Book Review: Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer

Title: Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox
Author: Eoin Colfer
Series: Artemis Fowl
Published: July 2008
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages:
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 7/10

Finally, after months and months of failing miserably and being distracted by so many other adventures, I finally finished Eoin Colfer’s sixth Artemis Fowl novel, The Time Paradox.

The Time Paradox takes us along an adventure through time with Artemis and his faerie friend Holly Short so Artemis can save his mother from a horrible disease called spelltropy, which he believes he caused in her.

Colfer’s novel has many twists and turns, and keeps you on your toes, despite taking place within just a couple of days.

The Time Paradox is quite unique compared to Colfer’s other novels. It is just as fast-paced, just as imaginative. However, because it takes place in a short amount of time rather than a few weeks, which I felt the other novels did, it’s slightly refreshing. I enjoyed seeing an older version of Artemis with his new family members, since that is a relatively unusual side of the boy mastermind we saw previously. It was also nice to see Artemis grow as a character: he tries to save his mother from dying and protect an extremely endangered lemur.

I also enjoyed it because we saw more of the minor characters like Trouble Kelp, No. 1, and Foaly again. I really enjoy those characters because they’re so unique and refreshing to the story. It makes me hope the next installment is just as fresh and fun as the last six have been.

However, the one thing that bothered me the most was seeing Opal Koboi again. Seriously. I’m pretty sure this is the fourth or fifth Fowl novel where she is the main antagonist, and quite frankly, I don’t really want to see her anymore. I keep hoping Artemis will go up against another evil mastermind soon, to break up the monotony of characters and give Artemis a bit more of a challenge.

But, overall, this sixth installment was very entertaining and I’m glad I read it. I’m definitely looking forward to finally getting to a part of the series I have never read before, and being completely surprised.

Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series can be found online and in stores, as well as his standalone novels such as The Wish List and The Supernaturalist.