Book Review: Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

Title: Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
Author: Eoin Colfer
Published: 2003
Publisher: Viking Press
Pages: 309
From: Barnes and Noble

Eoin Colfer is the author of many kid’s stories, including the eight-novel Artemis Fowl series. This series is well-known to the New York Times bestseller list, and the third novel of the eight-book adventure is as good, if not better, than its predecessor.

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code brings science to the mix when Artemis Fowl, a boy genius from Ireland, creates a super computer using fairy technology he kept after incidents in the previous novels. I thoroughly enjoyed Colfer’s third book of the series, with more back story for the characters and action for the reader.

Back stories include more on Juliet Butler and Mulch Diggums. You see where these characters are in their lives, what they’re doing, why they’re doing that. The same goes for Holly Short and Julius Root. Both the fairies have human-like characteristics that show they are capable of being higher life forms and having real emotions they can convey.

I am not sure the whole adventure Artemis and his companions goes on is totally plausible, but it’s hard to decide as the story is fantasy. It seems a bit too out there sometimes, such as the plan for Holly, Mulch and Juliet to get inside the building. But, I think something like that is going to be up to the reader to decide.

Otherwise, I loved it. It was fun, entertaining and contained more doodads and inventive plots than Colfer’s previous novels. It’s fresh and still contains some amount of adventure and danger.

I also like that Colfer is giving Artemis a conscience. It’s part of the overall character development that we see Artemis, a kid who grew up believing gold and the family fortune was the most important thing in the world, now start second-guessing his decisions because of his family. I believe this is a very important detail to the series because it is emotional character development, as well as a message for the kids who read the novels and relate to the characters.

This, the third to Colfer’s coming-of-age, fantasy series, is good. It’s building upon the previous novels, yet is its own book. I hope Colfer’s next five fit within similar,