Artemis Fowl is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Irish author Eoin
Colfer. It is the first book in the Artemis Fowl series, followed by Artemis
Fowl: The Arctic Incident. Described by its author as "Die Hard with fairies",
it follows the adventures of Artemis Fowl, a twelve-year-old criminal
mastermind, as he kidnaps a fairy for a large ransom of gold.
Throughout the book, the third-person narration switches from following the
human characters to following the fairy characters to present underlying themes
of greed and conflict. The book received a mostly favourable critical response
and several awards. A film adaptation was reported to be in the writing stage
in mid-2008 with Jim Sheridan directing. Synopsis
Artemis Fowl II is the twelve-year-old son of an Irish crime lord, Artemis Fowl
I. He is a child prodigy, who has dedicated his life to criminal
activities. He leads the Fowl criminal empire, which has been established by
his family for generations. After significant research, Artemis believes
that he has confirmed the existence of fairies. He tracks down an alcoholic
sprite posing as a healer in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and travels there with
his bodyguard Butler to obtain from her The Book of the People—the Fairy holy
book that is written in Gnommish. Meanwhile, Captain Holly Short of the
Lower Elements Police is tracking a rogue troll that has managed to reach
the surface of the Earth from Haven city, thousands of feet underground.
Assisted by the technically minded centaur Foaly and LEPrecon commander
Julius Root, she incapacitates the troll.
Artemis decodes the Book using translating software, and in the
process, learns the specifics of the ritual fairies use to replenish their
magic: take an acorn from an ancient oak tree near a bend in a river under the
full moon and plant it elsewhere. Artemis and Butler track down 129
possible locations for the ritual and start a stakeout, they discover Holly
performing the ritual. Butler tranquilizes Holly with a hypodermic
dart gun. A LEP retrieval team is sent to scout
Fowl Manor. Using their 'shielding' ability, which allows them to vibrate
faster than the human eye can follow, the team enters the manor grounds.
Artemis had anticipated this, however, and installed a camera with a high
frames-per-second rate, allowing him to detect the threat by freezing the image.
After Butler incapacitates the intruders, Root decides to lay siege to
Fowl Manor using a time-stop and enter negotiations. Artemis reveals the ransom
demand: one metric ton of 24-carat gold. Artemis also reveals his knowledge of
the time-stop and claims that he can escape it. An analysis by LEP behavior
experts determines that Artemis is telling the truth.
The attempts to gain entry to the manor continue as the LEP recruit an infamous
criminal, the kleptomaniac dwarf Mulch Diggums to break in. Fairies are
forbidden from entering human dwellings without permission, but Mulch has broken
this rule so many times that he is immune to the adverse consequences. He
tunnels underground to reach the house while Foaly feeds a loop to the manor
surveillance system, allowing Mulch to freely explore. Mulch accidentally
locates a safe containing Artemis' copy of the Book, finally revealing to the
fairies the source of Artemis' knowledge, which he had led them to
believe he had acquired form a truth serum administered to Holly. The Fairy
Council, deciding that nothing is working, promotes a lieutenant called
Briar Cudgeon to Acting Commander, temporarily usurping Julius Root.
Meanwhile, Holly Short cracks through the concrete of her cell, finding fresh
dirt, and completes the ritual with a smuggled acorn. Having regained her
magic, she escapes into the main house. Cudgeon decides to release the troll
Holly captured earlier into the mansion to force Artemis to allow the fairies to
enter and subdue the troll. This backfires, as Butler, aided by Holly's
healing powers, defeats the troll. The Fairy Council subsequently strips
Cudgeon of his post. Artemis is finally granted the ransom.
The gold is sent in, and Artemis asks Holly for a wish: to cure his mother's
insanity — she has been living in her bedroom, driven mad by the loss of her
husband. Holly grants the wish at the cost of half the gold. The LEP decides
to send in a 'blue rinse' – a biological bomb that kills all organic life — to
eliminate Artemis and allow for the retrieval of the gold, but this fails
when Artemis escapes the time-stop by drugging himself and his comrades with
sleeping pills. Having survived until the end of the
time stop, the LEP is bound by law and leaves the remaining gold and departs.
At the end, Butler demands an explanation as to how Artemis came up
with the idea of using sleeping pills. Artemis explains that he had gotten the
idea from old fairy tales, in which human characters never wake up at an
inopportune moment for the fairies, and had guessed that time-stops were the
reason. Artemis finds his mother has fully recovered from her insanity thanks
to Holly's magic. Major characters
Artemis Fowl II – The protagonist; a 12-year-old genius, he uses his
intelligence to obtain massive wealth through various illegal business
ventures; this stems from his family, who have been criminals for generations.
While he seems cold and distant at the beginning, his character develops
throughout, and he shows remorse, guilt, and passion for his family at the end.
Butler – The Fowl's best manservant and Artemis' bodyguard but also Artemis'
friend and accomplice, despite this trait being against his training. He is
only referred to as "Butler," that being his family name and the origin of the
actual term "butler". His first name is not revealed, but in Artemis Fowl: The
Eternity Code, it is revealed as "Domovoi."
Captain Holly Short – A determined, forthright elf and the first female
captain of LEPrecon. Compassionate and caring, she goes as far as healing
Butler from fatal wounds sustained fighting a troll, even though he has
been integral in the plan to hold her hostage—this act is the first step to
changing Artemis' attitude and conscience.
Commander Julius Root – Known as "Beetroot" by fellow fairies for his
characteristic red face, he is Holly Short's superior officer. A father
figure to the other fairies, and especially Holly, he is distressed at
her disappearance, as seen in his conversation with Artemis in the whaling
ship: "If you've harmed one tip of my officer's pointy ears...".
Foaly – The LEP's technical advisor. Portrayed as brilliant and sarcastic, he
is described as "having few friends." He has invented several technological
innovations eons ahead of human technology, such as the time-stop used
in the siege of Fowl Manor and provides the other characters with numerous
high-tech gadgets. Mulch Diggums – A kleptomaniac dwarf
whom the LEP recruits use to gain access to Fowl Manor during the siege, due to
his many hereditary abilities,such as tunneling at unbelievable speeds. Having
forfeited his magic years ago to allow him to follow a life of crime, he is
immune to the restrictions of the Book of the People.
Themes Artemis Fowl has a number of underlying
themes, but the most essential of these are greed and the conflict between good
and evil. Greed is the first main theme that is
introduced into the book, and specifically the desire to obtain gold.
In a similar manner to other themes in the book, it changes throughout,
becoming less of a focus near to the end of the novel, where Artemis is willing
to part with a large sum of money to help someone else.
The idea of conflict between good and evil is one that is touched upon in the
book in a light hearted manner. Although Artemis sees himself as an evil genius
at the beginning of the book, and is portrayed as such, the end of the story
contradicts this image when he pays the fairies to help his mother. Artemis'
enemies, the fairies, would be "the good side", but their actions call this view
into question—they are as determined as Artemis is, to achieve their goals, and
while only some of them are willing to ruthlessly deploy a troll, regardless of
the possible danger to life, all are willing to utilise a bio-bomb once Holly
is out of the mansion to force Artemis into submission.
Critical reception In general, the book received a very
positive critical response – in 2004 it received the Young Reader's Choice Award
and Garden State Teen Book Award, among other awards.
The New York Post said "Artemis Fowl is great ... a new thriller fairy tale that
will grab your interest, no matter your age." and the Library Journal said "Fun
to read, full of action and humour, this is recommended for all public libraries
and to readers of all ages." Time.com said, "Artemis Fowl is pacy, playful,
and very funny, an inventive mix of myth and modernity, magic and crime," while
The New York Times Book Review said that "Colfer has done enormously, explosively
well." Kate Kellaway of The Observer called the
book "a smart, amusing one-off. It flashes with hi-tech invention – as if
Colfer were as much an inspired boffin as a writer." The Amazon.com official
review highly complimented the book, saying "Fantastic stuff from beginning
to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st century romp of the highest order."
However, another Time Magazine review criticized the "abysmal" writing and the
characterization, calling Artemis' character "repellent in almost every
regard." It concluded that Artemis Fowl is "an awkward, calculated, humorless
and mean-spirited book." USA Today's review concluded: "All the familiar
action-flick clichés are trotted out: the backstabbing, politically astute
subordinate; the seemingly loony but loyal computer expert; the dabs of
family loyalty; the requisite happy ending; the utterly unsubtle plugs for
the sequel; the big action scenes. ... Resist the hype, parents, booksellers
and librarians. This is not the new Harry Potter, nor is it a good
children's book." Adaptations
In 2001 plans were announced for a film adaptation of the series. Miramax Films
was named as purchasing the film rights, with Lawrence Guterman signed to direct.
In 2003 Colfer stated that a screenplay had been finalized and that casting was
due to start the same year, but expressed scepticism over whether or not
this would come to pass. The film remained in development and was assumed
to be in development hell until 2011, when it was reported that Jim Sheridan
was interested in directing the movie. In July 2013, it was announced that
Disney and Harvey Weinstein are developing a project based on the first
and second installment of the Artemis Fowl series. Robert De Niro and Jane
Rosenthal will be the executive producers.
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel is a graphic novel based on the book. Written
by Colfer and adapted by Andrew Donkin, the graphic novel was released on 2
October 2007. The plot remains the same as the book's except some minor details.
Some characters' appearances differed from their description in the book;
Holly Short's hair is longer than described in the book and a darker
brown, as opposed to the reddish brown described in the book. Haven City's roof
is stalactites and rock as opposed to the computer-generated sky described by
the book. The graphic novel does not contain many word balloons, showing each
character's story in first-person. Graphic novels for subsequent books in
the series were released in 2009, 2013, and 2014.
Publication history Artemis Fowl. USA: Miramax. 2001. ISBN
0-7868-0801-2. Artemis Fowl. England and Ireland:
Viking Children's Books – Viking Press. 2001. ISBN 0-670-89962-3.
Artemis Fowl. England and Ireland: Puffin Books. 2002. ISBN 0-14-131212-2.
Artemis Fowl. USA: Miramax. 2002. ISBN 0-7868-1707-0.
Artemis Fowl. USA: Miramax. 2006. ISBN 1-4231-0515-X.
References = Text=
Colfer, Eoin.. Artemis Fowl. Viking Children's Books. Paperback: ISBN
0-670-89962-3 = References=
External links Official website
Artemis Fowl Book Covers From Around The World
Artemis Fowl Confidential's Graphic Novel Page – Containing example frames
from the Graphic Novel, proof copy covers and more information
Artemis Fowl Confidential Interview with Giovanni Rigano, the artist.