Finally, it's out of Limbo!

by Blue Yeti

With the blurb, preliminary reviews, and some very good friends telling stories of a girl genius named Minerva, I was not over-confident with my expectations for the fifth Artemis Fowl book, The Lost Colony. Especially when reading the mixed responses at AFC and Orion Awards Forums. (Both links contain heavy spoilers.)

Thankfully, remarkably, excitedly, I was most pleasantly surprised. I would go so far as to say the most surprising thing was how easily I enjoyed this novel, as I finished the last thirty pages at a snail’s crawl, savouring the creative action, time paradoxes, and, well, Artemis.

It begins admirably, with the right balance of intrigue, confusion, Artemis dialogue, and imminent disaster. It ends even better, with some of the imminent disasters actually eventuating, although I shall endeavour to not say anything too spoiler-ific (because I’m sure you’re all ignoring spoiler warnings). Colfer delivers within the opening chapter: time travel, demons, danger, and the comforting hand of Butler straining against the supernatural. I wasn’t quite on the edge of my seat, but my mind was sent whirling with all of the imminent possibilities which Colfer had displayed in only a few pages. The return to normalcy was a misnomer, of course, but the spark of something unusual was hovering just out of sight.

Following a few too many opening chapters, as Colfer attempted to introduce us to the Imp, No1, the pixie, Doodah Day, and the LEP’s covert operations centre, we finally met the promised Minerva (who doesn’t get an introduction chapter, at least). Action happens. Problems ensue. Enemies become friends, and other enemies become much more threatening enemies than we ever suspected. It’s all rather exciting, like new Fowl canon always is.

In following Colfer’s usual structure the novel is a series of problems leading to further problems, with engaging, adventurous climaxes sprinkled between, half resting on action, the other half on Artemis’s plots. Artemis, Butler, and Holly travel all over the world before landing in Limbo, with events never quite predictable, but never completely left-of-center.

The novel was enjoyable and amusing, although it had a few less Dwarf jokes than is usual, because Mulch only features for one third of the novel. Some say that Colfer has sacrificed the old favourites of Mulch, Trouble, Grub and Juliet to the new place-setters of Minerva, No1, Doodah Day and Billy Kong, and I don’t disagree. I would have liked to see more of those minor characters, but, when faced with the plot, it would not have been easy for Colfer to have shoe-horned them into place. Some other reader grumbles are that the story reads as ‘half-Colfer’, there being two distinctive styles within TLC: that which occurs in relation to Minerva, and then the sections on the demons. For me personally, I enjoyed the way Colfer extended himself beyond our expectations, with the demon world of Limbo being amusing, bizarre, and well thought out all at once.

Of course, it’s rather difficult to think of demons as threatening when they’ve all got names like Hadley Shrivelington Basset and Leon Abbot, but while giggling at the mental images I still managed to be thoroughly enthralled by the world creation, spiralling plot, and delicious insights into magic.

The hormone filled book some were dreading doesn’t manifest, while there is plenty of fodder for those who like both general and romantic AF fanfics. Following new situations from TLC even the most vocal anti-Artemis/Holly could write an essay on how they could get together. For Arty/Butler lovers the ship is reinforced by some lovely, loyal interactions. Holly/Trouble is left out entirely, as neither of the Kelp brothers got a mention, but love-struck Foaly, mooning after the centaur Caballine more than makes up for it. For general ficcers, however, we have now got another well developed species to play with, a wealth of information on the uses and abuses of magic, and a few new characters

This is the third new AF book which I have awaited, and for that it was the least anticipated: my nails remained fashionably long and Amazon delivered within days. But it was certainly an unexpected journey. The mindwipe of The Eternity Code rocked the fandom most significantly, and we delighted in a return to the criminal Artemis of the first novel. The Opal Deception managed to tug us emotionally through the death and recycling of Julius Root, and mucked up the LEP-based plots we were hiding on our harddrives. But the reverberations of The Lost Colony are yet to be felt. I assure you, though, we will be seeing changes. What will fandom do with Minerva and the demons? And the layers of not-so-nasty twists which jumped out in the last chapter? (No, you can’t read the last chapter first, it won’t make any sense; put that book back in order.) For myself, I’ve already got a few ideas bouncing around in the back of my head, and I’m sure the fortunate Brits do too.

And although some of us may be sceptical about the altruistic Artemis who stars in TLC, well, he ends the book with a new way of looking at the world entirely. And he is Artemis: is there anyway we couldn’t love new canon in which he stars?

For those in the United States, you only have to wait until the 15th of September for the next adventure. For those Australians not so fortunate to have abused their father’s credit card, most sources say the sparkly covers will be on the shelves for the 25th. For everyone else, ask at a bookshop (a larger chain of stores is probably the best source of information).

Rating: Three TODs, 0.7 TECs, 1 TAI, and not much evil!Artemis at all. (Or, 8/10 Fairy Families.)