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Artemis Fowl

by Eoin Colfer · 2001

"Artemis Fowl" is the debut novel in Eoin Colfer's blockbuster series, introducing a twelve-year-old criminal mastermind from a fading dynasty of Irish crooks. Having discovered the existence of a hidden underground… more

First published 2001 · 277 pages · Artemis Fowl #1 · English

26 quotes ★ 3.86 (565,067) Fantasy

Quotes from the Book

Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.
3.4k
It's like learning to ride a unicorn. You never forget.
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If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose, then I'm crazy. That's the way history is written.
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Trust me. I'm a genius.
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Butler could kill you a hundred different ways without use of his armoury. Though I'm sure one would be quite sufficient.
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Let us proceed under the assumption that the fairy folk do exist, and that I am not a gibbering moron.
416
The problem is that I know the textbook answers to any question you care to ask.
300
Hit that back-stabber where it hurts, right in the ambition.
271
I'm right there with you, darlin'. Unless you step on a landmine, in which case I'm way back in the Operations Room.
267
I am unarmed. But Butler here, my ...ah...butler, has a Sig Saucer in his shoulder holster, two shrike-throwing knives in his boots, aderringer two-shot up his sleeve, garrotte wire in his watch, and three stun greanades concealed in variouse pockets. Anything else, Butler?
256
A genius. A criminal mastermind. A millionaire. And he is only twelve years old.
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Stay back, human. You don't know what you're dealing with.
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(to Foaly) Captain Short's life is in danger, so push the button before I climb that tower and push it with your face!
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Shut up, Julius! I mean, quiet a moment, Commander.
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I don't suppose you would consider peaceful surrender?
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Thankfully the rest of the world assumed that the Irish were crazy, a theory that the Irish themselves did nothing to debunk. They had somehow got it into their heads that each fairy lugged around a pot of gold with him wherever he went. While it was true that LEP had a ransom fund, because of its officers' high-risk occupation, no human had ever taken a chunk of it yet. This didn't stop the Irish population in general from skulking around rainbows, hoping to win the supernatural lottery.
151
If Koboi defeats and presumably murders us both then you can consider the debt null and void.
151
Too much damned TV. Thinks he's Sherlock Holmes." "That's professor Moriarty," corrected Foaly. "Holmes, Moriarty, they both look the same with the flesh scorched off their skulls.
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My bugs don't have bugs.
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Let's save some time here. I grow weary of your clumsy bluffs. In the case of an abduction, the LEP will send a crack Retrieval team to get back what has been lost.. You have done so. Excuse me while I titter. Crack team? Honestly. A Cub-Scout patrol armed with water pistols could have defeated them.
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If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose then I'm mad. That's the way history is written
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But even though there were plenty of teeth in the grin, there was no heart.
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What's this?" he inquired, none too pleasantly. "A circus?" "No, Julius. It's the end of the circus." "I see. And these are the clowns?" Foaly's head poked through the doorway. "Pardon me for interrupting your extended circus metaphor, but what the hell is that?
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Butler was seeing the world as it was, complete with L.E.P retrival team
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Don't worry chief,"said foaly,"It's like riding a unicorn,you never forget.
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I don't know why it is, Captain Short, but whenever you start agreeing with me, I get decidedly nervous.
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Did you know?

  • The novel was widely pitched and reviewed as "Die Hard with fairies."
  • It is the first book in an eight-volume series that has sold over 21 million copies worldwide.
  • LEPrecon, the fairy police unit Holly Short belongs to, is a pun on "leprechaun."
  • A Disney film adaptation was released on Disney+ in 2020.
  • A graphic novel adaptation followed in 2007.

About Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer is an Irish author and former primary-school teacher, born in Wexford in 1965, best known for the bestselling Artemis Fowl series; he was named Ireland's Laureate na nÓg (children's literature laureate) in 2014.

More about the author →

About the book

"Artemis Fowl" is the debut novel in Eoin Colfer's blockbuster series, introducing a twelve-year-old criminal mastermind from a fading dynasty of Irish crooks. Having discovered the existence of a hidden underground civilization of fairies, Artemis hatches a scheme to kidnap LEPrecon captain Holly Short and ransom her for a fortune in fairy gold, hoping to restore his family's wealth. What begins as a cold-blooded heist becomes a tense siege as the fairy police, led by the gruff Commander Root and the centaur tech wizard Foaly, mount an operation to recover their captured officer.

At its heart the book plays a high-tech crime caper against a richly reimagined fairy mythology, blending magic with gadgetry, helicopters, and bio-bombs. It explores the tension between Artemis's ruthless genius and the flickers of conscience that surface through his bond with his ailing mother and his loyal bodyguard Butler, while Holly's resourcefulness reframes the captive as a worthy adversary. Loyalty, family, and the gradual softening of an antihero run beneath the comedy and action.

Frequently summed up as "Die Hard with fairies," the novel was a commercial sensation, launching a series that has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and was repeatedly translated. It won the W.H. Smith Children's Book of the Year and the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year in 2001 and was praised for its pacy, witty mix of myth and modern crime thriller, helping cement Colfer's place among the era's leading children's authors.

Key characters

  • Artemis Fowl IITwelve-year-old criminal genius and series protagonist
  • Holly ShortLEPrecon captain and elf whom Artemis kidnaps
  • Domovoi ButlerArtemis's formidable and loyal bodyguard
  • Commander RootGruff, cigar-chewing head of the LEP fairy police
  • FoalyParanoid centaur and technical genius of the LEP
  • Mulch DiggumsKleptomaniac dwarf recruited into the rescue plot

Book details

First published
2001
Length
277 pages
Series
Artemis Fowl #1
Reading time
4 hours
Genre
Fantasy
Goodreads rating
3.86 (565k ratings)

Critical reception

  • Won the 2001 W.H. Smith Children's Book of the Year and the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year.
  • Reviewers praised its blend of myth, modernity, magic, and crime caper and its fast, humorous pacing.
  • The series has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide.

Series & reading order

  1. 1 Artemis Fowl
  2. 2 Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
  3. 3 Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
  4. 4 Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
  5. 5 Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
  6. 6 Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox
  7. 7 Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex
  8. 8 Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    Artemis Fowl 2020

    Disney film released on Disney+, directed by Kenneth Branagh.

  • IMDb
    Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel 2007

    Graphic-novel adaptation of the first book.

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