Customer Reviews

The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, Book 6)

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Those who have been faithfully following this series will know that this is book six of the adventures of the teenaged criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl II.

Picking up at Fowl Manor, we learn that three years have passed while Artemis was otherwise occupied, and that he now has two brothers, twins named Beckett and Myles. This book goes in a different direction to the previous plot, making no mention of some of the characters introduced in The Lost Colony. There are references to certain events, but other than the main characters, most of the story is new material.

As the title implies, an older and more mature Artemis Fowl enlists the help of his friend Captain Holly Short, dwarf Mulch Diggums and the imp warlock No.1 to journey to the past to correct a mistake he made earlier in his eventful life. His mother has contracted a rare disease that can only be cured by an extract from the brain of an extinct lemur, and ironically, the extinction was hastened by young Fowl himself.

The time trip gets very complicated when Artemis matches wits with his younger self, and rescuing the lemur from Dr. Damon Kronski, leader of the Extinctionists cult, proves to be much easier planned than achieved. To make it more complicated, there's now a fledgling romantic situation in play, and the return of an enemy from the past who also wants possession of the lemur.

Artemis isn't as devious and diabolical as in earlier books, but to his credit, the kid is growing up and has other things on his mind. This book is action-packed with the usual gadgetry and humor, but as is the case with time paradoxes, it is sometimes hard to keep things straight. The plot also has several twists, obviously getting even twistier in the final chapters. The story ends with an obvious hint for another book.

And "What about the Kraken?" you may ask. Well, that part of the story is explosive, to say the least.



Amanda Richards, August 1, 2008

I couldn't put The Time Paradox down. Like the previous Fowl books, this one is brimming with sly humor, re-imagining fairies that pack heat and have super-cool gadgets. What kept the pages turning for me, however, was the idea of traveling back in time to interact with yourself.

In The Time Paradox, instead of plotting the perfect crime as in earlier installments, this time Artemis Fowl races to undo one of his previous criminal acts. This sets in motion a showdown between the teenage genius and his younger, more heartless self.

My favorite Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, dealt with the same intriguing situation. Harry and Hermione went back in time to right a terrible wrong, and had to save the day while occupying the same time and space as their earlier, clueless selves. They were successful in part because they never directly faced themselves. In The Time Paradox, Artemis Fowl doesn't have that good fortune.

Fans of the Fowl series will recognize many of the memorable characters here. Antihero Artemis Fowl himself, an autocratic teenage genius. Plucky elf Captain Holly Short of the elite LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance). The explosively flatulent dwarf Mulch Diggums. Evil pixie Opal Koboi.

This book has something for everyone. It's a fairy tale with high-tech James Bond gadgetry. The action is nonstop. Author Colfer handles the fledgling love story between elf Holly and human Artemis with delicacy. It's a bit of a tearjerker, with Artemis's beloved mom near death. It's a morality play, about the extinction of a sweet and curious lemur species.

It may be a bit hard to follow if you haven't read the previous books, but it's still plenty diverting. It will make you want to pick up the earlier installments.

Other Eoin Colfer books include Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl (The Opal Deception), The Lost Colony, Airman, Half Moon Investigations, The Supernaturalist and The Wish List.

Here's the chapter list:

Prologue
1. Espresso and Treacle
2. The World's Biggest
3. Echoes of Magic
4. Monkey's Uncle
5. I Now Pronounce You
6. I to I
7. Talk to the Animals
8. A Blob of Phlegm
9. The Prince Frog
10. A Fowl Mood
11. Pigeon Droppings
12. Gone Forever
13. The Hairy One is Dead
14. The Hole in the Ace
15. Murder Most Fowl
16. A Team of Hairdressers

I began reading these books when I was Artemis's age and having more-or-less grown up with him, I adored Time Paradox more than the other recent additions to the series. Three years passed in our world while Artemis was in Limbo in book five, so even though he is physically 14, he should be almost eighteen. It was wonderful to see a more mature Artemis, one with hormones, especially when he was interacting with his more ruthless, cold-hearted, ten-year-old self. I enjoyed the romance the most, as in my opinion, it's the only element this series has been lacking, and the pairing was one I have waited for since book one (no Minerva or even mention of her in this book!). Though we didn't get to see as much of Butler or Foaly as I would have liked, Holly and Mulch as the main supporting characters were excellent as usual. The contrast Colfer presented in the two Artemis was well done, and Artemis the Elder's introspection was interesting to read and showed how the character has matured over the series. We even get to see Root again, which was lovely. Truthfully, I am a little sick of Opal Koboi, and my one complaint is that the epilogue doesn't make sense (time paradox issues). The Extinctionists were hilarious (and creepy) and were the epitome of cartoon-esque bad guys. This book had AF trademark wild escapades, witty dialogue, plot twists, and it made me laugh aloud many times, something that none of the previous books have done. I recommend it to anyone, young or old, who has ever been a fan of AF.

As mentioned by others, the audio version was just plain terrible. I really loved Nathaniel Parker's version, his voices, his pitch and pace, they were all right on. I knew each character by their (Mr. Parker's) voice, and his reading mirrored exactly what I thought the individual characters sounded like.

This guy? Needs lessons in reading for others. Not only does he dispense with Artemis' (and his father's) Irish accent, but every other character sounds exactly alike. If there weren't dialog tags at the end of sentences, I'd never know who spoke.

The purpose of the CD is to LISTEN to the characters, just have someone else read to me. If I wanted that, I'd tape myself.

As for the story itself, I miss certain aspects of the previous books, but yes, Artemis is growing up. I can accept that, even if the reason I first loved the stories was because of his cunning and craftiness.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all five books read by Nathaniel Parker; he performs every book superbly, giving each character a unique flavor that, to me, was as important as the book's storyline. Once I got ahold of "The Time Paradox" my heart sank as I listened to the sixth audio book narrated by Enn Reitel. After the first few minutes I had to stop listening and returned it to the library. There must have been some fallout between Random House audio and Nathaniel Parker, hence the new voice actor. But it just isn't the same...sort of like watching an epic movie like Lord of the Rings with a different Frodo in the final movie. Yuk.

But wait -- I discovered that Nathaniel Parker does indeed perform "The Time Paradox" but is not available in the United States. The narration by Nathaniel Parker is available as an unabridged downloadable audiobook at www.audible.co.uk . I've listened to this sixth installment in the voice I've come to love and expect.

Ahh...now I have my fix.

My family & I have enjoyed the previous Fowl novels and, in particular, the Audio-CD versions. The prior 5 books were read by Nathaniel Parker who did just an astounding job creating distinct and what always seemed to be very appropriate voice characterizations of each of the books' varied human/ fairy characters.

For some unknown reason, this new novel is NOT read by Mr. Parker, but by Mr. Enn Reitel. While we have not finished the novel, we felt it necessary to express our displeasure at this change as Mr. Reitel's version is so far inferior to that of Mr. Parker that it is difficult to listen to. For example, Mr. Reitel voice's Artemus' bodyguard, Butler in what sounds like the cockney accent of a London chimney sweep from the 1800's which is totally inappropriate for the character.

Maybe we had just been spoiled by Nathaniel Parker, but this version is a supreme disappointment.

As an ardent fan of Artemis Fowl from the first book onward, I was more than just a little excited to find out that THE TIME PARADOX was in the works. The previous book in the series, THE LOST COLONY, was one of my favorites, and it opened so many doors that I wanted desperately to see explored. After reading THE TIME PARADOX over the course of a single day, my reactions are mixed, but one thing's for sure: with Artemis Fowl in the mix, there's never a dull moment.

The storyline opens only a short while after the end of the previous book. Fourteen-year-old genius Artemis Fowl has been out of his home time for nearly three years as the result of the events of THE LOST COLONY, and the world has changed around him. But the presence of younger twin brothers at Fowl Manor is not nearly as surprising as the fact that Artemis has managed to retain some of the fairy magic that he stole while in the time tunnel, making himself part magical in turn. Early on in the story, the readers find out that Artemis has used this small magic to mesmerize his parents into forgetting all about his three-year disappearance, and is learning how to control it for specific purposes.

So when Artemis's mother develops symptoms of several deadly illnesses overnight, Artemis's first instinct is to use his fairy magic to save her. When that fails, draining all of the magic out of Artemis, his first call is to Holly Short, reinstated Captain in the Lower Elements Police. Holly arrives and diagnoses Artemis's mother with a rare disease known as spelltropy, usually passed between magic users by the use of power. The only cure is the brain fluid of a silky sifaka lemur--a species that became extinct nearly eight years ago, thanks to the work of a younger Artemis Fowl desperate for money to fuel the search for his then-missing father.

Artemis is convinced there's a simple solution to this problem: go back in time using the magic of demon warlock No. 1 and steal the lemur from his younger self before returning to his own time. Of course, with Artemis involved, nothing could ever really be that simple. Nonetheless, he and Holly both make the journey almost eight years back in time to outsmart the ten-year-old Artemis and a group of Extinctionists bent upon getting their hands on the lemur--not to mention a mysterious third player who may be manipulating everyone from behind the scenes.

The storytelling is vivid, the jokes are always funny, the puns are horrendous in the best of ways. The repartee between Artemis and Holly gets better in every book. But for whatever reason, I didn't enjoy this Fowl adventure as much as I did previous ones. It seemed somehow like there was less at stake. It was an interesting ploy, since the "villain" Artemis faces off against for the first half of the story is himself, but a lot of the major weight of the story felt psychological.

Of course, there were the requisite explosions and high-speed cross-country chases, but the focus of this book seemed to be more upon the minds of the characters involved, particularly Artemis and Holly, and their relationships to their own pasts. That's not to say the book wasn't good--it just had a different kind of depth from the others, one that I probably couldn't fully appreciate on a first reading. Some of the doors opened in THE LOST COLONY were closed rather suddenly, in my opinion, or led down passageways I hadn't thought they would explore, so that the main developments of this book were not what I thought they would be at all. But then, what would be the fun of a predictable book?

If Colfer is one thing consistently as a writer, it's unpredictable, and this book is no exception.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

I've read them all as have my kids (15 and 16). This is my 2nd favorite in the series (of course #1 has to be the favorite as it's the introduction to this world created by Colfer).

The reviews I've read are way too critical, I found this book to be great at adding new characters (new book coming up?). The villians are not the smartest, but I really enjoyed the read. Colfer had to have a breakout book like this to expand the characters, and I really liked it.

Colfer's plotting is in fine form as in other books in the series. It's as good as any other installment in terms of page-turning compulsiveness and interesting hijinks.

The 'discontinuous' aspect is that he seems to abandon a very obvious plot thread from the previous book with no explanation. It's as if a major plot thread from The Lost Colony never took place. In its place was a different plot thread that was (to me) not logical.

Spoiler ahead, as I get specific! Stop reading now if you like surprises.

Basically, the Minerva character from The Lost Colony disappears as if forgotten. Instead, we get an apparent romantic interaction between Holly and Artemis. While I admit when I first started reading AF that seemed the obvious way to go, after X books I had gotten the impression that their relationship was decidedly platonic by way of differing species, ages, heights, and personalities. It feels forced. Personally, I thought Minerva was well-drawn as a foil and a romantic peer. Especially the highly convenient age-equalizing trip to limbo. I kept thinking she would show up and do something interesting but, no. Not a single mention.

But, romance isn't what AF is about, so no real biggie. As far as devious plotting goes Artemis doesn't seem as sharp throughout the book until the end, but the endgame is great and kindof makes up for it. I'm not really a big fan of the ultimate villain, though.

Overall it's still a fun read and a worthy AF sequel.

If you have listened to the first five audiobooks, this one will disappoint you. It was a waste of my money. I recommend not buying this one. Just read the book. The story feels completely different, cause this new reader is not even close to sounding like Nathaniel Parker. I would be glad to buy this audiobook again, if they would re-record it with Nathaniel Parker. This ruined the Artemis Fowl series for me. I'm very disappoint.

Don't be fooled by all of the reviews. It is deceiving. Most of the stars are for the book, not the audiobook. The books are great. Amazon should separate the audiobook reviews from the book reviews.