. I also felt the irony of his comment that 'nobody makes a deadly weapon as well as humans', then in the next paragraph, one of the fairies picks up a Neutrino 2000, which has three settings -- 'well done, fried, and burned to a crisp'. (Please note these aren't exact quotes, I don't have the book with me.) These same fairies are also the ones with the 'blue rinse', which kills every living thing in range, from bugs on up. Humans may be best at deadly weapons, but the fairies seem to have a fair share of the market as well.
Another aspect I found rather hard to swallow was Artemis Fowl himself. A twelve year old James Bond. Always reassured, always one step ahead of everyone else, he decides to steal the fairie's Book (a book of rules, laws, and culture), to get money by ransoming a kidnapped fairy. He will, and does, go to any length to achieve his goal, including deadly force. I don't have children, but if I did, I'd be afraid of the impression the young hero would make on them. He's not portrayed as the villain, and he faces no consequences for his actions. He has a coolness I can see children wanting to imitate.
Altogether, well written, creative, but ultimately disturbing.