Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code Literary Elements

Young adult, science fiction/fantasy

Modern-day England, altered by the underground presence of fairies

Third-person limited point of view following Artemis Fowl, a teenage criminal mastermind

Tense, action-packed, hopeful

Protagonist: Artemis Fowl, a teenage criminal mastermind who has created a powerful supercomputer that has fallen into the wrong hands. Starting out as an antihero, Artemis transforms into a hero as he fights against the true antagonist: Jon Spiro, a cunning American businessman who has stolen the C Cube.

Artemis has created an advanced piece of technology he calls the "C Cube" from leftover bits of fairy technology. While meeting with a crafty American businessman named Jon Spiro, he loses the C Cube, forcing him to go to the LEP for help in recovering it from Spiro.

Artemis and the LEP trick Spiro into breaking and entering the building of a high-profile corporation, causing him to be arrested, and the heroes recover the C Cube from Spiro's building.

In the first chapter, when Artemis is shaking Spiro's hand, Spiro's jewelry makes a sound like the warning rattle of a rattlesnake. This foreshadows the trap Spiro springs on Artemis as well as the revelation of his snakelike, deceptive personality.

“It wouldn't hurt you to be nice occasionally.” - Butler (Chapter 1: The Cube)

The novel alludes to the events of previous books, as well as to locations in the city of London in the real world. Smaller references are also made to global landmarks like the Taj Mahal and internet phenomena such as Napster.

Artemis Fowl is a young criminal mastermind, and the imagery surrounding him proves it. He has a mansion, and it is full of both illegally obtained items and high-tech scientific gadgets that allow him to do the things he does during these adventure novels. He has a bodyguard (Butler) and a fairy-powered supercomputer he created himself, in addition to many more such objects. The imagery, in short, accurately depicts him as a dangerous crime lord crossed with James Bond, despite his young age.

Artemis created the very thing that is now causing the LEP and the world a lot of trouble. This paradoxical relationship between Artemis (the creator) and the C Cube (the creation) parallels that of many works of literature, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Holly's bestowal of the high-tech contact for Artemis to wear during the mission into Spiro's headquarters parallels Artemis's later contact-wearing as an attempt to trick the fairies into thinking his mind had been wiped when it really had not.

“Are you wearing the earplugs?” - Butler (Chapter 1: The Cube)

The "earplugs" are actually “sonic filter sponges, cannibalized from fairy Lower Elements Police helmets.”

“This little box can read any information on absolutely any platform, electrical or organic. It can play videos, laserdiscs, DVDs; go online, retrieve e-mail, hack any computer. It can even scan your chest to see how fast your heart's beating.” (Chapter 1: The Cube)