Eternity Code offers more invention and possibility for engaging drama than Arctic Incident did. But still Eoin Colfer doesn't give us enough. Last time the action was underwritten and ended up being a bit confusing. That ain't the case here but it's the characters that fall short amid the story. Holly. Foaly and Root (who thankfully isn't in this much) are not further developed in any way. Juliet has more time now but her sub-story slows down the rest.

Plus Jon Spiro was a very weak villain. He just didn't do anything except surround himself with stereotyped goons. And a subplot about him being connected to the Mob seems to have been forgotten by Colfer at a certain point.

Sure, it's the longest Artemis Fowl book yet but I still can't get over the fact that the first was so much better, had more action and was just way more enjoyable. I kept waiting for the big ending to come, only it didn't happen. There is no finale to this threequel. It just ends, leaving many questions. What happened to Spiro? Where did the C-Cube go?

The C-Cube had the capability of juicing up the story but nothing much was done with it even though it was a pretty original plot device. It's a shame it had to be no more than a generic MacGuffin.

It was also a bit open-ended. Colfer could end the franchise with this one if the wanted to (tho he has never taken full advantage of all the possibilities it can offer) but I doubt he will. I'm sure we'll see the return of Arty in May 2004. I got the Hardback cover with the red/glittery wrap-around, very nice.

I thought Artemis Fowl number three was good, yet I don't believe that it was nearly as good as the first two. I myself found it to be a little too gruesome, and thought the end was sad. Yet Artemis Fowl is always two steps ahead so don't give up hope.
13 year old reader.

HE'S BAAACK! Yes, Artemis Fowl is back in action in the third addition to the hit series. The book is packed full with action and lives up to the promises of the other books.

Artemis Fowl is coming to grips with the return of his kidnapped father and Fowl Sr.'s newly formed conscience. His parents are insisting on turning around the illegal enterprises of the Fowl Family, but Artemis isn't so sure. Still, in an effort to please his parents, he decides that he will commit just one last crime. Just a tiny one.

But, Artemis didn't count on the operation blowing up in his face. When he meets with American master criminal Jon Spiro, he didn't realize he was being set up. All Artemis wanted to do was intimidate him a little bit with his new "C Cube", a hybrid of fairy and human technology decades ahead of its time; it will render all other technologies--like the ones Spiro creates--obsolete. So when Spiro steals the Cube and mortally wounds Butler in an attempt to murder Artemis, the young master criminal is forced to seek the aid of his long-time adversaries.

The Fairies are less than pleased when Artemis reveals his loss of the fairy technology, that, in the wrong hands, would be capable of revealing the entire Fairy civilization. Determined to steal back the C Cube, Artemis enlists the aid of Captain Holly Short and the Fairy criminal Mulch Diggums in a risky operation that takes place in Chicago.

Great fun! Colfer exercises his great prowess as a writer as he seamlessly winds the third story of Artemis Fowl. The funny, witty characters manage to be charming and tough. The only qualm I had was that Holly and Artemis had less interaction that they did in #2, which would have added even more humor to the novel. We also get to know Juliet Butler better, which is a good addition to the story.

Okay, do you really have to read this review to know you NEED TO READ this book? I didn't think so. If you haven't, read the others first. And when you have finished all three, you'll be hoping that Colfer will produce a fourth (its rumored that it will be quartet.)

So Happy Reading! You'll have lots of fun with this one...

Before you enter the underground world of the fairies, gnomes, goblins, elves, dwarves and sprites known as the Lower Elements, please be aware that you will most probably get zapped in the behind by a buzz baton, blown away by dwarven gas, or mindwiped by fairy magic. For you are a Mud Man . . . So stay back human, you don't know what you're dealing with.

In the first Artemis Fowl book, 12-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl steals gold from the fairies because his family is broke. The Russian mafia has captured his father.
In the sequel, The Arctic Incident, goblins are running around abandoned fairy-world cities with illegal weapons powered by human batteries. The fairies capture Artemis Fowl, thinking he is supplying the batteries to the goblins. When the fairy Holly, the very first female LEP officer (LEP: lower Elements Police), comes to get Artemis he agrees to go to her underground world. Commander Root of the LEP interrogates Artemis using fairy magic that made him tell the truth. It turns out he isn't helping Goblins. So the fairies make him a deal: they help Artemis get his father back, and he helps them track down whoever was supplying the Goblins.
On the way to Russia, Artemis and the fairies were attacked by Goblins with illegal lasers. They return to Haven City only to find bigger problems. (I won't give away the ending, but it is awesome.)

This is the BEST book I have ever read and I hope there will be an Artemis Fowl 3.My favourite character was Mulch the dwarf because he is so funny and it is also funny how his body works. Eoin Colfer's imaginary world, the lower elements, creates a terrific environment for many exciting adventures. This book engages your imagination from the first page to the final page.

It's one of those things such as marmite, football and shopping. Artemis Fowl. You love it, or hate it. And I'm extremely glad to be able to count myself among those you love it.

I've read both books more than five times, and every night I sit and pray that the genius Eoin Colfer brings out a third. The characters all have so much character, even those mentioned just once, the descriptions are incredible and the flow of the words is easily the greatest use of the English language in the history of literature.

My favourite character? Artemis Fowl, of course. He's quick-witted, cool in the face of dangerous and viciously intelligent. But book two showed us the softer, most vunerable side of Artemis Fowl, as the boy he didn't ever truly have a chance to be.

The best bit in number two is when he emerges from the plasma in Koboi labs. What a scene. The movie has a good chance of living up to the superb quality of the book, but if it doesn't then I'll still be the biggest fan on Earth of Eoin Colfer.

Funny story. I've started to learn Russian, even since I first read book one, just because I love this book so much.

God bless Eoin Colfer. And God bless Artemis Fowl.

A Review by Chris

Artemis Fowl is a 13 year old genius. He comes from a very wealthy family, that has a large criminal record. A while back Artemis lost his father in a boating accident. Ever since the accident he has been desperately searching for him, until one day when he received a mysterious e mail. It was a ransom note. A Russian mob had found his father and was holding him for a very high ransom. It is now up to Artemis and his Butler to rescue him.

One thing I enjoyed about this book was the unique characters. There was a younge genius (Artemis), a combat specialist (Butler), and a kleptomaniac dwarf (Mulch). The large array of characters makes the story both interesting and funny. Another thing I liked about this book was the fat that it was a fast reading book and that it contained a lot of humor. I read this novel in only two days. The plot of the story really makes you want to keep on reading. Its hard to put down. The last thing that I really liked about The Arctic Incident was the fact that they were able to continue right were that last book ended. I though it was pretty neat when they brought back all of the old characters like Mulch Diggums and Foaly.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure books. It's a very fun book and it reads very fast. It has a lot of action in it so you'll never get bored.

Grady Mitchell - umbrian@yahoo.com - 4shadow

Marvelously entertaining in its own right

I agree with the earlier writer who said the Harry Potter comparison is misleading. The HP books are entirely different (and also wonderful -- 5-stars without hesitation).

Artemis Fowl is a comic action-adventure. It's a very quick read, and totally engrossing. The story begins right in the action, with Artemis tracking down fairy-world secrets in Ho Chi Minh City, and the pace never goes slack.

Colfer does a brilliant job of weaving in background and setting, so that without ever bogging the story down, he paints a whole colorful history of Fowl's family, and an intricate underground universe populated with all different sorts of fairies with their own technology, social problems, history, rituals These creatures are all living right below our noses, keeping their existence secret through a variety of clever ruses and contraptions (for example vacationing elves sometimes go to Disneyland -- the one place in the surface world where they can escape attention). It provides fairy-magic explanations for real world mysteries, creating a kind of plausibility, much like X-Files. Colfer crafts wonderful description, pretty good dialog of the rapid-fire sort, and several hilarious episodes.

What do I think of a kid's book whose protagonist is a thief? A worthwhile question, and indeed my reason for reading this book was that my daughter wanted it, and I make sure to read along with her to make sure she's getting good lessons.

Well, by the time the book is half over, it's clear that nobody's making a case for a life of crime. The other protagonist, the first female in the fairies' elite police unit, is brave, resourceful, and sympathetic -- it's her you're rooting for. Artemis is dazzling -- but for his intelligence, studiousness, and focus, and not for his lawbreaking (of which there is in fact very little book). His quest for gold is increasingly unimportant as the chapters go by. The book's messages are in fact mainly about the importance of compassion, courage, loyalty -- with both fairy and human saving one-another in the end, while the child-side of Artemis finally shows through, and his real goal becomes helping save his mother from her delusional melancholy. There are also frequent anti-bigotry and pro-environment statements that more jaded readers might even consider a tad-PC (I wouldn't say so at all).

Miranda didn't quite have the attention span to write her own review, but I did get a quick quote from her, "for the press":

"Holly [the fairy police officer] is my favorite. Commander Root gives her a hard time but he knows she's the best. Artemis is a brat. I hope his dad comes back in the next book so he will be happier. I liked the book very very much. It is only the second book where I read the whole book in one single day."

There you have it. She's 10 by the way, and a big, tall, darling girl, whom I will gave a solid 5-stars.

Contrary to some of the opinions that have been expressed, one of the things I liked most about the Artemis Fowl was the lead character himself, 12-year old Artemis. His ingenuity and brilliance combined with an appalling ruthlessness makes him one of the most fascinating characters I've read in a long time. Artemis is the sort of anti-hero you would despise in real life but root for in a story. In that sense, he reminds me of Carmen San Diego who proves to be just as big a challenge to her adversaries as Artemis is to the LEPrecon unit.

Also, I have to add that comparing Artemis Fowl to the Harry Potter series doesn't really help since the two books are different in so many aspects. First of all, Artemis is definitely NOT Harry. He may be young but he's far from innocent or well intentioned. And I really wouldn't recommend him as a role model for young kids. Secondly, while the Harry Potter series is about the battle between good and evil (to put it simply), Artemis Fowl's story is about a battle of wits between the humans and the fairies where each group tries to outsmart the other. No one side can be simply classified as good or evil (although some people out there would probably disagree and promptly classify Artemis in the latter category). There are many other differences between the two but so far the only thing in common I can find for both Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter is that they both belong to the fantasy genre which really doesn't provide much of a basis for comparison.

All in all, I'd say Artemis Fowl is a pretty good read. The story is inventive and interesting with an exciting pace and an intriguing lead character to match. While it's probably not the best reading material for young impressionable kids out there, I'd definitely recommend it to young adults and everyone else interested in fantasy and sci-fi.

Artemis Fowl is a twelve-year-old boy who just happens to be both a genius and a criminal mastermind. In a desperate attempt to restore his family's fortune, Artemis comes up with a plan to steal gold from the fairies. Along with his trusty butler sidekick "Butler", he travels to Vietnam on a quest to find a volume of fairy commandments. Once this is achieved and the book deciphered, the next logical step would be to kidnap a fairy and wait for the ransom money to arrive. However, when Artemis kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon, it seems he's made a mistake. Because these aren't the cute little elves of bedtime stories. These fairies are armed, dangerous and ready to fight. And they will stop at nothing to get Holly back.

The book has often been claimed to be the "next Harry Potter", but while it shares the same fantastically imaginative storyline and colourful descriptions, this is far darker and more humorous than JK Rowling's books. The main characters are all unique and loveable, particularly Holly, Foaly and Root. Even the anti-hero, Artemis Fowl himself is strangely appealing, despite his more dubious characteristics. As the book goes on, you begin to see that he does indeed possess a conscience, he is just careful never to let it get in the way of his evil schemes.

Artemis Fowl is full of humour and action. The author has produced an imaginative, fast-paced adventure, which combines magic and technology. The style of narrative is fairly informal, making it easier and more enjoyable to read. Although the first chapter is quite slow, the action soon speeds up and never stops. The story was absorbing, exciting and I read it straight through in a couple of hours without stopping. Where the "Goblet of Fire" was quite frightening, Artemis Fowl is full of humour and the typical fairy magic is replaced with action and wit.

I think that this book would be less appealing to younger children in the way that Harry Potter managed to be, but older kids, teenagers and adults alike should enjoy the mix of fantasy, humour and adventure. Overall: five stars, and I will definitely be reading it again. This is no copy of Harry Potter; Artemis Fowl is a completely original work but is still deserving of all the hype. I am sure I will be buying any future books in the series.

I got this book for my daughter because we both loved Artemis Fowl, Colfer's other novel. This one unfortunately does not measure up. But rush out to buy Artemis Fowl if you haven't already.

This book isn't quite as good as my autographted copies of the first 2 books out of 4 of the Artemis Fowl story. It's Colfer so it is definetly good but it lacks the zest of Artemis.