Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
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| Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Eoin Colfer |
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| 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) |
| Pages | 352 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0141381647 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code |
| Followed by | Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony |
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception is the 4th book in the Artemis Fowl series by the Irish author Eoin Colfer. It is preceded by Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, and is followed by Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story begins with pixie geius Opal Koboi in an asylum, appearing to be in a coma after her failed revolution. In actuality, she is in a self-induced cleansing coma. In the case that her rebellion would fail, she constructed a contigency plan which included setting Mervall and Descant Brill to work in an asylum. She replaced herself with a clone with almost no brain activity. Afterward, she manages to remove the goblin General Scalene from Howler's Peak Prison with his nephew Boohn's help. Koboi "mesmerises" Scalene and uses him as bait for Cpt. Holly Short and Julius Root, who know his location and are coming to retrieve him. Koboi manages to trap them and cut off their connection to the outside world and attaches a bomb to the Commander's chest. before he dies, Root tells Short to "be well". She is framed with Root's murder.
Meanwhile, Opal has sent a bio-bomb to Artemis Fowl II, who was at the time in the process of stealing the painting "The Fairy Thief". Butler, his bodyguard, spotted the incoming missle. Although he did not recognize it as fairy-made (as he and Artemis' minds were previously wiped of their memories of the fairy world in Book III, he did realize it was dangerous and managed to escape from the hotel with Artemis, though both lost consciousness. Holly, determined to follow Root's last order, attempted to save both, but failed and believed both to be dead. She evades the bio-bomb, realizes that Artemis and Butler are safe, and transports Artemis to a fairy safe-house. Artemis' memories of her and the People are not yet recovered and he does not remember her. Artemis makes a phone call to Fowl Manor, guessing Butler has returned there, informing Butler of the current events. At that time, Opal destroys the safe house. Artemis' phone is still on, and it records Opal revealing her plan to kill Holly and Artemis.
Meanwhile, Mulch Diggums is being transported to a hearing to clear his name. In the middle of the trip, he finds out that Root is dead and Holly is a suspect in his murder. He utilises his dwarf talents to escape and makes for Fowl Manor, where he meets Butler. He restores Butler's memories, and when they hear Artemis' phone call and realise Opal's plan, Mulch manages to send a message to Foaly and acquire a shuttle. Butler and Mulch immediately leave for the Lower Elements.
Opal moves Artemis and Holly to "The Eleven Wonders", a former fairy theme park overrun with trolls.. She reveals that she will start a war begin fairies and humans. Through surgery, she has acquired human traits, including a pituitary gland. When Holly and Artemis are sprayed with troll pheromones, hordes of trolls are attracted who pin the two down on a roof. Mulch Diggums rescues them and puts the two in a shuttle. Artemis is given a disk that Artemis himself recorded prior to his mind wipe; the disk restores his memories. They head to the E7 chute to stop Opal's war plans from coming to fruitition. At the same time, Foaly finds out about Opal's escape. He also discovers that Holly is alive and she is headed for chute E7. He sends a supersonic attack ship to retrieve her and expose Opal's whereabouts and plans.
Opal has mesmerized Italian environmentalist Giovanni Zito to believe she is his adopted daughter, Belinda Zito. She gives him the laser technology necessary for sending a probe to the core of the earth, which will detect signals from the fairy world upon reaching Haven. Though Foaly has planned to broadcast information on the probe that it has failed, Artemis knows that the probe will approach the E7 chute and through detonating explosives, Opal can let iron from the probe flow through the crack to destroy part of Haven and leave the rest defenceless. As Opal concentrates on the probe and her plan, Mulch is able to infiltrate the shuttle and steal an unknown object under Artemis' orders. After Mulch leaves, Opal notices that the explosive charge is missing and a communicator is set in its place.
Enraged, Opal turns to hunt Holly's shuttle down the E7 chute. Holly keeps them far ahead, but Opal stops and orders the Brill Brothers to send the detonation signal, knowing that she will be able to blow apart Holly's shuttle and still crack the chute as planned. Using the communicator, Artemis tricks Opal into opening her "booty box", an undetectable compartment in her shuttle floor. Opal discovers that the explosive charges have been relocated to the booty box, not stolen. The detonation signal cannot be reversed. In the 20 seconds before exploding, Opal fires two heat seeking missles at Holly's shuttle and tries to escape to the surface. Eventually, when Holly approaches the supersonic attack shuttle, the missles lock onto the attack shuttle instead. Major Trouble Kelp is piloting the shuttle. He blows up the missles and refuses to attack Holly, disobeying orders from Ark Sool, Root's replacement. He manages to communicate with Holly, who says enough to keep her team alive, though they are later taken in for questioning. Afterwards, Butler and Artemis are stunned and returned to Fowl Manor. Opal has reached the surface, but her magic has been drained by hormones sent out by the pituitary gland she incorporated into her skull. The LEP track her down a week later and take her into custody.
Holly is cleared of all charges, but is frustrated by Ark Sool's new command and his mistrust of her. She resigns from the LEP and becomes a private investigator with Mulch. Holly also maintains a secret correspondence with Artemis, who seems to have redeveloped some morals. The book finishes when he gives The Fairy Thief to the Louvre.
[edit] The Code
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 book titled The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer, or the Artemis Fowl website.
The translation is:
The Demon scrolls tell of a human that erased all of the fairy race. The human was bewitched by all the elves so that he could not change back to his normal self, unless stabbed in the heart, which meant that he was dead. There is only one dwarf that can stop this pure evil, but is not to be borne until one whole century later. This dwarf is very unusual, for it will have different powers.
The message on the cover of the US publication - barely decipherable - is "Opal wants revenge" repeated several times (look on the sides of the tube - they're faint but recognizable).
The Gnommish symbols around the molecules on the front cover read "DNA never lies".
[edit] Continuity Errors
On page 232-233 it states that Artemis made the video disk before they went to Chicago, but on the video disk it states that Artemis fixed Mulch's warrant- something that happened after the time of the video disk's manufacturing. It could be understood that it was not a mistake, Artemis had known the fairies would mind wipe him (as part of a deal they had made), and decided that he would clear Mulch Diggums' record so he could help Fowl recover his memories. Or, it could be that when it mentioned that fact, it was just his memories, as it never mentioned that those lines were on the disk.
[edit] Book Covers
These are the various other book covers for Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception:
 US Edition cover for Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception. The repeating code on the wall states: "Opal wants revenge". |
 New-release UK cover for Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception |
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