Artemis Fowl (novel)

Artemis Fowl is the first novel in the series Artemis Fowl by the Irish author Eoin Colfer , which belongs to the fantastic / sci-fi genre. The book was published in English and German from 2001 , the German translation of the book being by Claudia Feldmann .

prehistory

Artemis Fowl II has been the head of the Fowls and their country estate near Dublin , Fowl Manor , since his father's disappearance . Artemis Fowl Sr. was pronounced dead after disappearing without a trace from a shop in northern Russia. Artemi's mother, Angeline Fowl, has been suffering from hallucinations and a loss of reality since her husband's disappearance, which is why Artemis junior now has to manage the ailing family finances. Other residents of Fowl Manor include Artemis' bodyguard Domovoi Butler and his sister Juliet Butler. At the beginning of the book, Artemis is urgently looking for new (illegal) sources of money.

Under the earth, with the earth people, whose existence Artemis only recognizes at the beginning of the first book, the elf Holly Short was appointed a captain of the Central Underground Police (ZUP), something that her mentor, the ZUP-Commander Julius Root, tended to do with Upset was recorded. (In the English original: LEP = Lower Elements Police , and the name LEPrecon of their elite unit is interpreted as the origin of the name Leprechaun used by humans .) The elves have magical abilities such as the healing power, the viewing shield, i.e. H. the ability to vibrate so quickly that human eyes cannot perceive it; and hypnosis, which is used to impose their will on a person through eye contact. They also have high-tech equipment that is far superior to human technology.

However, the subterranean have a weakness: due to an ancient magic of the elf king Frond, they are not allowed to enter people's houses without an express invitation, otherwise nausea and loss of magic will result.

action

Although Artemis Fowl, the son of an Irish crook family, is only twelve years old, he is already one of the best thieves in the country, because he is not only skillful, but also highly intelligent. Artemis Fowl possesses nobility , always dresses correctly and has a weakness for technology.

He and his bodyguard Butler manage to use a trick to obtain the book of the underground from an alcoholic fairy and to copy it. He translates its Gnomish script into English with ingenuity, patience and the help of a computer. He believes that he can stop the decline of his family, because he now knows a lot about the elves and other underground people, including the fact that they guard a gold pot deep under the surface of the earth. His plan is to kidnap an underground man and then exchange him for a ton of gold.

He succeeds in kidnapping the elf Holly Short when she wants to perform a ritual on the surface to refresh her magic (planting an acorn picked at a bend in the river during a full moon). He locks her up in Fowl Manor, a mansion that the Fowl family has lived in for many centuries. However, the undergrounds are combative beings who quickly initiate countermeasures. You start a time stop to lock Fowl Manor in a time field and thus shield the mansion from the outside world. A ZUP elite salvage unit is dispatched to infiltrate Fowl Manor and free Captain Short. However, Artemis' bodyguard Butler is able to take them out as he can see them through special glasses that Artemis assembled from Holly Short's equipment.

Commander Root then enters into negotiations with Artemis Fowl. He demands a ton of gold for the release of Holly Short. In doing so, he deliberately makes a “mistake”: he forbids the underground to enter his house while he is alive, which is equivalent to an invitation to the house if he is dead. The Underground Council then decides to pay. After Holly Short was freed, a biobomb would be detonated, a special bomb that kills all living things but leaves the environment intact. The residents of Fowl Manor could not escape because they would be locked in a time field. Artemis claims he can escape the time field, which is viewed as a bluff by the engineering department of the ZUP (represented by the centaur Foaly).

Thanks to his genius, Artemis foresaw most of the ZUP's actions and has been able to counter them so far. Now the ZUP smuggles the dwarf Mulch Diggums into the house, who had long given up his magic and can therefore enter the house without an invitation. He digs his way underground and finds a copy of the Book of the Underground . Now they know the source of Artemis' profound knowledge about them. Artemis' plan gets out of hand when Lieutenant Cudgeon, who has meanwhile replaced Root as commander, brings a troll into the building (also non-magical, but very strong), against which Root protests, since the troll cannot be controlled. Holly Short is also able to free herself by breaking open the concrete floor of her cell and planting the acorn that she fortunately took with her during the kidnapping. This gives her back her magical powers.

Holly is able to overpower Artemis and get her equipment back, but she cannot leave the building because she promised Artemis to stay in eye contact. This, too, is apparently part of Fronds' magic. Butler fights the troll, and Holly assists him to avoid the deaths. Both are badly injured, but Butler manages to defeat the troll after Holly heals him, as well as herself, with her magic. Artemis gives Holly half the gold back in exchange for a wish he uses to cure his mother of her depression and delusions. According to the regulations of the ZUP, the biobomb is then detonated at Fowl Manor. However, with the help of a trick that is as brilliant as it is banal, Artemis manages to leave the field of time together with his comrades-in-arms and avoid the bomb: he gives himself and his comrades-in-arms a sleeping pill.

In the Book of the Underground, also called the Bible of the Earth People , it is also stated that a human being, should he succeed in extracting gold from the underground, can keep it for his entire life. Getting it back is therefore not possible. Defeated, the ZUP troops have to withdraw. The kleptomaniac dwarf Mulch Diggums also stole some of the gold Holly got back.