Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
European Edition cover of Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
Author(s)	Eoin Colfer
Illustrator	Stefan van Bolderick
Cover artist	Melvyn Grant
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Series	Artemis Fowl series
Genre(s)	Children's Fantasy novel
Publisher	Puffin Books
Publication date	2 August 2006
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback), Audiobook CD
Pages	384 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0141382686 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	76849597
Preceded by	The Opal Deception (2005)
Followed by	The Time Paradox (2008)

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (known as Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony in Europe) is the fifth book in the Artemis Fowl Series by Irish writer Eoin Colfer. The book, originally expected to be published in the UK and Ireland on September 7 2006, was shipped to stores early. On September 12 of the same year, The Lost Colony became available in the US, and was released soon to other countries. It is followed by Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox.

Plot

In Barcelona, Spain, Artemis Fowl II and Butler, his bodyguard, wait for a demon. They eventually encounter a demon who would have taken Artemis through time had Butler not touched Artemis and worn a silver bracelet. The silver allows Butler to pull Artemis back through time. Meanwhile, Wing Commander Vinyáya brings Holly Short and Mulch Diggums, who have recently been working on their semi-successful PI business, to secret organization Section Eight which monitors demon activity. There, Foaly informs them that Artemis Fowl was able to predict a demon materialization that they were not. Holly is sent to ask Artemis how he could do so.

On the demon island of Hybras, which is suspended in "Limbo" (where time is nonexistent), N°1, an imp, is bullied because he has not "warped" (changed into a mature demon). After turning a wooden skewer into stone, N°1 wonders if he is a warlock, though they all supposedly died. Leon Abbot, the leader of the demon pride, uses something suspiciously like mesmer to urge N°1 to leave for the human world.

Artemis, Butler, and Holly arrive at the Massimo Bellini Opera House, where Artemis has predicted a demon appearance. Here again, they see a blond girl they had encountered in Barcelona. Artemis concludes that she knows something about demons. She is identified as Minerva Paradizo. N°1 materializes in a dark corner of the stage and is immediately shot with a Tranquilizer Dart using a rifle disguised as a crutch by Billy Kong, who is one of Minerva's henchmen, and is also known as Jonah Lee. Minerva leaves for her residence with Holly following. N°1, in Minerva's home, tells her about demon culture. He also learns that Leon Abbot visited this very place under care and that the spell holding Hybras in Limbo is failing. Holly has feigned unconsciousness and is in a cell with Kong. Holly manages to knock him out.

When Artemis distracts Minerva, Holly and N°1 escape. Kong, who has some inaccurate knowledge of demons, demands that Minerva obtain another demon to avenge his deceased brother, for which he holds demons accountable. She is unable to comply, and he takes her hostage. Artemis, however strikes a deal in which he will trade N°1 for Minerva at Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Kong plans to strap a bomb onto N°1 and remove the silver bullet anchoring N°1 to this dimension. However, Artemis has already removed it, and has instructed N°1 to drop the silver bullet which he has been holding in his hand. When N°1 drops the bullet, he almost immediately dematerializes but the large pendulum coated with silver, which is near where N°1 is standing, keeps N°1 in this dimension. Holly puts a silver bracelet around N°1's arm when he materializes at the apex of the pendulum. Holly flies up to the next story, which is another observation deck under renovation, and encounters a worker. Holly has already mesmerized the worker so he suspects nothing. They then go down to the 40th floor in the elevator and meet with Artemis, Butler, and Minerva. They go to the Kimsichiog Art Gallery, which has not yet opened. Holly mesmerizes the curator to grant them access to the main exhibition, a 10,000 year old sculpture of "dancing figures" which is really 4 of the 7 demon warlocks, frozen in stone. One of them had died instantly when his head had snapped off, two more had lost arms and legs. Two more had died from shock and one was missing. Only Qwan, who knew what was coming, had survived. N°1 manages to release Qwan. Kong and his group reach the gallery and try to break the door open. Butler shoots the lock with his SIG Sauer 9mm handgun and destroys it. Kong's group manages to shoot the door until it is "Drooping slightly on its hinges". Butler rips the door open, drags Kong inside and with the help of Holly's Neutrino, knocks him to the ground thinking he was unconscious. Minerva kicks him in the leg against Butler's warnings. Kong grabs Minerva's ankle and Butler steps on Kong's wrist, then knocks him unconscious by hitting him between the eyes with his knuckle. In the time this took, Kong's gang gets in the door and one of the men throws a grenade into the room, but Holly shields it with her Section 8 helmet. The bomb gets handcuffed to N°1 and Artemis, Qwan, N°1, and Holly devise a plan to use Holly's wings to carry Artemis, Holly, and N°1 to the next building over. Their plan fails when Holly's wings cut out and they fall against the side of the building. Artemis takes off N°1's silver bracelet and they all dematerialize to Hybras. Artemis reasons that the bomb will provide sufficient energy for a spell to reverse the original time-spell. Qwan tells him that at least five magical beings will be necessary. They all think (with the exception of Artemis, who stole some magic in the time tunnel) that there are only three.

On Hybras, Abbot crowns himself the demon king. He is notified that four figures, Artemis, N°1, Holly, and Qwan, have appeared on the volcano. They accuse him of using the mesmer, but he states that demons cannot use magic. Artemis claims that Abbot took magic from Qwan's apprentice and stole it from the time tunnel. When Abbot asks for proof, Artemis reveals that he stole some magic himself. When Abbot states that this is not possible, he demonstrates the fact by creating a spark out of the magic he took from the tunnel, unknown to his companions. With this development, then there will be five magical beings present (Abbot included), enough to reverse the time spell. Holly dies, but Artemis takes advantage of the time spell's disintegration and consequent irregularity to bring her back to life. Artemis, having no experience with magic, is guided by Qwan, and the 'magic circle' is formed. However, not enough magic is available, as Abbot does not contribute enough. At that moment, Qweffor, Qwan's former apprentice, makes his appearance, revealing he has been living in Abbot after the first time spell was interrupted. With Qweffor's increased magic, the party is able to return to Artemis and Holly's dimension.

When they land back in the 21st century, Artemis notices that he has switched an eye with Holly. Even though Qweffor's consciousness has once again been taken over by Abbot, N°1 manages to expand Qweffor's consciousness enough to shut Abbot out. Unfortunately, the party is three years off into the future. Artemis now has twin brothers, Ark Sool has been fired, and Mulch has continued the PI firm, also recruiting Doodah Day, a pixie that he arrested with Holly at the start of the book. When Artemis sees Butler, now with a beard, Butler reveals that Minerva has grown to be "quite a beautiful young woman" who talks about Artemis extensively.

Critical reception

The book has received some positive praise. VOYA stated that Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony was "fast-paced, funny, and wholly enjoyable" as well as that it was an "action-packed thrill ride through fantastic worlds".

The Code

The fairy Code is written at the end of the book. This code can be used to solve the cryptic messages found in all of the Artemis Fowl books (usually found on the bottom of each page).

Sources

• Official Artemis Fowl UK-site
• Artemis Fowl Confidential