Artemis Fowl II
- For the first book in the series, see Artemis Fowl (book). For the series itself, see Artemis Fowl (series).
Artemis Fowl II is the fictional title character of the Artemis Fowl series of children's books by Irish author Eoin Colfer.
Artemis, a criminal mastermind and, intellectually, a child prodigy and a polymath, is twelve years old in the first book of the series. He was born into a rich and prominent Irish family, the Fowls, and is accustomed to an obscenely wealthy lifestyle. He resides in Fowl Manor with his father, Artemis Senior (famed crimelord), his mother, Angeline and the two Butlers, Domovoi and Juliet.
Artemis' name comes from Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting (among other things). In the third book in the series, Artemis admits that his name is a female name, but says that it is the name of a great hunter, and that every once in a while a man comes along who is such a great hunter that he has the right to have that name, and that he is such a man.
He is rather hard to fathom, thanks to his lack of expressions. He prefers to keep his emotions unknown.
At his young age, he has 'rediscovered' a lost Mozart opera, which, of course, he has written himself. At the age of thirteen, he is showing signs of an intellect greater than that of any human since Mozart, beaten European chess champion Evan Kashoggi in an online tournament, patented over 27 inventions, won the architectural competition to design Dublin's new opera house, forged over a dozen Impressionist paintings, and had written a computer program that diverted millions of dollars from Swiss bank accounts to his own. He has also written articles on human psychology which were referred to by his own school counsellor.
And yet, despite all his intellect, he is fairly pathetic when it comes to social skills. He isolates himself from his 'lesser-minded' peers as much as possible and prefers the company of Domovoi Butler, who plays the role of Artemis' bodyguard and best friend. One might even find him (Artemis) quite strange, as all he wears are designer suits and he speaks with the vocabulary of a powerful adult. He can hardly be classified as a child.
He enjoys caviar, springwater, and Earl Grey tea. Badly tailored suits irk him, and on a completely irrelevant note, Artemis suffers from a slight dust mite allergy. His family and personal motto is Aurum potestas est, which is Latin for "gold is power."
Background
The Fowl family is an Irish criminal family going back at least to the Norman Conquest, which has amassed a fabulous fortune through both legitimate and illegitimate means. These fortunes have been placed in danger by Artemis's father, Artemis senior, who invested a huge amount of the Fowl fortune in founding new shipping lanes to the country of Russia, following the breakdown of communism there. Artemis senior is injured and held hostage following an attempt on his life by the Russian Mafia.
Artemis, who was around eleven at the time his father disappeared, decides to regain the Fowl fortune. Following leads on the Internet, Fowl discovers the existence of an underground world of fairies, and at age twelve attempts to steal their gold.
Books
There are currently four books in the series: Artemis Fowl, in which the twelve-year old Artemis attempts to steal fairy gold; Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, in which Artemis discovers that his father is still alive and, with help from the fairies, tries to rescue him from the Russian mafia; Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, in which Artemis, in what he considers to be his last criminal act before his father completely recovers, attempts to create a device using fairy technology he stole in the first book, and to use this device to blackmail American businessman Jon Spiro; and Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, in which the now fourteen-year old Artemis helps the fairies to thwart an evil plan to expose the magical world.
A fifth book, The Artemis Fowl Files, has also been published. This book contains two short stories: "LEPrecon" and "The Seventh Dwarf," as well as several tests and quizzes designed by the author, and a key to the Gnommish alphabet.
A sixth Artemis Fowl book, tentatively titled Artemis Fowl: The Last Colony, is in the works, and is projected for release in late 2006 or early 2007.
Laurence Gutterman is no longer the director. Stuart Beattie is writing the script for the movie, which will be finished in late 2005. It will be filmed during 2006 and the film will be released in 2007.
- Jason Statham is rumoured to be playing Domovoi Butler.
- Timothy Olyphant has been rumoured to have been cast as Foaly the Centaur.
- Eoin Colfer, the series' author, wants to have a cameo role as a Goblin.
External links
Official
- http://www.artemisfowl.com/ - Official US website.
- http://www.artemisfowl.co.uk/ - Official UK website.
- http://www.eoincolfer.com - This is the official website of Eoin Colfer. It has the first chapter of the Opal Deception (the 4th book) posted.
Unnofficial
- http://www.artemis-fowl.com/ - The largest and most visited Artemis Fowl fan site on the net. With exclusive Artemis Fowl news and interviews, wallpapers, avatars, games, quizzes, downloads, plus the most popular Artemis Fowl Forums on the net and so much more!
- http://www.fangathering.com/ - A fantastic AF site, with a nice layout, fonts, avatars, signatures, and some really nice forums. One of the best AF Sites on the web.
- http://www.kittyrainbow.co.uk/af/ - An Artemis Fowl fan site with lots of information, media and games.
- http://artemis-fowl.blogspot.com/ - The most up-to-date Artemis Fowl news fansite.
- http://fowlseries.proboards80.com/ - Really cool forums.
(When you add a link, don't put them at the top, add them to the bottom, as it isn't fair on other Wiki-users who have got here first)
