Publisher’s
write-up:
‘Artemis
is no stranger to trouble. In fact, he is a magnet for it. Man-eating trolls,
armed and dangerous (not to mention high-tech) fairies, flame-throwing goblins –
he’s seen the lot. He had decided to forego criminal activity of the magical
kind. However …
Now
his mother is gravely ill. Artemis Fowl must travel back through time to steal
the cure from the clutches of the young criminal mastermind … Artemis Fowl.
That’s
right. With fairy ally Captain Holly Short by his side, Artemis is going back
in time to do battle with himself.
Let
the misadventure begin.’
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is the
sixth novel in the Artemis Fowl octet. This review might contain spoilers to
the previous books and in case you haven’t read them, the reviews of Books: 1,
2, 3, 4 and 5 are available in this blog.
Artemis is back from the limbo, the world
has moved on, by three years, but there is no change in Artemis. He is now the
elder brother of the twins; Myles and Beckett Fowl. But, his mother is suffering
from a disease with severe symptoms, and Artemis makes her condition worse, by
using his stolen magic on her. It is found out that she is affected by spelltropy,
as fairy plague and for obtaining the cure; he had to travel back in time.
Eight years ago, when the Fowl finances were struggling, he sold the last silky
sifaka lemur to a group of extincitionists to fund his Arctic expedition and
Artemis has to go eight years back in time, to retrieve the lemur from …
Artemis! His younger self. Artemis who has considered only himself to be a
worthy opponent for him, now has a chance to battle it out, with the younger
one fighting for money and the elder one fighting for his mother.
The book’s plot, as such was good,
especially having Artemis’ schemes working both ways is a highlight in this
novel. Moreover, the gradual transformation in Artemis’ character is seen quite
clearly in this novel, with Artemis willing to undertake something which doesn’t
involve any monetary profits. I loved the way in which Colfer described
Morocco; and living in a developing country, I could easily relate to the
strange scenario where a shepherd wears a Manchester United shirt. The author
could also be appreciated for maintaining his witty writing style and brining
in strange elements to the plot of the novel, as always.
However, I felt that it is getting
repetitive, for one, going back in time is no new idea and there is absolutely
nothing unusual to expect innovation from Colfer, making it somewhat
disappointing. Moreover, this is the second time Colfer is playing with time,
considering that The Lost Colony, the prequel, was also in a way related to
time, being static in the demon island. Similar to The Lost Colony, the author
has yet again, ruined a good story in an attempt to just elongate the story,
making it far more confusing (to be frank, I didn’t have much idea on what
happened after the three hundredth page after my first read and this being my
second time, now I do have some clarity) and sometimes boring.
On the whole, the Artemis vs Artemis clash
was interesting, and like other books, here also, the digressions were minimal,
but for the second chapter, as always, which deals only with a fairy situation.
But coming to the rating, the repetitive nature of the whole thing pulls the
rating down a little, from eight to seven.
Rating:
7/10
Have
a nice day,
Andy
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