The once hard-boiled Artemis has softened a bit between his bestselling debut and the seat-of-your-pants Arctic Incident, and that trend continues in The Eternity Code: He's still plotting for a billion-dollar-plus payoff for the Fowl family, but now his enemies are human (chiefly Jon Spiro, a ruthless businessman Artemis tries to blackmail using stolen fairy technology) and he has to turn to his old adversary-turned-friend Captain Holly Short and cutpurse dwarf Mulch Diggums for help. The dialogue and action prove as smart and page-turning as ever this time around, with Artemis struggling to bring his faithful bodyguard Butler back from the dead before racing Mission Impossible-style to triple-cross the double-crossing Spiro.

Colfer's young antihero might be getting more likeable all the time, but that hasn't taken the edge off the Tom-Clancy-meets-Harry-Potter action. Artemis has to agree to a memory-erasing "mind wipe" from the People after helping them recover their technology, but only a foolish fan would count Artemis out after this blockbuster "final heist." Book four can't come soon enough.... (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Product Description
Thirteen-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has constructed a supercomputer from stolen fairy technology. In the wrong hands, it could be fatal for humans and fairies alike. But no need to worry, Artemis has a brilliant plan. He's not going to use the computer; he's just going to show it to a ruthless American businessman with Mafia connections. His bodyguard, Butler, will be with him. What could possibly go wrong...?

Because "Eternity Code" revolves around Artemis vs. evil human adults more than Artemis vs. fairies, we lose some of the entertaining and creative descriptions of the Fairies' underground universe. The only fairy creatures who play much of a part in the action are Holly Short and Mulch Diggums. What's more, the human-vs-human violence is really R-rated: loyal bodyguard Butler gets a mortal gunshot wound to the chest in the first chapter (how will he survive?), and Spiro's henchman are constantly choking and destroying (or attempting to destroy) other characters.

It's an extremely well-plotted book. You won't be able to put it down. Still, as a reader and as a parent, I would have preferred more of the fairies and less of the mobsters.


DECODED: An Action-packed and fun novel--hilarious!   May 11, 2003
 17 out of 17 found this review helpful

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...


1 step forward and 2 back   May 24, 2003
 15 out of 22 found this review helpful

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.


Must Have Book!   May 26, 2003
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

My title is pretty much self explanatory. The Eternity Code had very professionally mixed magic, action and strategy(VERY clever strategies I might add). Artemis Fowl is no ordinary teenage boy. He is a genius with money and power. Deadly combination. And he doesn't have ordinary friends either: Captain Holly Short(Fairy)who has a knack of breaking rules, Foaly(Centaur/electronics geek) who is annoying yet funny and very smart, Mulch Diggums(kleptomaniac dwarf).You will love this book! Enjoy!


Artemis Goes Straight?   May 7, 2003
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Arty is up to his old tricks! Those following the misguided adventures of Fowl will be pleasantly surprised by its exciting opening. It's non-stop, bang-bang action that doesn't relent its pace for much sentimentality and tears (as in novel two). Fowl senior is back from being kidnapped and has turned away from a life of crime. He expects his prodigal son to do the same, but thirteen year old Artemis has one more scheme up his sleeve, a last plot to revive the failing family fortunes before settling into a quiet life.

Artemis, using stolen technologies from the fairy people, creates the super advanced C-Cube. He's concocted a plan, as he always does, for relieving a shady mogul of his riches. Jon Spiro, meglomaniacal mastermind, said mogul, and all around bad man, outwits Fowl (much to the detriment of young Arty's ego) and steals it, intending to make further fortune. Unfortunately for him, Artemis has encrypted the C-Cube with his "eternity code", a language that cannot be broken. This, of course, is where the journey begins.

Colfer deftly intermingles past story lines with new, re-introducing us to old cast members; Holly Short, Foaly (everyone's favourite sarcastic centaur), Mulch (the criminal dwarf), Butler and his wrestling crazed sister, Juliet. He continues in his tradition of easy humour, less contrived than his previous novel (still, at times, head shakingly lame), but still chocked full of fun techie-rife laughs. The ending is very fitting too! Not unexpected, but written well enough that the reader greatly looks forward to book four. It's a series worth following, where our hero grows slowly in depth and relationships are more stolidly built. I, personally, await the next novel with much anticipation!