Amazon.co.uk Review
The third instalment of high-tech, criminal whizz-kid adventures set in the fairy-magic-filled world of Master Artemis Fowl may be reassuringly familiar but it is also bulging with author Eoin Colfer's trademark wit and thrilling seat-of-the-dwarf-pants adventure. Following on from Artemis's opening encounter with the fairy underworld in
Artemis Fowl and its thumping sequel
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Encounter,
The Eternity Code takes the books' eponymous young anti-hero, who with each successive adventure turns out to be a little less bad after all, on his most dangerous mission yet.
Artemis and his bodyguard Butler have set up a meeting in Chicago with dangerous international businessman Jon Spiro. In his latest eager attempt to make money, using a priceless futuristic cube of purloined Fairy gadgetry that can do just about anything, Artemis has underestimated Spiro and arrived at the rendezvous under-prepared. Big mistake. It is an ambush, and though Artemis escapes with his life, Butler is mortally wounded.
The cube may be lost but Artemis refuses to accept his friend's demise and quickly deep freezes Butler in the restaurant kitchen. He calls on the only people he knows who might be able to get him back--Holly Short of the subterranean Fairy police and her race's super-advanced technology. Holly and Artemis must find a way to bring Butler back from the dead and retrieve the lost Eternity Cube that could change the balance of power between humans and fairies forever. It is a Herculean task and the price exacted upon Artemis for such assistance is very high indeed.
What Colfer's latest plot may lack in depth or sophistication is more than made up for by the sheer verve and energy of his settings, characters and action. These books are very entertaining indeed and hugely readable, and once you're a Fowl fan you'll be hooked until Artemis decides to go straight. Recommended for ages nine and above. --John McLay
Review
Artemis Fowl is back - and the teenage superbrain with a hotline to the fairy world holds the future of Earth and the Lower Elements in his hands. Artemis Fowl - The Eternity Code follows hot on the heels of the runaway success of Artemis Fowl and Artemis Fowl - The Arctic Incident, but this time it seems that Artemis may have chanced his arm once too often. Has he finally met his match in the megalomaniac Chicago businessman Jon Spiro? Unable to resist the lure of fairy technology, Artemis has created a computer (the 'C Cube') using purloined fairy gadgetry, which will render all human technology obsolete - an invention which will guarantee the owner untold wealth and destroy any rivals. Artemis plans to extract a hefty sum from Spiro by promising to withhold production of the C Cube for one year. But when Spiro and Fowl meet up for the negotiations, Fowl is, for once, wrong-footed by the devious Spiro. The C Cube is spirited away and in the ensuing battle Artemis's faithful servant Butler lies mortally wounded. Only fairy magic has any hope of saving Butler's life, so it is time for Artemis to swallow his pride and turn to his old adversary Captain Holly Short, RECON officer with the fairy police. Artemis, however, has encrypted the C Cube with a special code which only he can break - so he knows Spiro needs him alive. Calling on the favours of the irrepressible earth-eating, earth-excreting dwarf Mulch Diggums, he concocts a fiendish plan to penetrate the high-security offices of Jon Spiro where the cube is being held. Fast and furious, the ensuing race against time to retrieve the C Cube will have readers literally on the edge of their seats. But is this to be Artemis's last adventure? His father has come home, not only fully restored to health but also with a somewhat different attitude towards Artemis's highly questionable activities, In short, he wants Artemis to go straight, and makes him promise to give up his criminal ways after this latest exploit. Artemis fans everywhere will share their hero's utter disbelief at the prospect of the young criminal mastermind hanging up his spurs. The Eternity Code is pure magic - a spellbinding combination of hilarity, wit, excitement and wizardry. Eoin Colfer could not be so cruel to his young audience as to silence the boy genius just yet. Ages 8+ (Kirkus UK)
