Artemis Fowl (Book 6): The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer

Catching up on reviews, here's some of my backlog:

After disappearing for three years, Artemis Fowl has returned to a life different from the one he left. Now he's a big brother, and spends his days teaching his twin siblings the important things in life, such as how to properly summon a waiter at a French restaurant.

But when Artemis Fowl's mother contracts a life-threatening illness, his world is turned upside down. The only hope for a cure lies in the brain fluid of the silky sifaka lemur. Unfortunately, the animal is extinct due to a heartless bargain Artemis himself made as a younger boy.

Though the odds are stacked against him, Artemis is not willing to give up. With the help of his fairy friends, the young genius travels back in time to save the lemur and bring it back to the present. But to do so, Artemis will have to defeat a maniacal poacher, who has set his sights on new prey: Holly Short.

The rules of time travel are far from simple, but to save his mother, Artemis will have to break them all.and outsmart his most cunning adversary yet: Artemis Fowl, age ten.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but this book didn’t live up to the series as much as I wished it would. Until now each new Artemis Fowl book was better than the last, but this one is not on my favorites list. I didn’t like the time-travel aspect, it seemed a bit contrived to pit Artemis against himself, as if there was no villain, fairy or otherwise, that could stand up to him like he could himself. Colfer attempted to use Artemis as a measure against himself but it was clumsier in this book than it has been in the past, I missed the subtlety there was in Minerva (who, by the way, is absent from the book, boo). He also seems to have backtracked in his character development, and I didn’t like the contrivance of the fight with Holly and the addition of romantic tension really disappointed. Even the reveal of the main villain did not thrill me like I thought it would. I like that No. 1 is back and seems to be developing into a minor character, but his involvement is a bit overpowered and he needs to be drawn back a bit. I hope they somehow figure out how to include him in the next book without making him seem like the solution to every problem.



I received a copy of this book free through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.