Artemis Fowl Books

Read the eight novels in publisher order, beginning with Artemis Fowl and ending with The Last Guardian. The missions build on earlier discoveries and relationships, and Artemis's change from calculating adversary to reluctant ally is much clearer when the books are read in sequence.

Four of the novels have graphic adaptations, covering Artemis Fowl through The Opal Deception. They retell the matching adventures rather than continuing the story, so a child can choose the prose or graphic version for books #1–4, then switch to prose for The Lost Colony (#5). The Opal Deception comes from an earlier adaptation team and looks different from the first three graphic books.

After The Last Guardian, readers who want another adventure in this world can continue with the separate three-book Fowl Twins series, which follows Artemis's younger brothers. Those books are a next-generation follow-up and are not included in the eight-book count on this page.

Sources: Eoin Colfer's official series guide, Disney Books' Artemis Fowl collection, Penguin's Artemis Fowl graphic novel series.

The series mixes humor and inventive technology with real danger. Stories include kidnapping, weapons, organized crime, explosions, injuries, threats, and character deaths. The action is written for middle-grade readers and is generally more suspenseful than graphic, but the stakes and emotional losses grow as the series continues.

Artemis begins as a brilliant child willing to exploit other people, so the books do not always present him as a conventional role model. His choices have consequences, however, and the full series emphasizes loyalty, family, empathy, and his gradual decision to use his intelligence to help others.