Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
First edition cover
Author(s)	Eoin Colfer
Translator	franche
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Series	Artemis Fowl series
Genre(s)	Children's Fantasy novel
Publisher	Puffin Books
Publication date	30 April 2005
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback), Audiobook CD
Pages	352 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-14-138164-7 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	60343030
Preceded by	The Eternity Code (2003)
Followed by	The Lost Colony (2006)

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (known as Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception in Europe) is a teen fantasy novel published in 2005, the 4th book in the Artemis Fowl series by the Irish author Eoin Colfer. Preceded by Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code and followed by Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, it is centered on the brilliant pixie Opal Koboi's second try at rebellion (after her first attempt was a failure) and Artemis Fowl II and his fairy comrades' efforts to stop her. Critical reception was mixed, with some reviews praising the book but others pointing out confusion and poor writing.

Synopsis

The book begins with the pixie Opal Koboi faking a coma inside an asylum to avoid incarceration by the Lower Elements Police (LEP) after her failed rebellion and attempt at world domination (which took place in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident).

Opal Koboi, who was under 24-hour surveillance and had DNA tests done every 4 hours by the LEP to ensure that Opal was actually in the asylum cell, with help from the Brill Brothers manages to replace herself with a clone, which is identical to herself (the only difference being that the clone is brain dead).

Opal lures Commander Julius Root and Captain Holly Short into a building alone. Koboi then kills Commander Root of the LEP (framing Captain Holly Short as the murderer), and launches a bio-bomb at Artemis Fowl, which fails to kill him and his bodyguard Domovoi Butler.

Opal then proceeds with her plan to help Italian environmentalist Giovanni Zito send a probe downward, which, at least in Koboi's plan, will cause the humans to find the fairies and start an inter-species war, leading to fairy genocide.

Artemis Fowl was mindwiped in the third book of the series, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code and has no memory of meeting the fairies. This has also caused him to revert back to his former self- the one cruel enough to kidnap a fairy. But he has a conscience, the difference is he chooses not to listen to it.

Artemis is rescued from the scene of the bio-bomb attack by Holly. She tells him who she is, in hopes to ignite his memory. He does not regain his memories of the past adventures, but agrees to help her for a fee. They are then recaptured by Koboi and thrown into a troll-infested abandoned fairy theme park known as the Eleven Wonders of the Human World (containing scale-models not only of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World but also the additions of Abu Simbel, Borobodur, Rapa Nui and the Throne Hall at Persepolis). After a desperate battle against the troll hordes on a model of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, they are rescued by former criminal Mulch Diggums and Butler. Holly and Artemis become friends "bonded by trauma" and Artemis says he feels that he doesn't need money to help a friend.

After being rescued, Mulch gives Artemis the disk that had been passed off as a gold medallion. Artemis views the disk and regains his memories. He is overcome with guilt of what he had done to the fairies but to Holly the most and for the first time, he apologizes for kidnapping her. He realizes that Holly, Butler, and Mulch were the only friends he had. Together, the four friends take on Opal Koboi, knowing that they are the only ones that know she's escaped. It becomes a more difficult task with the LEP on their tail, who still thinks Holly is the one who killed the Commander. The new Commander refuses to believe anything, despite the fact that everyone knows Root was like a father to Holly.

Afterward, the story follows the struggle over the probe, which is closing in on the E7 chute. The probe eventually misses the chute, Koboi is detained by the LEP, and Holly is cleared of all charges over Commander Root's murder. However, she is frustrated by Commander Root's replacement, Ark Sool, so she resigns and starts a private investigation firm with Mulch Diggums.

It is also apparent that Artemis has had a change of heart, as he anonymously donates the famed painting The Fairy Thief, which he had stolen directly before Koboi's bio-bomb attack, to the Louvre museum.

The Tongue

There is a secret code at the bottom of the book, containing a message from Foaly. This is translatable if one has the Gnommish alphabet, available in The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer, or the Artemis Fowl website.

The message on the cover of the US publication, barely decipherable, reads "Opal wants revenge", it is faintly repeated several times on the sides of the tube.

The Gnommish symbols around the molecules on the front cover read "DNA never lies".

Critical reception

The reviews for Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception were generally mixed. Entertainment Weekly noted that the characters were "still a blast", however, the review also said "Colfer seems too dazzled by all the gadgetry and explosives jammed into this tale." ^[1] Bookstove called it "fabulously written" and "a perfect mixture of wit, humour and world saving antics with a supernatural twist." ^[2] Disney's "Family Entertainment" did not recommend the book and called it "pretty confusing", though it still retained the strengths of the series as a whole. ^[3] The School Library Journal wrote that "the prose is clunky", however, it continued to say that the "creativity carry the narrative through the tight spots and impossible situations." ^[4]

References

1. ^ "Entertainment Weekly "Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (2005)"". http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1052618,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
2. ^ "Bookstove — book review". http://www.bookstove.com/Fantasy/Artemis-Fowl-The-Opal-Deception.70958. Retrieved 2008-06-16. 
3. ^ Berman. "Disney "Family Entertainment"". Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception. http://family.go.com/entertainment/article-csm-117550-book-review--artemis-fowl-book-4--the-opal-deception-t/?CMP=KNC-YahSSPFamily. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
4. ^ Dowler, Farida. "School Library Journal — review". Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1423103998. Retrieved 2008-06-17.