Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
Okay, first up, a confession: I’m heartily sick of time travel tales. They’re just silly (as my Mum pointed out, “If we were ever going to invent time travel, we’d know about it”) and there are too many of them. This has three things in its favour: 1. It’s magic (which actually makes it far less silly – technobabble is unwanted and mercifully unnecessary). 2. It’s a story pitting Artemis against Artemis, which is cool. 3. It’s Eoin Colfer, and I trust him to spin a good yarn.
The rest of the review is at Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
Felicity Banks 
Jolyon said,
July 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Hi Louise,
I recently had an incredibly large number of hours on planes, and needed some reading material. Upon your recommendation, I read the entire Artemis Fowl series. I enjoyed them for something that took four hours to read and didn’t require you to think too hard. They were well-written and enjoyable, although I did get the feeling they were written for people half my age 😉 I was, however, disappointed with the finale to the series, which seemed to pander to tropes a little much for my liking, and left character relationships unresolved. What did you think (assuming you have read the book, which has only been out for about a week now)?
To other readers: I heartily recommend the series up to the second last book, if you want something light and fun to read.
Best,
Jolyon
Louise Curtis said,
July 20, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Awesome! I’m glad I could help you out with your reading choices, and I’m particularly glad you enjoyed them.
W said,
July 21, 2012 at 10:10 am
I have found some time-travels that are well worthwhile, but I understand your reservations – it’s very difficult to write it without either becoming incredibly complicated or doing a lot of handwaving. The best versions have some judicious handwaving to get rid of the complications and are very carefully written to avoid major plot loops. I suspect any time-travel story can be picked to pieces if you actually stop to think logically about it, so it’s usually best to just suspend disbelief (or, as you suggested, avoid using it as a plot device – but what a tempting one to have sitting there, making puppy eyes at you!).
Louise Curtis said,
July 21, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Puppy eyes indeed! Well put.