Artemis Fowl the Lost Colony

The Artemis Fowl series has always been superbly written and brilliantly conceived, with an astonishing array of humor, techno-gadgets, mind-bending plots, daredevil escapes and rescues...frankly, they have a tendency to leave one dizzy - but enchanted. And this might be the best entry in the series to date. There are many reasons for this. First, there were at least three places where Colfer could have stopped writing, wrapped the book up, given it a different title, and shipped it off to his publisher and wait to collect his (surely) generous royalty checks. But he didn't. He took us from climax to climax as if we rode a roller coaster, each one at least as exciting and breathtaking as the last - if not more so. Second, Colfer introduces a magnificent new character, Minerva, a 12-year old girl who is quite similar to the 12-year old Artemis we met in the first book. Artemis has a nemesis. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Artemis himself has changed. He is fully in possession of a conscience now, is 14-years old, and finds himself quite uncomfortably pubescent. As always, Colfer writes in a very loose third-person omniscient voice, hopping from character to character. This is dangerous, unless the author has a firm grasp on all of the elements of his story. Luckily, Colfer does. It's a rare author that can take us into the enemy camp, show us who they are, how they live, their blueprints for whatever foul act they plan to commit, and still leave the pages of the book dripping with tension. The demands that Colfer places on Artemis are staggering, and by extension the demands he places on himself as a writer are similarly so. To not violate Artemis' core-identity, yet have him find his way with the use of a moral compass, is virtually unthinkable. But Colfer did it. Artemis grew, he changed, but yet he was still Artemis at heart. Brilliant, conniving, and, when need be, ruthless. Ruthless...and still a good guy? Yup. I'm thankful that Colfer didn't take the easy way out, and that he pushed himself harder and further than I've seen him do yet. If this book is any indication of what we can expect from the next - I'm holding my breath. Thankfully, Colfer writes quickly, so it shouldn't be too long of a wait, and I won't find myself in a morgue somewhere.

This is the fifth installment of the Artemis Fowl series, with reportedly just one more to go. Most of the surviving characters are back, including of course Artemis, the teenaged criminal genius and Butler his bodyguard, as well as Holly, the former female LEPrecon official, Foley the Centaur and Mulch the amazing digging dwarf, but this time there are also new and exciting characters. There's Minerva Paradizo, a twelve year old French child genius who can give Artemis' brain cells a challenge, Doodah Day, a thief who's the Michael Schumacher of the Pixie world, Imp No. 1 the non-warping demon, and the megalomaniac Leon Abbot, but that's not all folks. Way back when humans and fairies were fighting over the island of Ireland, the eighth fairy family, the Demons, refused to go live underground with the others, instead choosing to take their island home of Hybras into another time dimension until they were ready once again to attack the humans. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the transfer, and the whole island, demons and all ended up in Limbo. However, even time spells don't last forever, and as it unravels, demons begin appearing in the present, and even Foley can't work out exactly where the next one will pop up. As you may have guessed, Artemis has already figured it out, and starts staking out the sites where demons are due to appear, but is thrown for a loop when he realizes that someone else has done the math, and that the demon he's been stalking has been demon-napped under his very nose. To make it worse, his new rival is a girl, albeit a very pretty one. Book five has all the elements for an exciting read, including time travel, volcanoes, mercenaries, magical creatures (including a Yoda-like Warlock), and weapons - lots of weapons. There's also the code that runs along the bottom of each page, and I can tell you that it has to do with scrolls, demons and the slapping of rude body parts, but the rest is up to you to find out. Another great addition to the Artemis Fowl series from Eoin Colfer, certified genius. Amanda Richards, September 17, 2006

Eoin colfer is the author of Benny & Omar, Benny & Babe, The Supernaturalist, and of course the Artemis Fowl Books. In early 2006, Eoin Colfer spent several weeks touring the US and he'll beback in the US in October. The Artemis Fowl series has five books so far 1 Artemis Fowl 2 The Artic Incident 3 The Eternity code 4 The Opal Deception 5 The Lost Colony The Lost Colony came out in the UK in August and a friend who works at bookstores who got me a copy. The Artemis Fowl books aren't popular for their depth or their detail, they are known for their fast pace and fun adventure. If you haven't read the previoius books, you may find this one tough as a starting point, but this isn't a deep book and there's no deep thought required, so you may be able to step right in. To catch you up, Artemis Fowl II is the son of a European crime lord, Artemis Senior. At the beginning of the first book, Artemis's father disappeared, along with the family's fortune, which sent his mother into a catatonic state. When Artemis, along with his friend and bodyguard Butler, discovers the existence of fairies, he decodes their book in order to capture one. The fairie he eventually captures is Captain Holly Short, and capturing Holly is what gets the entire LEPrecon force after him. In The Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl is dealing with another child prodigy, a new race of the fairy people and battling his own puberty. As a grown up reading Artemis Fowl, I enjoy it because it takes me a way to a new reality. The plot twists and turns as Artemis thinks on his feet to avoid another disaster - with the aid of Butler, Holly and Mulch along with some new characters.

Averaging one a year, Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series is no rush-job, I am increasingly enjoying and looking forward to every entry more than the Harry Potter series. Colfer's magical world just seems more accessible and imaginative. And he is constantly changing the type of story rather than just another labored part of a single massive arc. Slightly longer this time around, the book has Artemis tracking demon activity on the time-displaced island of Hybras. The time spell which keeps Hybras stuck in oblivion is beginning to unravel and Artemis is busy investigating how to fix it when a 12-year-old French female rival (and love interest) kidnaps an insecure, classically educated demon, just as he manifests on Earth, right under Artemis' nose. Not knowing what trouble she has started, Artemis must break into her chatau, travel to Taiwan and match wits with her psychotic security in the Taipei 101 Tower to get the demon back before travelling to Hybras to fix the time spell with Captain Holly in tow. I especially like the relationship between Artemis and Holly. Once enemies but now close friends. And the ending, not only including an imaginative and pretty damn cool twist, in which they become a part of each other forever (not giving anything away) was a nice touch. As usual it's packed with ultra-technology that always seems realistic now matter how far-fetched, the typical amount of globe-trotting and the right amount of humor. Artemis Fowl is definitely the best fantasy boy-hero. Harry Who?