Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code
Review by Elvira Atsuko
by Eoin Colfer
By this book, the third in the series, I have come to expect a lot from Eoin Colfer and his protagonist Artemis Fowl, and they did not disappoint. In this one, Artemis has decided that he has time for one last criminal operation before his newly-rescued father and his newly-healed mother (who's mental stability had been deteriorating since her husband disappeared), force him back into a crime-free life. He creates a 'C-cube' from a mish-mash of the incredibly advanced fairy technology and makes an offer to criminal business tycoon Jon Spiro that he'll keep it off the market for an extra six months in return for a substantial fee.
Jon Spiro, not accustomed to being told 'no' to anything, steals the cube and orders his bodyguard to kill Artemis. Butler ends up taking a bullet for Artemis, and Artemis, rather distraught as one would expect, puts him in a cryogenics lab until he can get fairy assistance. Meanwhile, Jon Spiro has discovered that Artemis has encrypted his C-cube with an eternity code, which, as you might guess by the name, is supposed to take eternity to crack. The only way in is through Artemis.
The main bulk of the story from there on is an intellectual game of tag between Artemis and Jon Spiro as they battle over the C-cube. I enjoyed this book immensely, as I missed Artemis's criminal plotting in the last book. It was perfectly put together, with plenty of underhand, criminal moves and a good dosage of Artemis' superiority complex.
There are twists and turns galore, and some wonderfully funny criminal banter that had me laughing until my sides hurt. A perfect continuation to the last two brilliant books, the ending left me waiting with breathless anticipation for the next, as it left this single question in my mind 'How is Artemis going to fix this?'
Star Rating: *****
Out of Ten: 10/10
