Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception – A Book Review

Plotline: Spoiler-Free

Artemis wakes up and finds his mind a bit hazy. Stranger yet, he finds mirrored contact lenses in his eyes. Butler and Juliet had them in their eyes as well. The contacts aren’t the only strange phenomenon, he doesn’t feel like himself. He feels guilty when he lies to his mother and second-guesses his criminal plots. Is he still the criminal mastermind that we all know and love?

While Artemis is above ground trying to steal a famous painting, there is a massive plot to wrestle control away from the fairy council. Devised by Opal Koboi, this plot is guaranteed to through the world into chaos. 

Julius Root and Holly Short are sent to investigate a Goblin gangster who escaped from prison. This turns out to be a trap that when sprung sends Police Plaza into a frenzy of activity and astonishment. Holly is left with no time to think and must take immediate action to save her friends Artemis and Butler.

Artemis and Butler are in their hotel room when a guided rocket appears. Butler’s quick thinking is the only thing that saves them. When Butler awakes Artemis is gone. His only thought is that he must get to Fowl Manor, the designated rendezvous point if there is ever any trouble. 

Holly Short swoops in and saves Artemis but there is no way she can take both Artemis and Butler in their unconscious states. When Artemis wakes up to Holly crying, he isn’t scared, she seems familiar to him. She explains who she is, their prior adventures together, and their friendship. Though he accepts her story as true because it explains recent events in his life, his memories remain blocked. He agrees to help Holly for a fee. 

While talking, Artemis and Holly are kidnapped by Koboi and taken to their doom. Opal drops them off in a troll territory where they must fight to stay alive while Artemis tries to unblock his memories of the fairy people. 

When Butler returns to Fowl Manor he isn’t greeted by Artemis, no he’s greeted by a short man who appears to have eaten all the food. He sneaks up on the man only to find it isn’t a man but a dwarf claiming to be a friend. Mulch gives Butler a disk, a disk that Artemis told him to bring him two years after his mindwipe. This disk sends memories flooding back to Butler. Suddenly the dwarf before him is no enemy but his close friend Mulch Diggums. 

Mulch and Butler devise and carry out a plan to save Artemis and Holly and it couldn’t have come soon enough. Once saved, Artemis devises a plan to beat Opal Koboi and save the fairies from her complex plan to gain control. 

My Thoughts on Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception

This book is a bit longer than the first three in the series. It’s interesting to see who Artemis has become with his mind wiped. At the end of the third book when Artemis is trying to convince Julius not to mindwipe him, he makes the argument that he could revert to his prior self. Without his memories of the fairy people, who is he?

Well, it turns out that he’s someone in the middle. He still desires to be a criminal, but he feels bad about the plans he carries out. He feels bad lying to his mother, but he doesn’t understand why. I think that the mindwipe is ultimately better for Artemis because when his memories come flooding back, he understands why his feelings of guilt are there. It allows him to progress even more on his path of becoming a good person. 

Butler, though he feels older than he looks, is still Butler. He is, for the most part, an unchanging character who persists in being a type of role model for Artemis. Not only is he Artemis’ bodyguard, but he is also truly his friend. This may cause issues at some point, but right now I love the dynamic. 

Mulch kind of has the same character ark as Artemis. He starts as a criminal who is out for himself but slowly starts to care for others. The common denominator for both Artemis and Mulch in caring for others is friends. As they make friends, they start doing things for reasons other than themselves. Mulch is still more self-centric than Artemis, but this makes sense because he is centuries older and has been a criminal way longer. 

Foaly is still as smart as ever. He is in the dark for a large portion of this book and even then, he manages to figure out Opal’s plot and how she executed it.  She may have gotten away with it if Foaly didn’t outsmart her once again. 

(Spoilers Ahead)

I’m excited to see how the series goes when a very important character, a father figure to Holly, is stripped from existence. Not only is Julius gone, but with Holly being framed for his murder and on the run this book pulls at the heartstrings. It shows even more growth from Holly because even when the stakes become life or death, she is still willing to do what’s best for others than what would be better for herself. 

Commander Root’s last command to Holly is to save Artemis and Butler. He is truly one of a kind and I’m sad to see him go. I couldn’t help to think about how much character the series is going to lose without him. I’m excited to see how Holly will grow to fill the vacuum left after the murder of Commander Julius Root. 

Posted By: glfbooks.com · In: Book Reviews, Fantasy