Children's Science Fiction Novels Codexery

Artemis Fowl (novel)

A young criminal mastermind kidnaps a fairy for gold.

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The novel follows twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl II after he kidnaps fairy LEP officer Holly Short for a ransom of gold.[1] Greed and the conflict between good and evil are the book's essential underlying themes.[2][3]

Making and release

Eoin Colfer, a 35-year-old Irish teacher, finished the book last summer.[4] Colfer received an estimated £700,000 from publishers worldwide, the largest advance ever for a children's novel by an unknown author.[4] The book was published by Hyperion Books for Children on May 1, 2001.[5] Miramax optioned the book for £250,000.[4]

Colfer believes it is nonsensical to compare Artemis to Harry Potter.[4] A film adaptation was released on Disney+ on 12 June 2020.[6] On 2 October 2007, Hyperion Books for Children published a graphic novel adaptation of the book, with the story adapted by Andrew Donkin and illustrations by Giovanni Rigano, while Eoin Colfer is credited as the writer.[7][8] The graphic novel's storyline is largely identical to the original novel, with only a few small changes.[7]

What the cited sources add

Colfer describes Artemis as an "intellectual criminal" but also a vulnerable 12-year-old boy who suffers moral twinges.[4] Colfer stated the story is about a boy learning that "avarice is not as important as family"[4] The BookRags account notes that Artemis represents the themes of narcissism, arrogance, and entitlement.[9] Artemis lives by the motto "Know thine enemy" and gathers knowledge to reinforce himself.[9]

He uses computer knowledge to crack Gnommish, the fairy code, to gain power over those creatures.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Artemis Fowl (novel)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frederick, "Die Hard With Fairies", Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2001; Atkinson, "A way with the fairies", The Age, 2 October 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Artemis Fowl (novel)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "MonkeyNotes"; "Bookrags" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Artemis Fowl (novel)" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Kellaway, "Elf and happiness", The Guardian, 13 May 2001. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  5. Open Library record, ISBN 0786808012 ("Artemis Fowl"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Artemis Fowl (novel)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fleming, "Hell Freezes Over; Harvey Weinstein Teams With Disney On 'Artemis Fowl'", Deadline Hollywood, 29 July 2013; "Disney announces dates for new Star Wars movies, MCU Phase 4, and more", Polygon.com, 7 May 2019; Nordine, "'Artemis Fowl': Everything You Need to Know About Disney's Adaptation of the Beloved Young-Adult Series", 18 September 2017; Fuster, "Disney Bumps 'New Mutants' and 'Artemis Fowl' to 2020", The Wrap, 7 May 2019; Welk, "'Black Widow' Moves to November as Other MCU Films Shift Back to 2021, 2022", The Wrap, 3 A en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Artemis Fowl (novel)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel (Artemis Fowl): Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano", Disney-Hyperion, 2007; Blasingame, "Review for Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano, Paolo Lamanna", Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, September 2008, p. 87–88 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 9780786848812 ("Artemis Fowl : the graphic novel"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. "Bookrags". facts only, no text reused. bookrags.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Artemis Fowl (novel) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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