Review: Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl #5)
Recommended Age: 10-12 years
by The Book Pup on October 4, 2025
Blurb for the book (on Goodreads):
Ten thousand years ago, humans and fairies fought a great battle for the magical island of Ireland. When it became clear to the fairy families that they could never win, they decided to move their civilization underground and keep themselves hidden from the humans. All the fairy families agreed on this, except the eighth family, the demons.
The demons planned to lift their small island out of time until they had regrouped and were ready to wage war on the humans once more. However, the time spell went wrong, and the island of Hybras was catapulted into Limbo, where it has remained for ten thousand years.
Now, the tainted time spell is deteriorating and demons are being sucked back into the present space and time. The fairy Council are naturally concerned about this and are monitoring any materialisations. When the spell’s deterioration accelerates, the materialisations become unpredictable. Even the fairy scientists cannot figure out where the next demon will pop up.
But someone can. Artemis Fowl, the teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no normal human should be intelligent enough to understand. But Artemis Fowl is no normal human.
So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theatre, Artemis Fowl is there to meet him. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. A second, mysterious party has also solved the temporal equations, and manages to abduct the demon before Artemis can secure him.
This is a disaster for the fairy People, because this demon was no ordinary fairy. He was the last demon warlock, and as such held the key to the survival of the entire demon race.
It is up to Artemis and his old comrade, Captain Holly Short to track down the missing demon and rescue him before the time spell dissolves completely and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.
My Summary:
In this fifth Artemis Fowl adventure, demons from a lost island called Hybras have randomly appeared on Earth. This is because the time spell is failing. It's threatening to expose the entire fairy world to humans, which is a catastrophe for magical creatures everywhere.
Artemis Fowl, now older and slightly less villainous than before, needs to team up with his former comrade Captain Holly Short to track down the lost demons and fix the time spell.
Along with the time spell dilemma, someone of equal genius rises to rival Artemis—a girl.
With new allies, new enemies, and unexpected twists involving time travel, Artemis will have to use all his genius to save both human and fairy worlds. But can he do it without losing himself in the process?
My Review (Non-Spoiler)
I've been following Artemis's journey throughout the previous books, and I was curious to see how Artemis, who was originally the villain, would help save the fairies he previously disliked, this time as a hero.
This book definitely feels different from the earlier Fowl books. Artemis is now older (14 years old), and his character and personality have evolved too. While I missed some of his earlier ruthless cleverness, I enjoyed seeing him change for the better.
What I loved the most was how Colfer introduced Minerva, the girl genius who's basically the female version of Artemis. Her dynamic added an intriguing layer to the story.
That's not to mention No1, the little demon imp. I thought he was really cute (especially on the cover), and I loved that he got a main role in this book.
I personally don't recommend this book for teens given that this is made for the younger grade level. I personally found this a little boring and not for those ages (of course, if you'd like to read this book, go ahead!). This is only a recommendation.
Despite this book not being for my age group, I was still satisfied with the book's ending; however, I personally found the book a little difficult to really enjoy. Despite that, the ending in specific was incredible, and I loved the book.
For fans of the series, this is definitely a must-read. For newcomers, you'll want to start with the first book—there's too much character history to jump in here.
3/5 pawprints 🐾🐾🐾
You can find the book on Goodreads here!
Spoiler Review (⚠️ Warning: this includes spoilers for those who haven't read The Lost Colony ⚠️)
The time skip twist at the end of the book, where everyone ages three years while Artemis only experiences a few hours, was brilliant but also heartbreaking. Seeing him struggle, especially now that he likes Minerva, added real emotional weight to the story.
Minerva's character was probably my favorite addition to the series. Having someone who could match Artemis intellectually but still had that ruthless ambition he used to have created such interesting parallels. Her eventual team-up with the fairy forces felt earned rather than forced.
The demon island of Hybras was incredibly well-developed. The politics between No1 (I loved that tiny imp!) and the demon warlords, plus the whole time distortion concept, made for compelling worldbuilding that felt different from the underground fairy cities we'd seen before.
What impressed me most was how Colfer handled Artemis's character growth. He's still a genius, still calculating, but he's learned empathy and genuine friendship.
The only thing that bothered me was that the time travel paradox explanations got more complex throughout the book, but honestly, time travel is always confusing in fiction.
This book really sets up Artemis as a true hero rather than an anti-hero, which is both satisfying character development and slightly sad because I did love his villainous streak from the early books.
Like I said in the non-spoiler review, I don't recommend this book to kids over 14 years old, especially because this book was meant for the younger children. I personally found this book a bit boring (but if you want to read the book regardless, that's totally up to you).
While I still liked the ending of the book, I personally didn't really connect with the book.
For readers who have already read books 1 to 4, I really encourage you to go for it and read it (the ending is really great; it was one of my favorite parts of the book). For those who haven't read those books, you'll want to start from book 1—it's really difficult to grasp what's going on if you jump in here.
3/5 pawprints 🐾🐾🐾
You can find the book on Goodreads here!
Never stop reading, and may your bookmarks never fall out!
The Book Pup