nice twists and turns (2009-06-08)
The latest part of the Artemis Fowl saga.
Great read, good pace, nice twists and turns that you didn't see coming.
Artemis is becoming good instead of evil, which is a bit of a shame. we don't want a new harry potter, we liked the evil genious. But nevertheless a good story!.

Awesome Artemis never disappoints! (2009-06-04)
I really have enjoyed this whole series and this book had one thing in particular that got me psyched up...Opal is Back!! Opal Koboi has to be one of the coolest villians I've read and she's just so much fun! She is artemis' arch-nemesis and comes back with a vengeance here. Of course there's great time travel fun as well...in short Artemis fowl never disappoints...great for kids and young adults who love their fantasy with a charming twist!

"He was up against somebody just as smart as he was, only twice as ruthless." (2009-05-30)
I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in this series, but this one fell short of the mark. The main problem is that the author decided to try to create interest by twisting the plot way too much, transforming it in a morass of confusion. Therefore, there are many instances in which the internal logic of the story is damaged. Just adding the way paradox in the title should not give an author carte blanche regarding the consistency of the story.

Those that are familiar with the series will find the usual elements, such as the battle of wits between Artemis and his enemies, the humor involving Foaly and Mulch, and the special relationship between Artemis and Holly. However, the first of these is compounded by the fact that Artemis has to travel back in time for find a cure for his dying mother and there he will face none other than his younger ruthless self. Sadly, the humor, even though present, is delivered in much smaller doses than in previous installments.

There is an added element dealing with love, but this part of the plot is really underdeveloped by the author. It's almost as if Colfer does not want to move the story forward in terms of the relationship among the main characters in an effort of having this series last as long as possible, and I do not think this is a good strategy. Also, the trip to the past allowed the author to bring back characters that were out of the picture. I would have preferred to see new characters come up, since doing this is almost as saying: "Look I dare kill some of the important characters" only to go back and say "Just kidding".

Overall, if you have followed the series, you probably want to read the book for the sake of completeness and hope the future ones go back to the level of quality we have seen up to here. Those that have not experienced the adventures of Artemis Fowl in the past would be much better to look at some of the previous books instead.

Good but confusing (2009-05-30)
The story was exciting and sometimes funny but they kept doing completely unexpected things ("hey, when did Artemis Fowl tell his younger self to come forward in time with him?!") I definitely liked this book, though. It was worth reading.

Weakest Out of the Whole Series (2009-05-23)
I don't know...maybe my expectations were just too high, but I found the story overly cliche.

Time travel back to the time of your younger self is hardly new, and there weren't enough interesting plot points to take away the cliche of that. The plot was simple and unlayered. I also find it very unrealistic that Artemist Fowl the older version almost got outsmarted by Artemis Fowl the younger. Shouldn't he have been able to predict what he would have done, and countered?

The story dragged in the beginning, and only at the end did I become a little interested.

The characters: Although Minerva (from "The Lost Colony", which was, by the way, the best book in the series) annoyed me a little, I kept expecting her to appear. I wanted her to appear. I didn't like that she never did. It seemed there was a budding relationship there, and the very convenient little trip that Eoin Colfer sent Artemis on, to the home of the demons, was a great way to make them the same age so that a romance would be more likely. I found the small amount of romance between Holly and Artemis awkward. I wish Colfer had left it out.

Beyond that, I found the characters (outside of Holly and N01), to be less relatable than before.

The conclusion somewhat redeemed the story, and I still eagerly await the next installment, because the cliffhanger ending makes me think that something killer is coming up. Hopefully, Colfer won't disappoint.