Artemis Fowl
#4753.96 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 8 books Status Complete 2001–2012 Reading commitment High Eoin Colfer Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Overview
A comic fantasy series following Artemis Fowl II, a twelve-year-old Irish criminal prodigy who kidnaps an elf police officer to extort fairy gold and discovers a hidden, technologically advanced fairy civilization living beneath the human world, gradually growing from villain into reluctant hero across eight novels published between 2001 and 2012. Eoin Colfer's original premise was later pitched by commentators as "Die Hard with fairies"; the books sold more than 21 million copies in 44 languages and were voted readers' favorite Puffin Books title ever in 2010. Colfer followed the main sequence with a three-book spin-off, The Fowl Twins (2019-2021), and Disney adapted the first novel as a 2020 Disney+ film, which drew criticism for departing from the source material; a stage musical with Colfer writing the libretto was announced for a 2025 London production.
Comic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (8 works) counts toward ranking
Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Artemis Fowl | 2001 | 1 | core | 3.86 (565,855 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident | 2002 | 2 | core | 3.96 (161,546 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code | 2003 | 3 | core | 4.05 (142,117 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception | 2004 | 4 | core | 4.06 (144,091 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony | 2005 | 5 | core | 4.02 (161,009 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox | 2008 | 6 | core | 4.08 (96,236 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex | 2010 | 7 | core | 3.97 (64,138 ratings) |
 | Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian | 2012 | 8 | core | 4.16 (61,617 ratings) |
The eight-book main sequence, published 2001-2012, following twelve-year-old criminal prodigy Artemis Fowl II from his first encounter with the hidden fairy world through to the series' conclusion.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Artemis Fowl? Artemis Fowl's Core Canon is 8 books.
- What is the reading order for Artemis Fowl? Publication order, starting with Artemis Fowl. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Artemis Fowl finished? Complete (2001–2012).
- How much reading does Artemis Fowl take? High reading commitment (estimated from 8 Core Canon books · ~2,692 pages).
- How is Artemis Fowl ranked? #475 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,396,609 reader ratings across 8 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #475?
Ranked #475 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.96 across 8 core books.
- Backed by 1.4M reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #474, Greenhollow Duology (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 8 books · Complete · 1.4M ratings · Ranks #475 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (8 Core Canon books)
- Artemis Fowl (2001)
- Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident (2002)
- Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code (2003)
- Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception (2004)
- Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony (2005)
- Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox (2008)
- Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex (2010)
- Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian (2012)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Irish Book Award (Irish Children's Book of the Year (Senior)), 2012: won: Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian; Won the 2012 Irish Book Award in the "Irish Children's Book - Senior" category, the year of the series' final novel.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.96 across 1,396,609 ratings on 8 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Artemis Fowl admitted; Core Canon is the eight-book main sequence accepted 2026-08-21
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Artemis Fowl Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Eoin Colfer Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is the original eight-book main sequence (Artemis Fowl through The Last Guardian, 2001-2012), Artemis Fowl II's own continuous story arc. Graphic novel adaptations and other companion material are out of scope for this pass.