Artemis Fowl Book Series - Plot and Review

Eoin Colfer is a writer from Ireland, that became famous for his 'Artemis Fowl' novels. In this book series he has created an unusual character of a young boy who has an extremely high IQ. Artemis is also from a very rich family and lives in a beautiful old castle that is in possession of his family for centuries. But gaining a fortune is not an easy job, and Fowls are the family that doesn't always do things the right way. They are famous for their criminal past, and although he is only twelve years old, Artemis Fowl II is ready to continue this tradition and to preform the crime of the century.

Although Colfer is best known for this book series, he did a lot of great work that is not connected to Artemis' character. His bibliography includes novels such as 'The Wish List', 'Half Moon Investigations' and 'Supernaturalist', but lately he was in a center of attention mostly because he wrote the sixth part of the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy' in 2009.

As you probably know, 'Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy' was created by great Douglas Adams, and it contained five parts. Before Douglas Adams died, he was thinking about writing the sixth one, but unfortunately he didn't managed to to this. But, as Adams' widow said, Colfer was the right person for that job, and he did it in the best possible way with his book 'And Another Thing...'.

First book in this series is called just 'Artemis Fowl', and I read it few years ago. Since then I'm 'hooked'. The reason why this book attracted my attention was of course because it is about fairies. I like to read books about magic. There is always a lot of action, cool characters and an imagination. Writing that kind of novel gives the writer an opportunity to be more creative and to expand the edges of the readers world, so it's really important to find a quality fantasy writer if you want to have fun and be amused.

As I said, 'Artemis Fowl' seemed promising to me, so I gave it a try. In the book I found this incredible boy, who was in unique life situation and wanted to do something that has never been done before. Although as a criminal, he should be an anti-hero, I had to admire his self-confidence, intelligence and initiative.

Before the beginning of this novel, his father, Artemis Fowl I, started a new business in Russia. He invested a big part of family wealth in this project, but at one point he gets in trouble with the Russian mafia and disappears. Artemis' mother Angelina, lost her mind after that event, so the young Artemis is left on his own. Only person that he can really count on is his bodyguard, Butler. Members of Butler's family are in service at Fowl's family for centuries, and were always loyal to them.

So, with Butler on his side, and no other adults to ruin his plans, Artemis is ready to start his crime carrier. He discovered that the fairies exist, and after a lot of time he invested in investigation, he found out everything that one can know about leprechauns.

Eoin Colfer used some classic elements of Irish mythology to create his story, and one of the most famous is certainly the idea about leprechauns. It's well known, that if you find the end of the rainbow, you will find a pot of gold. But, in this book, it's a little bit different. LEPrecons stands for the Lower Elements Police.

This is the explanation: in Colfers world, fairies exist, but they find it difficult to live with the people on the Earth surface. Environment became so polluted because of peoples' lack of care, and no fairy can survive being here. This is the reason why they live underground in a special cities with their own organization, and they even have a fairy police. So, LEPrecon is basically a policeman. And, they do have gold, but that has nothing to do with rainbows. It's used as ransom if someone kidnap one of them.

So, you can imagine what will Artemis try to accomplish. But, there are some things that he would not expect, such as LEP's advanced technology, that is centuries ahead of our. I suggest you read this book if you are wondering will Artemis win his prize and restore his family wealth.

This is a wonderful story that combine modern technology, magic, mythology, kidnapping and great characters, so anyone can find something to enjoy.

After reading the first book, I was so happy when I found out that there is more!

In the first book, Artemis has kidnapped Holly Short, a member of the LEP, and this puts him on the list of fairies' worst enemies. So, when they found out that goblins in the underground are preparing themselves for a rebellion, Artemis is the prime suspect for helping them. LEP's team, made from Holly, her commander (named Root), and a Foaly, genius centaur in charge for LEP's technology, has a hard task to prevent goblins in their intentions.

In the meantime, Artemis has his own worries. After he unsuccessfully tried everything that he could to find his father, the Russian mafia finally gives him a call. He found out that his father is still alive, and he needs to save him, but he can't do that on his own. Foaly and fairies' advanced technology are his only hope.

With the goblins on one side, and mafia on the other, all the character that were enemies in the first book now has to work together in order to save something that they really care for. For Artemis, that's his father, and for LEP, their life under the ground. But the evil little fairy, Opal Koboi, won't let them to do this easily. Especially because she is a genius that only Foaly can compete with.

This book is especially interesting, because you can see how Artemis changes and grows as a person. At the first book he was insensitive and his only motivation was money. He didn't respect anyone and considered himself the only valuable person for his high intelligence. In this book, he found out that there are more qualities that person can posses that are worth of respect. He recognizes the value of courage, friendship and love, and finally sees how this things can improve persons life.

Thanks to some fairy technology that he had stolen, Artemis made a 'C Cube', supercomputer that is encrypted with 'The Eternity Code'. Aware of the value of his product, he attempts to sell it to a businessman Jon Spiro.

Jon Spiro and his bodyguard made a trap for Artemis and Butler in order to steal the cube from them, and Butler is wounded very badly. Scared for his friend's life, Artemis tries to get help from the only source that he knows. He needs to ask Holly to save Butler with her magic. But fairy magic can help you only in first few minutes after the injury.

After Artemis realized how much does he care for Butler in the previous book, he is now ready to do anything to keep him alive. He will maintain to get Holly's help, mostly because she respects Butler herself, and she will also agree to help him against Jon Spiro, but only if Artemis let her wipe his memory about fairies.

In this book, important characters are also Juliet Butler, Butler's little sister, who also wants to be a bodyguard like her brother, and Mulch Diggams, the dwarf with a huge criminal record.

As promised, Artemis let LEP to wipe his memory at the end of this book. They also try to find out if he created any backup, or some kind of plan for recovering it, but he passes all the tests successfully. But of course, we are talking about the most intelligent kid in the whole world. A kid that even succeeded in cleaning all the charges against famous criminal Mulch Diggams, and now is expecting something in return.

In 'The Arctic Incident', Opal Koboi was arrested because of her attempt of rebellion. She is in a coma at the time and is being kept under the strongest possible protection. But brilliant as she is, she created a plan to escape.

Artemis has forgotten everything he knew about fairies, so when Holly comes to ask him for help, he can't remember a single thing, but he accepts to help her for money. Opal had already made a great mess, managing to escape and killing one of the most important members of LEP. Holly is the main suspect for this murder, so Artemis is her only hope.

Opal's plan is to help Giovanni Zito, who is an Italian environmentalist, to send a probe thought the Earth's crust. This way, people would find out that fairies exist, and war between races would begin.

Only threat to her plan are Artemis and Holly who know that she escaped from prison, so she gives her best to kill them. Fortunately, they are being rescued by Butler and Mulch Diggums, and Artemis can finally have his memory back, thanks to Mulch. On the other side, everybody in LEP believe that Holly is a murderer, so they are chasing them too.

After the exciting final, Holly quits her job and starts her own investigating agency with her new partner, Mulch.

There is one more type of magical creatures that Colfer didn't write about so far. Those are the demons. The reason why they didn't appeared in the previous five books is because they live on the island Hybras, in 'Limbo', place where the time does not exist.

But sometimes, some demons that wander trough time and space, astray in our reality and can be seen for a few short seconds before they disappear. One of them will be seen in Barcelona. And Artemis Fowl will try to catch him.

At the same 'time' but out of any time, there is one imp - the young creature that should become demon with the time. His name is No.1, and he suspects that he is not a common demon, but a warlock. One of those great creatures that can make Hybras to return to the place from where it came.

And when Artemis tries to catch his next demon, that would be the No.1 himself. But Artemis is not the only person who is trying to get him. in this book, we will met Minerva Paradizo, a young girl who is also very intelligent. It would be interesting to see how a teenage Artemis is reacting in the company of a young attractive girl.

There is one more interesting character in this book, and that's Leon Abbot, deamon's leader, who's rule is very weird. His main wish is to kill all the men, and all of the demons will follow him in that intention. But No.1 sees something suspicious in that and this will change the history of the demons world.

Our heroes will try to stop Abbot, no matter what. They will travel trough time and they will try to use magic to place the Hybras into our dimension and time. Unfortunately, they will come three years later, after Butler and Artemis' family had almost dyed from grief because he disappeared. But, there are some good news to. In the meantime, Artemis became a brother of two baby boys, twins.

Artemis' mother, Angelina, becomes ill form a weird disease that becomes even worse when he try to cure her with magic. He is totally desperate and ready to do anything to find the cure for her condition. Unfortunately, the only medicine that can help her is made by the brain of the silky sifaka lemur, the species that are extinct.

A few years ago, there was one lemur left, but organisation known as Extinctionists killed him. Their mission is to kill all the animals that are not directly useful for the man kind. And at the age ot ten, Artemis Fowl, sold this last lemur to Extinctionists.

This death lemur is the only hope for his mother, and he realises what he needs to do. He has to call No.1 and ask him to send him to the past in order to fight his former self and save the lemur and his mother.

But of course, the show wouldn't be complete, without Artemis' old friend - Opal Koboi. And she has her own reasons for wanting the lemur for herself.

In the end of the book, young Artemis' memory is wiped, so he forgets all situations from this novel. But he remembers one thing - the fairies. And this is how he comes on the idea of kidnapping the fairy in the first book, so this is what the 'time paradox' is about.

The Atlantis Complex is a fairy decease that combines symptoms of our OCD, paranoia and Multiple Personality Disorder. Holly Short and Foaly find out that their friend, Artemis, has this condition, while he shows them his new invention, the 'Ice Cube', that can stop global warming. At that point, spacecraft that Foaly designed to find water on Mars, attacks them and destroy all of their equipment.

Artemis has sent Butler into Mexico, as a result of his paranoia, so they are helpless. At the same time, Turnball Root, multiple offender is at large, and although you can't have your magic abilities if you are a criminal, he managed to gain them again. He is on the way to find his true love, his human wife. The only problem is that she is human, and she is aging much faster than him. Turnball realises that if he wants his wife to be young forever, he has to kidnap No.1 and make him take them to the past.

At this point, Artemis' condition becomes useful, because of his alter ego, Orion can't be manipulated with magic, so he manages to help No.1, but he has to go to the hospital.

Artemis is being cured from his Atlantis Complex on the J. Argon Institute. During his treatment there, he learns that his fondness to fairies is not a coincidence. There are some good reasons for that. On the Fowl's estate there was a battle between humans and fairies.

Opal Koboi has one more great plan to start a war between two races. The souls of the dead fairy soldiers can be evoked in order to protect their kind from humans. And that's just what she wants to do. She will first unlock the level of protection in which the souls of the warriors will possess Artemis' friends and family. And when all the hope is lost, he will get some unexpected help. From who other than the coolest dwarf under the world - Mulch Diggums.

At this point, Holly explains to Artemis, Butler and Mulch, what had happen. Fairies had created their way of protection from man kind by creating the key and two locks. Unfortunately, it has happened that Opal herself is that 'key', and that she unlocks the first 'lock', which purpose was to protect fairies if they are in immediate danger. The second lock, that Opal is preparing to unlock is much worse than that. It's purpose is to kill all the humans on the Earth.

It's up to Artemis and his briliant mind to try to resolve this horrible situation and to defeat Opal once and forever.

The Last Guardian is the last book in the series. This was a long journey I wish will never end. But, Eoin Colfer says that this was it. Although the series is over, I hope that Artemis will live long in heart of his readers. Especially because this little criminal really is something. He showed us that a person can be changed, and from the real bad guy, became a great person, that love others and can be loved in return.

He also showed us that a great intelligence and wealth are not prerequisite for the fulfilled life. It's much better to have a great heart than a great mind, and you are much richer if you have a lot of friends than a lot of money.