Book · in order
Artemis Fowl Reading Order
Artemis Fowl spans 24 entries: eight core novels (2001-2012), the three-book Fowl Twins sequel cycle, a World Book Day short story, a companion volume, two unfinished graphic-novel lines, a 2020 Disney film, a Nintendo DS e-book, an anniversary reissue and a musical in development. Read the eight novels in publication order and treat the rest as optional.
Artemis Fowl Reading Order: complete list
Check off what you've finished, it saves automatically · See all your lists → ·
Why this order?
The main line has no puzzle in it at all. The eight Artemis Fowl novels were published in story order and are read 1 through 8, from Artemis Fowl (2001) to The Last Guardian (2012). What a new reader actually has to decide is what counts as the series in the first place, because the shelf around those eight books is crowded with things that look like steps and are not.
The biggest one is The Fowl Twins. Retailers, big-box listings and plenty of library catalogues number the three Fowl Twins books as Artemis Fowl 9, 10 and 11, and that is misleading twice over. They are a second cycle with different leads, Artemis's younger twin brothers Myles and Beckett, set about five years after The Last Guardian, with Artemis himself largely off the page. Even the publisher changed: the first cycle is Viking and Puffin in the UK, while all three Fowl Twins books come from HarperCollins Children's Books there. More importantly they are not a safe entry point, because their premise quietly assumes how book 8 ends, and book 8 ends on the single biggest twist in the series. Read the eight novels first, then decide whether you want the sequel cycle at all.
The 2004 gap confuses people too. There is no missing novel between The Eternity Code (2003) and The Opal Deception (2005). 2004 produced only a World Book Day short story, The Seventh Dwarf, and the companion volume The Artemis Fowl Files. Several list sites paper over the gap by mis-dating The Opal Deception to 2004; it was published on 30 April 2005. The Files is worth a stop, but not before book 4. It collects The Seventh Dwarf, the prequel story LEPrecon, character interviews and Foaly's tech material, and its extras spoil through book 3. So: books 1 to 3, then the Files, then carry on with The Opal Deception.
A strictly chronological read is possible and it is worse. LEPrecon sits before book 1 and The Seventh Dwarf between books 1 and 2, so chronology forces you to open a spoiler-heavy 2004 companion before you have read a single novel. The novels defeat it anyway: The Lost Colony jumps three years forward and The Time Paradox jumps nearly eight years back.
Everything else sits beside the sequence rather than inside it. Two separate graphic-novel lines both restart from book 1 and neither one finished, which means books 5 to 8 have never been adapted to comics at all. The 2020 Disney film compresses books 1 and 2 and inverts the premise, so treat it as a parallel retelling. Publication order is the only order that never lies to you.
Timeline 2001-2026
Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.
- 2001 Artemis Fowl
- 2002 The Arctic Incident
- 2003 The Eternity Code
- 2004 The Seventh DwarfThe Artemis Fowl Files
- 2005 The Opal Deception
- 2006 The Lost Colony
- 2007 The Graphic Novel (Donkin and Rigano)
- 2008 The Time Paradox
- 2009 and the Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel (Don…Flips: Artemis Fowl
- 2010 The Atlantis Complex
- 2012 The Last Guardian
- 2013 and the Eternity Code: The Graphic Novel (Donki…
- 2014 and the Opal Deception: The Graphic Novel (Donk…
- 5-year gap
- 2019 The Graphic Novel (Moreci and Gilpin)The Fowl Twins
- 2020 Artemis FowlThe Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges
- 2021 The Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel (Moreci …The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve
- 2022 The Eternity Code: The Graphic Novel (Moreci an…
- 4-year gap
- 2026 25th Anniversary Edition
Upcoming / TBA: Artemis Fowl The Musical
Where to play it today
- All eight core novels stay in print from Puffin in the UK and Disney Hyperion in the US, in paperback, ebook and audiobook
- The Fowl Twins books come from HarperCollins Children's Books in the UK and Disney Hyperion in the US, so they may sit on a different shelf from books 1 to 8
- The Seventh Dwarf pamphlet has been out of print since 2004; read the story inside The Artemis Fowl Files instead
- The 2020 film left Disney+ on 26 May 2023; availability rotates, so check JustWatch for your region
- Flips: Artemis Fowl is a long-delisted Nintendo DS cartridge, second-hand only
Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for Artemis Fowl.
Frequently asked questions
How many Artemis Fowl books are there?
Eight core novels: Artemis Fowl (2001), The Arctic Incident (2002), The Eternity Code (2003), The Opal Deception (2005), The Lost Colony (2006), The Time Paradox (2008), The Atlantis Complex (2010) and The Last Guardian (2012). Eoin Colfer then wrote three more novels in the same world, the Fowl Twins trilogy (2019-2021), which makes eleven novels in total. On top of that sit one short story, one companion volume, seven graphic novels, a film and a Nintendo DS e-book.
What order should I read the Artemis Fowl books in?
Publication order, straight through: Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code, The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony, The Time Paradox, The Atlantis Complex, The Last Guardian. The series was written in story order, so there is nothing to rearrange. If you want the extras, slot The Artemis Fowl Files in after book 3, then continue with The Opal Deception, and save the three Fowl Twins books for after book 8.
Is The Fowl Twins book 9 of Artemis Fowl?
No, even though retailers and library catalogues often number the three Fowl Twins books as Artemis Fowl 9, 10 and 11. They are a separate second cycle starring Artemis's younger twin brothers Myles and Beckett, set about five years after The Last Guardian, with Artemis himself mostly off the page. The UK publisher changed too, from Puffin to HarperCollins Children's Books. Read them as a sequel series, not as more of the same story.
Can I start with The Fowl Twins?
You can follow it without the first cycle, but you should not. Its premise quietly assumes the ending of The Last Guardian, which is the single biggest twist in the eight-book run, so starting there hands you the spoiler before you have read a page of the main series. Read books 1 to 8 first; the twins are a much better payoff afterwards.
Where does The Artemis Fowl Files fit in the reading order?
After book 3, The Eternity Code. It is a 2004 companion volume containing two short stories, LEPrecon (a prequel about Holly Short joining the Recon unit) and The Seventh Dwarf (set between books 1 and 2), plus character interviews, decodable fairy text and Foaly's tech material. Chronologically the stories belong earlier, but the interviews and bonus features spoil events through book 3, so reading it before book 4 is the compromise that costs you nothing.
Is there an Artemis Fowl book from 2004?
No novel, no. The gap between The Eternity Code (2003) and The Opal Deception (2005) is real: 2004 produced only the World Book Day short story The Seventh Dwarf and the companion volume The Artemis Fowl Files, published 4 October 2004. Several list sites hide the gap by dating The Opal Deception to 2004, but it came out on 30 April 2005. Nothing is missing from your shelf.
Are Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident and Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident different books?
No, they are the same book. UK editions use the 'Artemis Fowl and the ...' pattern while US editions use 'Artemis Fowl: The ...', and the same split runs down the whole series. Lists that mix the two conventions can look like they are showing sixteen novels when there are only eight.
Do I need to read the Artemis Fowl graphic novels?
No. There are two completely separate comics lines and neither one finished. Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano adapted books 1 to 4 between 2007 and 2014; Michael Moreci and Stephen Gilpin restarted from scratch around the film and adapted books 1 to 3 between 2019 and 2022. Between them, books 5 to 8 have never been adapted at all. Watch out for the title clash: the 2007 and 2019 volumes are both called Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel and are entirely different books.
Do I need to watch the Artemis Fowl movie?
No, and it will not help you follow the books. The 2020 Disney+ film directed by Kenneth Branagh compresses the first two novels into one story and inverts the premise, so it works as a parallel retelling rather than a step in the sequence. Disney pulled it from Disney+ on 26 May 2023, so where you can find it now varies by region.
Is there a new Artemis Fowl book or series coming?
No new prose since The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve in October 2021, and none announced. The activity is elsewhere: a collector's reissue of book 1 marking the original's 25th year in 2026, and an Artemis Fowl stage musical announced in 2025 for a London premiere, with a libretto by Eoin Colfer and music by Liam Bates. No venue or opening date for the musical has been confirmed as of August 2026, and it adapts the novels rather than the film.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, openlibrary.org
← Browse all book orders