Artemis Fowl Confidential The Ultimate Artemis Fowl Fan Site
Guest post by Jeffery Francis
In a matter of weeks, The Fowl Twins sequel, Deny All Charges, will be unleashed upon the world. We can’t wait! To pass the time until then, we thought we’d take a look back at the incredible first globe-trotting Beckett and Myles adventure.
The Fowl Twins was released on November 5, 2019, published by Disney-Hyperion in the US and HarperCollins in the UK. As it turns out, the two versions have quite a few little differences! No big plot points, anything regarding story flow or pacing, or other major details was changed. But there are dozens of small alterations. Almost all of them are localization-related or little punctuation edits, but there’s a few notable ones that are a little more significant in terms of content. After many hours spent meticulously comparing the two versions side by side, line by line, listed here are the ten most notable differences for the most detail-oriented fans among us.
Caution: contains spoilers for The Fowl Twins
6. Holly is possibly less in favor of mind-wiping the Twins in the US
It seems small at the outset. It may even seem small at the end. But since it has to do with Holly’s cameo and her mindset, this otherwise trivial difference in wording becomes important.
It may have been surprising to some fans that Holly was pushing so strongly for mind-wiping the Twins in accordance with the rules, after all she went through with Artemis’ losing his memories twice. The text even says, regarding the impending potential mind-wipe of the Twins, that she was “obviously uncomfortable with the regulations but determined to follow them.”
A few paragraphs later, we see her speak to why she’s insisting on it. There is a very small difference in wording between the two versions. First, the UK line on page 407, and then the corresponding US line on page 337:
“He speaks Troll too? I had thought I was beyond surprising when it came to the Fowl family, but I was wrong. I am both surprised and intrigued, but, nonetheless, as I am forever being told by Commander Kelp, the law is the law, so wiped they must be.”
“He speaks Troll, too? I had thought I was beyond surprise when it came to the Fowl family, but I was wrong. I am both surprised and intrigued, but nonetheless, I am forever being told by Commander Kelp that the law is the law, so wiped they must be.”
It may not have even been intentional on the part of whoever constructed the final line (be it Eoin Colfer, a US editor, or a UK editor), but Holly seems more set on carrying out the letter of the law in the UK version. In the UK version, the phrase “as I am forever being told by Commander Kelp” is in between two commas. It becomes more of an aside, or an interjection. An interjection that, when removed, makes Holly’s line read “nonetheless, the law is the law.” She sounds more on board with it. The fact that Kelp is always telling the law to her becomes secondary information. But in the US, the clause “I am forever being told by Commander Kelp that the law is the law” is run together without commas. And it’s followed by her conclusion, “so wiped they must be.” In the US version, Holly seems to place more emphasis on the fact that Kelp tells her that the law is the law all the time. It makes it sound like her hands are tied in the US version, that she has to do it because she’s always being told to, not because she agrees that the law is the law.
5. Sister Jeronima addresses her men differently
Sister Jeronima uses a good amount of Spanish words mixed into her English dialogue. Oftentimes, the Spanish words are different between versions, which has led to a slight change in her tone. Note: Spanish words are not italicized in the US edition, but are italicized in the UK edition. This article maintains that stylistic choice.
Jeronima uses the word señor three different times to address one of her secret agent men in the UK version, on pages 132, 134, and 141. In the US version, the word is totally omitted in the first two instances, which fall in the US on pages 109 and 110. “Permission granted, señor” becomes just “Permission granted.” Her command “Be thorough, señor” becomes just “Be thorough.” In the third instance, señor is replaced with a different Spanish word, the word for agent. Her compliment directed at Oberon on UK page 141: “And that is why I keep you around, señor“ becomes on US page 116 “And that is why I keep you around, agente.” Señor is usually a term of respect like Sir or Mister, and it’s either removed altogether or replaced with “agent” in the US when she’s talking to her subordinates.
On top of these uses, the word señor appears three other times in the text, but for these three cases, the word was kept! The three cases? When Jeronima is speaking to Lord Teddy in the scene which starts on UK page 204 / US page 169, when she’s at his mercy, chained to a table. By having her use the word señor only when addressing Teddy, the US version makes it clearer she’s trying to flatter him, since she doesn’t use that word to address her grunt agents like she does in the UK version.
And it’s not just señor that gets changed in the US. In the Spanish language, there are different forms of verbs to be used depending on who you’re talking about and in what tense, like English’s “I run” and “they ran.” Spanish has two different forms to be used when addressing a group of people (“you all”) depending on what their relation to you is: one is used formally to address a group of people you respect or are unfamiliar with, the other one is more for people you are less respectful of, people you’re familiar with, it’s more informal. In The Fowl Twins, at three points, Jeronima uses the “you all” form of a verb when addressing her subordinates.
You guessed it: in the UK, she uses the formal form ¿entienden? (“Understand?”) twice (pages 122, 131) and ¿comprende? once (page 396), while in the US, they’re all changed to the less respectful ¿entendéis? and ¿comprendes? (pages 102, 108, 328).
That’s six different times Jeronima addresses her men with a Spanish word, and all are made less respectful/formal in the US. This is a very sensible change: it makes her flattery of Teddy more evident.
4. A reference to a minor Artemis Fowl character is removed in the US
Madam Ko, a character often mentioned in the original Artemis Fowl series, got a shout-out in The Fowl Twins, but only in the UK version. When describing the fairy martial art that Lazuli uses, “Cos Tapa,” both versions say it was developed by pixies, and based on animals. The UK version, on page 167, then has the sentence “It was so effective as a martial art that it had migrated to the human world where it had been adapted by a certain Madam Ko and taught by her in a bodyguard academy.” The same scene in the US, falling on page 138, completely removes that entire sentence.
That Madam Ko line is a fairly specific reference to the original series. Artemis Fowl book 3, The Eternity Code, says this about Juliet Butler’s daily routine in both versions: “Lessons included Cos Ta’Pa, a martial art developed by Madam Ko herself, specially tailored for bodyguards.” That’s page 95 of The Eternity Code in the US, page 100 in the UK. The line in The Fowl Twins reveals that Madam Ko only adapted the art, and didn’t develop it herself as previously believed. It’s possible that the editor/publisher in the US removed the line because they wanted this Fowl Twins novel to be more accessible as a standalone, and the line could cause some confusion among new readers. However, you may see it pop up again in the future…
3. The US version has more room for Highfire to fit into the universe
This change has a big impact on the fictional universe Eoin Colfer has created. If you like to believe his standalone novels take place in the Artemis Fowl universe, because of such things as the inclusion of Myishi, who was in The Supernaturalist and The Wish List, the UK version of The Fowl Twins may have been a bit disappointing.
In the UK version, on page 392, after the battle with Teddy is over, the narrator says: “The three sat on the bench, a cast-iron affair rather cleverly wrought to display the battle between Saint George and his dragon, even though that battle had actually taken place on another continent, and, as they now knew, the so-called dragon had not been a dragon at all but rather a disorientated pixie.”
This seems like a harmless throwaway reference at first, but if any adults here have read Highfire, Eoin Colfer’s newest novel, about a dragon, it has implications. On pages 53-54 of Highfire, the dragon character Vern is asked about the ancient dragon who got killed by Saint George. Vern clearly indicates that, yes, it was a real dragon described in the old stories about Saint George. That dragon hundreds of years ago had existed, and Vern knew him personally. The UK version of The Fowl Twins declaring objectively that the dragon in the Saint George legend was not actually a dragon, but a pixie, means that Highfire can’t possibly take place in the same universe as Artemis Fowl.
The US Fowl Twins, meanwhile, on page 325, cuts the paragraph in question short. It ends with “even though that battle had actually taken place on another continent.” No mention of the dragon from the old stories actually being a pixie. The Fowl Twins in the US therefore has more room for Highfire to exist in the same universe since the existence of the Saint George dragon is not refuted. The earlier nod to Highfire, the Louisiana swamp alligator slippers that Teddy has, is kept the same in both versions, though that one is neither confirmation nor denial that they take place in the same universe.
The publishers of Highfire and The Fowl Twins are different from each other in both regions. The edit may not have been intentional synergy, it may have just been that the “dragon was actually a pixie” bit was considered too verbose, random, unnecessary, or obscure, and was removed in the US just for the sake of The Fowl Twins flowing better. Either way, the US version has more room for Highfire being in the same universe.
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