Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian
 UK cover | |
| Author | Eoin Colfer |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Artemis Fowl |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Viking Press/Disney Hyperion |
Publication date | 10 July 2012 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 336 |
| ISBN | 1-4231-6161-0 |
| Preceded by | The Atlantis Complex |
Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian in Europe) is the eighth and final novel in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series.[1] Colfer had previously alluded to the novel being the final entry when he stated that the previous book, The Atlantis Complex, was the penultimate in the series.[2] The Last Guardian was released 10 July 2012 by Viking Press and Disney Hyperion. The novel received generally positive reviews.
Plot
After his last session of being cured of Atlantis Complex at a fairy clinic, Artemis, Holly and Butler are sent to LEP commander Trouble Kelp, where they watch 2 gnomes whom the evil pixie Opal Koboi has hired to kill her past self, causing everything that was made or influenced by Opal to violently explode. Artemis and his friends fail to stop her, and multiple explosions occur, including things on earth since Opal had secretly been putting her technology in human civilization, sending the human world into the Stone Age.
Meanwhile, Butler's sister, Juliet, spends time playing with Artemis's twin four year old brothers Myles and Beckett, who witness multiple cars exploding near them. While they do so, the gnome that Opal hired knocks them out with a fairy blaster, and Opal opens the Berserker's Gate, a gate in Fowl Manor that has had the spirits of fairy warriors trapped inside after the Battle of Tailte, the battle between fairies and humans for the land of Ireland. The fairy warriors are then released, but don't know that the war is already over, and they begin to possess wildlife, corpses, Juliet, Myles and Beckett. Opal was able to open the Berserker's Gate since she was able to resist the explosion that, theoretically, was supposed to destroy her since her younger self technically influenced her present self, but instead made her extremely powerful and full of black magic.
Artemis, Butler and Holly's shuttle crash lands, and Opal and her fairy warriors track them down, but they are saved by the dwarf Mulch Diggums, who collapses the ground from underground. After Holly explains the story of the Battle of Tailte, Artemis, Holly and Butler sneak into the cellar of Fowl Manor and battle possessed corpses with nothing but wine bottles, Artemis's cleverness, Butler's strength and Holly's expierience.
Opal sends her group of possessed beings to find Artemis and his group, while she works on the second gate, which takes a longer time to open with black magic and if opened, literally destroys all humans above the ground. The spirit possessing Beckett, Oro, and the spirit possessing Myles, Gobdaw, find Artemis and his friends and they fight eachother. Gobdaw then leaves Myles's body when Artemis is able to force Myles into complete consciousness. Meanwhile, the spirit that is possessing Juliet, Bellico, battles with Butler, and searches into Juliet's mind how to defeat Butler, then attempts to incapitate him. She fails, and Butler reveals that he only let Juliet win that time was because it was her birthday. Artemis, Holly and Butler reunite where they attempt to receive the next part of Opal's plan from Myles. Artemis, knowing that the spirit of Gobdaw was still possessing Mykes, provokes him into revealing the fact, and they dunk Myles into a bunch of disgusting animal fat, which sends the spirit into limbo. When Myles is finally himself again, he explains how Opal was planning to open the second Berserker's Gate.
Meanwhile, underground, the fairies attempt to put Haven back to normal after most of it exploded. Foaly the centaur communicates with his centaur wife Cabilline by sending an invention of his, ARClights, which are genetically modified dragonflies that have multiple cameras in them to spy on people, but mostly used for security. When Opal sends goblins to attack her, Foaly finds out from his ARClights, and rushes to the rescue her. He does so with a time-stop that freezes time for the goblins, and they feel like a million years passed after the two escape.
Artemis decides to break the second gate with a plane with a hi-tech laser, so that Opal will not be able to unlock it. While they rush to the plane, they are chased by evil crickets that were also possesed by spirits, and they receive many scratches and bruises. When they arrive at the laser, Opal had already been informed of this laser by Bellico, and so has already sent possessed dogs and corpses to stop them. They try to fly away with Artemis's piloting skills, but do not need to when Mulch comes to aid them by riding the oldest troll in the world, Gruff, in which dwarfs are said to used to be experts at riding trolls. Gruff injures plenty of them, and most of the spirits leave to heaven.
They escape into Fowl Manor once again, where Artemis devises a plan. He would have Foaly, a centaur who has appeared in all the books, to send him a mask that represented Holly, and he would also need the clone of Opal Koboi, whom many call "Nopal". He would disguise Nopal as Holly, and bring the clone with him to the gate, where Opal would believe that he was going to sacrifice himself, since Opal had sent a note that said that if they sacrificed themselves, then everyone they loved and cared for would be spared. Then, when the gate opened, there would be a handmark that is meant for the opener (Opal) to touch so that the human race was destroyed, and would recognise the DNA of the opener. There would also be another handmark that meant to close all the gates and separate all the spirits from their bodies in that area. Then Artemis would tell Opal that Holly could close the gate, and Opal would make the clone do it, to prove Artemis's stupidity, but doesn't know it is her clone. The handmark recognises the clone's DNA as Opal's, and all the fairy spirits would leave to heaven. And by chance, Artemis's spirit might still be in him and he might still live. Even if he didn't he is willing to accept the end of his life, showing that he has changed very much throughout the series.
Holly finds out about his plan, and tries to stop him, but Artemis sedates her. Before he leaves with the clone, he tells Holly that he was a broken boy, and that she fixed him, and thanks her. He tells her that if he doesn't survive, she should tell Foaly to power up the chrysalis, and he then kisses her on the forehead, and says, "Give him that from me." He then brings the clone with him, and his plan works, and all the spirits leave to heaven. Before that happens, Opal tells Oro to kill her clone, but he refuses, saying that it was innocent. Opal goes into a tantrum and screams that she has killed thousands of innocents. Upon hearing that, Oro stabs her, and says that she will now never be able to kill innocents again, and her spirit leaves her body as well. Artemis tries to escape the gate area and still survive, but the magic detects his fairy eye, since in the fifth book he swapped an eye with Holly, who was an elf. He then accepts his fate, and his spirit leaves to heaven.
Six months later, the world slowly reassembles itself. The Fowl family and Butler family attend Artemis's funeral. The Council of the Fairies decide to award Mulch a medal. Holly takes Artemis's last commands, and asks Foaly what the chrysalis was. He reveals that it was the thing that Opal used to clone herself in the fourth book, and Holly also explains that Artemis said "Give him that from me." Foaly finds out that Artemis said that since he wanted Holly to give him the DNA from the saliva from where he kissed her, and they create a clone exactly the same as Artemis, except the clone has six toes on each foot and the clone's eyes were both blue. Butler arrives, and they place the clone near the gate so that Artemis's spirit would come into the clone. When the clone is able to breath, it doesn't remember anything except that the beings in front of him were his friends. Holly begins her story of Artemis Fowl, repeating the words from the beginning of the first book:
"It all started in Ho Chi Minh City one summer. It was sweltering by anyone's standards. Needless to say, Artemis Fowl would not have been willing to put up with such discomfort if something extremely important had not been at stake. Important to the plan........."
Background
Colfer stated that he wanted the novel to deal with the Artemis' transformation "from being a selfish criminal to a hero who is prepared to sacrifice everything for a good cause."[3] Colfer had intended the series to be a trilogy but wrote more novels since the series spawned more ideas. He then "decided that I could only write a book about Artemis if the story was strong enough, so I planned one at a time. After eight, I concluded it was time to move on."[4]
Reception
Critical reception for The Last Guardian was positive, meeting with praise from most reviewers. Kirkus Reviews praised the book, writing: "Colfer pits his resourceful crew against an army of killer bunnies and decomposed corpses (most of the estate’s other residents being off for Christmas). All this is on the way to a smashing set of climactic twists and turns, just deserts and life-changing sacrifices."[5] Entertainment Weekly gave the book a grade of "A-" and wrote that "pseudo science, overly complex schemes, and the requisite dwarf flatulence jokes abound, but the heart of the series remains with Artemis and his evolution from spoiled but brilliant teenager to thoughtful, self-sacrificing, still brilliant young adult."[6] The Irish Times commented on the series' international popularity, attributing it to the series' "quick-moving and highly charged narratives" and "mischievous sense of humour," and states the final volume was "particularly successful in delineating young Artemis’s move away from self-regard".[7] Sharon O'Niell of Irish Independent praised the book as "a unique creation, blending fairytales and folklore with hi-tech gadgetry" and further wrote: "[book is] one of the best in the series and will not disappoint young fans. The ending is appropriately climactic -- and to give anything away would be far more criminal than anything Artemis has got up to in the past."[8] Another positive review came from Philippine Daily Inquirer's Ruel De Vera, who wrote: "Eoin Colfer's 'Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian' is a most fitting final caper for the ever-planning young genius who brought the readers along with him as he went for mere smart bad person into something much, much more."[9] The Last Guardian won the 2012 Irish Book Award in the "Irish Children's Book - Senior" category.[10]
References
- ↑ "Guardian children's books podcast: Eoin Colfer on the last Artemis Fowl novel". London: Guardian. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Lea, Richard (26 July 2010). "Eoin Colfer to bid farewell to Artemis Fowl". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ Minzesheimer, Bob. "Exclusive excerpt: Artemis Fowl Book 8, 'The Last Guardian'". USA Today. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Lodge, Sally. "Artemis Fowl Takes His Final Bow". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ "Review: The Last Guardian". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Orvino, Rachel (17 August 2012). "Review: The Last Guardian". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Dunbar, Robert. "Goodbye Artemis, hello Barnaby". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ O'Neill, Sharon (2 December 2012). "Review: Children's fiction: Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ De Vera, Ruel. "Review: Artemis Fowl's final caper". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ Rosita Boland (23 November 2012). "Banville wins novel of year at awards". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
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