Who's Afraid of the Bad Little Fowl?

The question this article addresses is: Is "Artemis" art? That is, how successful is Eoin Colfer's attempt to combine disparate forms, such as fairy stories, science fiction stories and thrillers in the three "Artemis Fowl" novels? Basic elements of story, such as narrative stance, characterisation and plot, as well as some particularly contemporary issues relating to political correctness, are examined in the search for an answer to that question.