Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, #3)

by Eoin Colfer

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

The last time I read The Eternity Code, I was a sophomore in high school. All I remembered about this novel was the very beginning – Artemis and Butler meeting an investor. So, of course, what happened two chapters later was a complete surprise.

The Eternity Code gets us back to the con. Artemis shines the most when he’s plotting something, and in this novel, there’s a lot at stake. In return for the LEP’s assistance in retrieving a sensitive piece of (faerie) technology, Artemis agrees to a complete mind wipe.

Yes, loves, that means this is the end of the journey for Artemis and Holly, and just when their friendship is starting to blossom.

(Or course, we know now there are five more books in this series, so something must happen in book four. Nonetheless, join me for this journey.)

Artemis’s growth is slow and subtle, and it’s easy to fall in love with him as he slowly grows from a cold-hearted child to a a young genius with friends and a future. Does that future include criminal enterprises? Um, of course! This is Artemis Fowl after all. Artemis and Holly are a well oiled machine in this one. When the group splits up, Artemis and Holly move together almost effortlessly. It’s fantastic.

Still, what I appreciated the most about this book wasn’t Artemis and Holly. It was Juliet. My memories of Juliet throughout the entire series is vague, so I was surprised to find in rereading it that Juliet is an interesting character trying to find the place where she fits in this world. I like her ferocity and individuality. There’s even a hint of a potential friendship between Holly and Juliet that just misses, like two ships passing on a quiet sea. Really good character, and I’ll be watching her more closely in the rest of the series.

The plot of this one is my favorite so far, and it’s the first that really stands alone as a complete story rather than a small chapter. I like a good con as well – this feels like a fantasy version of Ocean’s Eleven, complete with a grand reveal, which is super fun. The villain is a properly villainous bad guy, with too much confidence and no cares for anyone or anything around him. The perfect comic book-style villain, and fantastic for the middle grade book.

If The Eternity Code had been the end of the series, it would have been a great end. But luckily for us, there five more books. Forward, we go!