Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
by Eoin Colfer

Fourteen-year-old ex-criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl is starting to look like a total good-guy. This is a good thing, because another junior crime kingpin, or rather queenpin, is at large and starting to meddle in the affairs of the fairy folk.

The girl's name is Minerva Paradizo, and she knows too much about the timetable for momentary appearances of demons for her own good...which is to say, she knows almost as much as Artemis Fowl. When Minerva captures a demon right in front of Artemis in a crowded Italian theatre, the Fowl boy and his bodyguard Butler join forces with Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police to rescue the demon. Timing is of the essence, because the stability of the entire dimension where the demons live has begun to deteriorate, and the end of their entire race may be at hand.

The demon in question isn't really a bad guy, once you get to know him. A sensitive imp named No 1, he hasn't made the transition into adult demonhood (known as warping), even though he is well past the age. No 1 suspects that he is a warlock, a special type of demon that hasn't been seen since the demons and their island were translated into an alternate dimension, centuries ago, at the end of a war between the fairy peoples and the humans. Since then, the demon psyche has been formed by a warlike psycho named Abbot, who is hell-bent on avenging his race's grievances on mankind.

To Artemis goes the weighty task of planning No 1's escape from Minerva's clutches...then, to rescue Minerva from her hired thug, Billy Kong, who has his own psychotic grievance with demons. All Artemis's cleverness and resourcefulness must come into play as he shifts directly from saving-everybody-from-Billy-Kong mode to saving-everybody-from-Abbot.

I can't get much more specific than that, without spoiling all your fun. Go on, read the book. This series continues to be lots of fun, with gosh-wow gadgetry, new and weirder-than-ever bits of magic, humor, camaraderie, danger, suspense, and the kind of surprises that only characters with powerful personalities can bring.

Robbie Fischer
USA

Recommended Age: 10+

If you would like to contact Robbie, you may do so here.