Product Description

Fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill longs to escape from the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. When a rare chance to get away comes, he grabs it, but the attempt goes fatally wrong. He can feel his life force ebbing away, sucked out of him by a strange blue Parasite … until a wisecracking gang of kids burst in, blast the creature and save him. They are the Supernaturalists, dedicated to ridding the world of these life-sucking blue parasites. When they realise that Cosmo has the ability to see these blue creatures too, they enlist him as one of them. Their mission leads Cosmo into a world of high-level corruption, James Bond type technology, thrilling adventure and finally back to a place that Cosmo ever thought he'd have to return...the dreaded Clarissa Frayne.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73563 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Taking a break from his wildly successful Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer delivers another punchy, superbly readable novel with all of the trademark qualities that have earned him so many fans. The Supernaturalist is inventive, dramatic, delicately witty and positively hip.

Satellite City, a vast twenty-five million people plus satellite-controlled metropolis in the third millennium, is home to Cosmo Hill. This 14-year-old orphan, a "no sponsor", inhabits--or rather "survives" in--an orphanage called the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. There are only three ways out of such a miserable establishment: adoption, death or escape. The average life expectancy is 15 years. Cosmo has a year left. At best.

When his chance comes to escape during a transportation crash, Cosmo grabs it and flees into the unknown city. But he is tracked by a zealous guard and falls from a tall building. Accidentally, of course. As Cosmo's life force ebbs away, apparently sucked out by a strange blue parasite, he is rescued by a motley crew of kids. They're on a mission, and Cosmo is drafted in to help them. It's a whole new dangerous beginning…

Colfer has carved out a funky little genre all on his own: he writes exciting adventures that are funny and futuristic, page-turning and realistic. They're not fantasy, but his books are fantastical. They've got a bit of magic about them, without being overtly magical in the Harry Potter sense.

Artemis Fowl has been described as "Die Hard with fairies". The Supernaturalist is heralded as The Matrix meets Ghostbusters. Colfer has a golden touch at the moment and this is another priceless nugget. Suitable for ages 10 and over. --John McLay

Review
In the future's Satellite City, where everything's controlled by an enormous satellite, a plot-twisting adventure includes supernatural creatures, a disenfranchised band of Supernaturalists, and abundant use of futuristic weapons. Fourteen-year-old Cosmo escapes from an orphanage that uses boys as medical and commercial lab rats and meets three people racing around rooftops on a mission. The mission: electrically zapping ghostlike blue creatures at accident scenes before the creatures drain people's life force. Stefan is the leader, Mona the mechanic, and Ditto-a 28-year-old genetic experiment with a six-year-old's body-the medic. Character motivations often serve plot and exposition, but the action is nonstop. Most memorable are the corporate and police structures and weapons (including a slug shot that wraps its victim instantly in cellophane, requiring a vat of acid for removal) and the intriguing, philosophically elusive nature of the blue supernatural creatures. (Science fiction. 10-14) (Kirkus Reviews)

The Times
Reads like The Matrix crossed with Oliver Twist

Customer Reviews

Lets get right to the point- is it as good as Artemis Fowl?
As you are no doubt aware, "The Supernaturalist" is the latest book by Eoin Colfer. I won't bother with a synopsis, (you can read Amazon's own above - no point in reiterating it here). Let's get right to the point. If you're an Artemis Fowl fan and haven't read it yet, then the question you'll want answering is: is it as good as the fantastic Fowl series?

The answer is not a simple yes or no. The most honest reply would be to say that it is entirely different. For a start there's absolutely no magic - it's more science fiction, (though science fantasy would probably be a more accurate description). However, like AF it's full of futuristic high-tech gadgets and is incredibly imaginative and witty. There are plenty of laughs, thrill, spills and impossible adventures to keep you turning the pages, long after midnight!

Speaking personally, I didn't find Cosmo - the main character - as compelling/unique/vibrant as Artemis - but clearly Colfer is going for an entirely different protagonist here. He's far more the hapless under-dog than the wise-cracking evil genius. Supporting characters are fun, but I failed to bond with them - though the Bartolli baby (a 28 year-old man in a 6 year-old body is an imaginitive creation and great fun). The style is very action/comic book - and as ever the dialogue is superb.

So, dear Artemis Fowl fan, should you splash out on a copy or not? The answer is an unqualified YES. A great book, well worth reading - just be sure to approach it with an open mind, knowing it's taking a different (and at times slightly more mature) tack. Don't expect another Artemis ... just enjoy it for what it is!

Loved it
I loved this book, it's as simple as that. No, it's not Artemis Fowl, but that's a good thing. I appreciated the chance to read a new Eoin Colfer book that was about something else for a change. Not that I've got anything against Artemis, he's great, but this was great too.

The story is exciting, fast paced and full of unexpected twists and turns. I challenge anyone not armed with spoilers to predict the ending, it just can't be done. I enjoy a story like that, one that isn't too predictable, but looking back or re-reading after you've finished, there are many clues that you don't pick up on first time around. Or that I didn't, anyway. I read it again almost as soon as I'd finished the first time, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

The characters are all unique in their own way, although some are better than others. I personally found the main character, Cosmo Hill, much less interesting than Ditto (my favourite) and Stefan.

I don't see how anyone could not like this book, it is fast paced, funny and at the same time moving. Its version of the future is scary because sometimes it looks like the nightmare world in which it is set is where we are really headed.

I really hope there is a sequel, or even more than one, the way that it ends definitely leaves the possibility open. If there is one, I hope it will feature Ditto more heavily, he is the most interesting character not only in this book, but in any I've come across for a while. I really want to find out more about his history, and of course find out what the other creatures he mentioned are. Right now I'm hoping for more books following on from this story more than I am for another Artemis Fowl book. So, I've got my fingers crossed for a sequel, who's with me?

A Review of The Supernatualist by A Fanatasy Fan
The first book I read of Eoin Colfer was Artemis Fowl, which was a great and original read. Since then I have read all his other books and this one is no exception from that originality. The story is a lot darker than in preveous books, set in a future where man has destroyed the enviroment and countries are run more or less by corporations. It's plain to see that Colfer has very strong views on the enviroment
The characters, whilst lacking in depth, are quite suited to such a fast pased comic-strip-like story. Colfer's inventivness at creating fictional technology in a way that is totally believable is stronger than ever here, but it isn't quite as funny as the Artemis series. The greatest thing I can say about this book is that it brilliantly realizes a fictional world. I must have for anyone who enjoys children's fantasy or is looking for nice engrossing book that will utterly absorb them.