Eoin Colfer – The Lost Colony

90. The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer (2006)
Artemis Fowl, Book 5

Read my review of book:
1. Artemis Fowl
2. The Arctic Incident
3. The Eternity Code
4. The Opal Deception

Read By: Nathaniel Parker
Length: 8h 24m (400 pages)

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Started: 21 July 2012
Finished: 12 August 2012

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? The series has been reliably fun.

Artemis wants to
trap a demon. To help, though,
rather than profit.

Summary: Early on in the fairy kingdoms, the island of Hybras, home of the demons, was locked away in a perpetual time spell. Only now, the spell is beginning to unravel, and demons are appearing on Earth with increasing frequency. On Hybras, the imp Number One still hasn’t undergone the metamorphosis into full demon form, prefers his meat cooked rather than raw, and just doesn’t feel appropriately rage-y about anything. On Earth, Teenaged criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has figured out the formulae to predict the demons’ appearances, and is set to catch one to prove himself right. The problem is, he’s not the only one hunting demons, and when Number One appears and gets himself captured by the wrong people, it’s up to Artemis to rescue him… not only to save Number One’s life, but also to prevent a far, far worse disaster.

Review: The Artemis Fowl books are just so much fun. They’re utterly silly, of course, but they’ve got a good heart, quick-moving adventures, and some real clever wit underneath all the shenanigans. This installment was no exception. I loved the character of Number One (especially once he got to Earth and started spewing thesaurus entries all over the place). I also thought it was interesting to see Artemis Fowl not as a criminal mastermind, but still in a situation where his unique talents came in useful. Colfer’s doing a nice job with the long-term character development on Artemis (on everyone, really, but Artemis especially), and seeing him in the throes of puberty adds not only an element of humor for those of us who have suffered through it, but also some more depth to the characterization. Also, the newly-introduced Minerva Paradiso is a good foil for Artemis, and although she annoyed me a little bit in this book, I can see a lot of interesting future plot developments leading from that storyline, so I’ll let it slide. I missed Foaly, and the various bits of fairy technology didn’t play as much of a role in this book as they do in previous ones. Overall, though, I definitely enjoyed listening to it, and am looking forward to carrying on with the series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: The Artemis Fowl books are great if you’re in the mood for something fun and not too heavy but with enough heart to keep it from being entirely fluffy fantasy adventure. Don’t start anywhere but at the beginning, though.

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First Line: Happy was not a word often used to describe Artemis Fowl’s bodyguard.

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