The Lost Colony

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 show more 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. show less

5 out of 5 stars! Well deserved!
This time Artemis Foul finds himself trying to save a demon (an imp actually) from the hands of another kid genius. Oh yes that's all while puberty strikes!
The Imp's perspective was nothing like I thought it would be and the whole holy-book-arlekin of the demons had me laughing my ass out!
I really love it when in a series the newest book is better than its predecessors. My only regret is that there is only one more book in the series T.T

In the fifth book of the Artemis Fowl series, Artemis is back in action with his fairy friends. This story introduces a whole new branch of the People, the Eighth Family. The Eighth Family are demons who escaped the rise of humanity by creating a time-spell to isolate their island. But the spell, now ten thousand years old, is starting to fray and will soon start scattering demons — dead and alive — randomly across the universe in all points of history. N°1 is a demon who can't quite get into the bloodlust and unsavory eating habits of the other demons. All the demon warlocks who created the time-spell were thrown out into the void when the spell went wrong. But N°1 displays behavior that is quite unusual for a young imp waiting show more to become a demon... could he possibly be a demon warlock with real magic?

Meanwhile, Artemis, Holly, Butler, Mulch, and Foaly aren't the only ones trying to find a solution to the demon problem. There is another child genius who is working on the problem in pursuit of the Nobel Prize — and a record for being the youngest Nobel winner (age twelve, to be precise). Minerva Paradizo is very like Artemis Fowl before he met the People. She is, of course, intellectually brilliant and remarkably pretty... a dangerous combination for Artemis, who is finally starting to notice girls.

Unfortunately, Minerva reminded me overmuch of Opal's character from the fourth book — the young, pretty child genius manipulating a rich father for her own ends. Granted, Minerva didn't exactly use mesmer on her father as Opal did on Zito, but the principle was there: intelligent child using wealthy parent. I would have to meet Minerva in another book to learn to like her, I think.

One thing I feel compelled to mention is the terrible editing that was done on these books. Sentences like "He's calls me all the time" (book five) should not appear in a published book! There were multiple typos I kept noticing... a goblin's name that was spelled two different ways (Nyle and Nyall in book two), Colfer used "submerse" instead of "submerge (book three)," etc. Great books, terrible copy editor.

I liked the introduction of demon culture, and Artemis continues to astound. Overall, this was another enjoyable addition to the Artemis Fowl series. Recommended! show less

Teenage criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered that demons are real and they're randomly appearing around the globe. He's determined to catch one in Sicily. He is thwarted in his plans by a girl who's about his age and her henchmen, who manage to capture the demon first. Along with Holly Short, who is worried that the demon may betray the existence of the rest of the fairy folk, and their company, Artemis attempts to rescue the demon from the mysterious girl.

Eh.

What was most interesting about this book is the setup for future stories. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I won't say much about that, but I will say that I like Minerva and hope that she becomes a recurring character. The other twists could lead to some very show more interesting developments.

I missed most of the oddball crew. This book focused so much on Artemis and Holly and the even the demon that I really missed Butler, Mulch, Foaly, etc. They were included--don't get me wrong--but not as much as I would have liked.

I don't have much more to say. This certainly wasn't as funny or entertaining as other Artemis Fowl books, but I have high hopes for the books that follow. show less

This book had me scratching my head. There were parts of it I loved (Artemis going through puberty; the emergence of another "child genius) but the whole demon colony and all of the magic and logic and science just... almost tipped the scale as TOO nerdy. It was very, very hard to follow at times and, considering this is a MS level book... that could be a deal-breaker when it comes to younger boys like my nephew.

Even though this book is more focused on the demon (who will later be important in the next book) than Artemis, we can see how the boy and Holly are now best friends. A complete change if you compare it with the first book. There is one interesting thing about Artemis in this novel though. He’s a teenager now and has to deal with feelings for girls he doesn’t completely understand and tries to rationalize. It doesn’t help that the second party is a teenage girl.

If The Opal Deception was the darkest book in the series, this one is the lightest. It’s not only because of the plot. The little demon is like an innocent child who doesn’t really understand what’s going on or why some things are happening.

I also think The Lost show more Colony is the weakest book in the series. I never felt that there was any real danger. Artemis and company were in danger, of course, but there was always a feeling of a perfect magical solution for the problem. It’s like one of those average episodes in tv series: OK, but nothing too special. show less

"Once again, Colfer takes the Artemis Fowl series to a new level. For the first time we see an integrated Artemis at work - cunning genius and a strict new moral code. Colfer continues conveying values of environmentalism, the sacredness of life, the importance of relationships, and the power of the intellect. As Artemis gets older, his world gets more precarious and his consequences more dire, so, like the Harry Potter books, I recommend being at least Artemis's age in the book before reading it. As usual, the books are equally appealing to adult fans of fantasy.[return][return]PLOT SPOILERS. Artemis is bored by his normal existance and take the opportunity to turn the tables on Foley's (unauthorized) surveillance of him. He discovers show more the existance of the 8th family - demons, and the story of how they retreated from the world of humanity in a time spell performed by demon warlocks. The spell is unstable and demons erratically appear in the world for brief moments, unless they are anchored by silver. Artemis uses his mathematical genius to refine the formula for when/where they will appear. Unfortunately, his formula also reveals that the spell holding the island of the demons in time is breaking down. When it does, most of the demons will die and the rest will be exposed to humanity. Artemis makes it his mission to stop this from happening. He discovers he is not the only child genius to correct the prediction formula. A young girl, Minerva, is using the formula to capture a second demon, with the goal of a nobel peace prize. Her family stumbled upon the first, Abbott, accidentally. He returned to the demon island with a pack of lies and terrorizes No1, an imp who is the first demon to be born a warlock in thousands of years, into making the dimensional jump. No1 is captured by Minerva and her crazy muscle Billy Kong, who believes demons murdered his brother. Artemis, Butler, Holly (now working for a superpolice organization known as Section 8 with Foaly), Mulch, and a new addition to the crew, the gnome Doodah Day, rescue No1 from Minerva but Billy Kong flips and threatens to kill Minerva and her people unless she produces another demon. Artemis agrees to make a trade in Taipei - the demon No1 for Minerva. He outsmarts Billy and, recognizing the symbols on No1's skin, realizes that the demon warlocks who performed the time spell are trapped in stone in a museum exhibit. No1 manages to free the head warlock Qwan from the spell, but Billy burst in on them. Butler is distracted protecting Minerva from Billy, and one of his crew manages to place an active bomb on Holly. Artemis leaves Minerva and Butler behind, and has Holly try to fly him and the demons out the window. Her wings fail, and Artemis removes the silver that's anchoring No1 to the world, sending them all to the demon time-spelled island. The time spell is unraveling, and they need a magical group of 5 to save the island. Abbot's big secret is revealed - he sabotaged the original time spell, and stole magic from one of the warlocks in the resulting mess. Using the bomb, magic Artemis stole in the time tunnel, Qwan, No1, and an unconsious Abbott with the warlock trapped inside him, they return the demon island to the world. The LEP are waiting to rescue them all, sink the island, and hide evidence of its existance. Artemis learns the corrupt LEP leadership has been disgraced, he has been gone for three years and now has switched one eye with Holly. He discovers a grief-stricken Butler still waiting for him, he has twin younger brothers, and Minerva has been growing up adoring him. His parents are a mess. But he has hidden that he has a little of the fairy magic yet, and hopes to use it to heal his family." show less