I am honoured to welcome Eoin
Colfer to So Many Books, So Little Time as part of the blog tour for The Last Guardian, the final book in the
phenomenally successful Artemis Fowl series.
He is going to talk about how he wrapped up the award-winning series. Over to
Eoin!
“I am finished with Artemis
Fowl.
This probably sounds a bit harsh,
after all the Irish teenage criminal mastermind is my most famous character,
loved by millions of readers all around the world, but there’s no way around
it. Artemis is of no further use to me. This is because he has become good. Not
super good. Artemis is never going to help old ladies across the road or give
up his Saturdays to wash down stranded whales on the beach, but he is
definitely a lot nicer now than he was at the beginning of the series, eight
books ago. In the first Artemis book, he was a nasty little so and so. In the
chapter one alone he threatened a waiter with torture and murder, drugged a
fairy, blackmailed a sprite and piloted a jet without a license. And if all
those things were not enough to have him forever banned from the panthaeon of
teenage heroes, he proceeded to kidnap an elf and ransom her back to the fairy
people. A thorough rotter, through and through.
People are really going to hate this guy, I thought, with some relish. Readers all over the world will be utterly disgusted by Artemis’s behaviour. Disgusted but fascinated too. My cunning plan was to horrify my readers so much with this nasty little creep that they would simply have to know what devilment he would get up to next.
I was wrong. People did not hate Artemis. They loved him. And they wanted more of his criminal masterminding. And I was happy to oblige with a further six books that saw Artemis fight evil pixies, human megalomaniacs, himself in several times zones and bloodthirsty demons. But as the stories progressed, something happened to Artemis; he turned into the good guy. It was bound to happen as he is after all, a genius, and was certain to learn from his mistakes. And what kind of example would he be if there were no repercussions from his wrongdoings? A very bad example. So slowly, page by page, Artemis changed from a one dimensional villain to a more complex, caring and occasionally kind character.
I realised at the end of book seven that I had arrived at a point where Artemis had more or less become a hero, something which would have horrified the Artemis of old. And once this character is a hero, then his story is over, for that is the real spine of the Artemis books; one boy’s journey from baddie to goodie.
There was only
one thing to do: I had to wind up the series before Artemis started winning
humanitarian awards, which would be a catastrophe.
So; One more book. A last hurrah where Artemis would be forced to use every dirty trick in the book to defeat once and for all, evil pixie; Opal Koboi. One rip-roaring, roller coaster of an adventure that would include all the ingredients of a classic Fowl adventure. There would have to be magic, ingenuity, comedy, twists and turns and of course farts. Many, many farts.
And so I set about writing The Last Guardian. It was quite emotional because I had to revisit all the earlier stories to make sure that all the story arcs were tied up. I hadn’t read any of the books through since their final edit and had forgotten many of the minor characters and side stories. I began to understand what it would mean to me to type The End on this final book. It is a funny thing to create a world then leave it behind. To close the door on my own creation. This is not a step I took lightly. I was determined that all the Fowl fans who had been with me since 2001 would not be disappointed with how it all turned out. I wanted people to read this book and be sad that it was over but happy with how it ended. A tough task, and I can only hope that I succeeded.
I have never worried too much about my audience before. I always reckoned that if I laughed at a joke then there were others somewhere who would laugh at it too, but things are different with this book. I feel that I owe the readers a good send off. They deserve it after more than a decade of loyalty. I want Artemis to go out on top. And perhaps most importantly I want to be able to look at the eight Artemis books on their shelf in my office and be proud of them.
Have I succeeded? I don’t know. This is the worst time for me; waiting for the release. I have done all I can and it’s too late to change anything. Artemis is done. I have typed The End for the last time, and now I must wait and squirm and wonder how the public will greet the last adventure of teenage mastermind Artemis Fowl.
Will this be a fitting end to a best selling series? Or the biggest mistake of my career? The Last Guardian comes out on July 10th so I will probably know by July 11th.
People are really going to hate this guy, I thought, with some relish. Readers all over the world will be utterly disgusted by Artemis’s behaviour. Disgusted but fascinated too. My cunning plan was to horrify my readers so much with this nasty little creep that they would simply have to know what devilment he would get up to next.
I was wrong. People did not hate Artemis. They loved him. And they wanted more of his criminal masterminding. And I was happy to oblige with a further six books that saw Artemis fight evil pixies, human megalomaniacs, himself in several times zones and bloodthirsty demons. But as the stories progressed, something happened to Artemis; he turned into the good guy. It was bound to happen as he is after all, a genius, and was certain to learn from his mistakes. And what kind of example would he be if there were no repercussions from his wrongdoings? A very bad example. So slowly, page by page, Artemis changed from a one dimensional villain to a more complex, caring and occasionally kind character.
I realised at the end of book seven that I had arrived at a point where Artemis had more or less become a hero, something which would have horrified the Artemis of old. And once this character is a hero, then his story is over, for that is the real spine of the Artemis books; one boy’s journey from baddie to goodie.
So; One more book. A last hurrah where Artemis would be forced to use every dirty trick in the book to defeat once and for all, evil pixie; Opal Koboi. One rip-roaring, roller coaster of an adventure that would include all the ingredients of a classic Fowl adventure. There would have to be magic, ingenuity, comedy, twists and turns and of course farts. Many, many farts.
And so I set about writing The Last Guardian. It was quite emotional because I had to revisit all the earlier stories to make sure that all the story arcs were tied up. I hadn’t read any of the books through since their final edit and had forgotten many of the minor characters and side stories. I began to understand what it would mean to me to type The End on this final book. It is a funny thing to create a world then leave it behind. To close the door on my own creation. This is not a step I took lightly. I was determined that all the Fowl fans who had been with me since 2001 would not be disappointed with how it all turned out. I wanted people to read this book and be sad that it was over but happy with how it ended. A tough task, and I can only hope that I succeeded.
I have never worried too much about my audience before. I always reckoned that if I laughed at a joke then there were others somewhere who would laugh at it too, but things are different with this book. I feel that I owe the readers a good send off. They deserve it after more than a decade of loyalty. I want Artemis to go out on top. And perhaps most importantly I want to be able to look at the eight Artemis books on their shelf in my office and be proud of them.
Have I succeeded? I don’t know. This is the worst time for me; waiting for the release. I have done all I can and it’s too late to change anything. Artemis is done. I have typed The End for the last time, and now I must wait and squirm and wonder how the public will greet the last adventure of teenage mastermind Artemis Fowl.
Will this be a fitting end to a best selling series? Or the biggest mistake of my career? The Last Guardian comes out on July 10th so I will probably know by July 11th.
- Eoin Colfer”
Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer is published by
Puffin on Tuesday 10th July 2012.
A massive thank you to Eoin for
a wonderful guest post and to Puffin for allowing me to take part in the blog
tour.
Sophie
Still need to read this series - now the boyfriend is bugging me too now! xXx
ReplyDeleteI love the Artemis Fowl series, and the end is going to be heartbreaking. ):
ReplyDelete