Artemis Fowl: The Seventh Dwarf

Artemis Fowl: The Seventh Dwarf
Author(s)	Eoin Colfer
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Series	Artemis Fowl
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Puffin Books
Publication date	March 4 2004
Media type	Print (Paperback)
ISBN	9780141318004

Artemis Fowl: The Seventh Dwarf is a short story in the Artemis Fowl book series by Eoin Colfer. It was published for World Book Day 2004 and cost £1 in Britain, €1 in Europe or exchangeable for one World Book Day token. It was also published as one of the short stories in The Artemis Fowl Files. In the series' chronology, The Seventh Dwarf takes place between Artemis Fowl and Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident. The title references the fairytale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and possibly The Third Dwarfs. Besides being published as a stand alone World Book Day book the story was also included in The Artemis Fowl Files alongside another short story about Holly Short.

Plot

Artemis Fowl lures the dwarf, Mulch Diggums, to New York City and then brings him back to Ireland to steal the priceless Fei Fei tiara which contains a one-of-a-kind blue diamond. Artemis claims that he intends to use it for a laser. However, a gang of six dwarves led by Sergei the Significant have already stolen the tiara and plan to sell it at a circus to several European jewellery fences. As the dwarfs perform in the circus, Mulch sneaks in underground and takes the tiara, also knocking out their leader, Sergei.

Captain Holly Short has been relaxing in a luxury resort belonging to the People while waiting for the Council to clear her name after the incident at Fowl Manor. However, Foaly calls her saying that she must track Artemis's plane; the LEP have been alerted by Mulch's stolen LEP helmet. Holly Short catches Artemis with the tiara, but not before he manages to swap the priceless blue diamond for a fake.

Ultimately, it is discovered that Artemis stole the diamond as the colour reminded him of his father's eyes. He gives the diamond to his mother as a gift and promises her that he will find his father.

Continuity error

In this story the character Mulch Diggums physically meets Artemis Fowl for the first time in the timeline of the series. However, in The Arctic Incident, Mulch's encounter with Artemis is again described as his first. This is probably because The Arctic Incident was published two years before The Seventh Dwarf, so it is possible that Eoin Colfer had no intention of writing The Seventh Dwarf until shortly before World Book Day 2004. This quite possibly makes this book non-canon. However, due to the time paradox in the sixth book, Mulch met Artemis even before this event, though his memories were taken by Opal Koboi near the end of the book. Artemis also told Mulch to pretend he never met him, but that was before he had his memories stolen by Opal Koboi.