Review by Raman Sathiapalan
Author : Eoin Colfer
Publisher : Puffin
Price : Rs 395
No. of pages : 369
As all Fowl fans know, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is the sixth book in the Artemis Fowl series, written by Eoin (pronounced ´Owen´) Colfer. The series describe the various misadventures of the young Irish criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl II. When he was twelve years old, Artemis Fowl kidnapped a fairy named Holly. And using his brains, he tricked the fairy folk into giving him a large amount of gold as ransom. After that, through a string of dangerous coincidences, Artemis Fowl becomes Holly Short´s good friend and ceases to be a threat to the fairy folk, or People, as they call themselves.
Hi-tech fairies, goblin revolutions, monstrous trolls and fierce demons… Artemis thought he´d seen it all. He was wrong. Now, he faces his greatest challenge yet.
The book opens in Fowl Manor, three years after Artemis´s return from Hybras, the land of the demons. He now has two twin brothers, Beckett and Myles.
The main plot is quite simple. Artemis´s mother, Angeline Fowl is gravely ill. He seeks the help of his fairy friend Captain Holly Short, and the demon warlock, Number One. It is discovered that Artemis´s mother is suffering from a disease called Spelltropy, which is caused by polluted magic. The only cure for that disease is the brain fluid of the silky sifaka lemur, native to Madagascar. Unfortunately for Artemis, the silky sifaka lemur is extinct, the last one was killed by Artemis himself. So now Artemis uses the help of Number One to go back in time, to steal the lemur… from himself!
The elder Artemis fails to steal the lemur from his younger self. The younger Artemis tries to deliver the lemur to Dr. Kronski, an Extinctionist. The Exctinctionists are a group of people who kill animals, and want to make as many species of animals as possible extinct. The elder Artemis manages to get back the lemur, but loses Holly to Dr. Kronski. So now Artemis must rescue the Holly from him. But it doesn´t end there. He still has to defeat an old enemy, not to mention his younger self.
The book is full of ingenious plans (usually formulated by Artemis), suspense, action and has an amazing climax.
All this combined with Eoin Colfer´s style of writing, live with humour, makes the book ¨unputdownable¨. This book also introduces the reader to a new species, the kraken. The description of kraken in the beginning of the book keep us wondering what part they have to play later in the story.
People who have not read the other books in the Artemis Fowl series may find the plot of Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox a little hard to understand. And for Artemis Fowl fans, all I can say is this – Eoin Colfer has not let you down!!!
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is as gripping as all the other books in the series. And here is some bad news for Fowl fans – this is the last book of the series, for at least three years.