Release Date: March 2nd 1997
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 355
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: I still have my childhood copy
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Synopsis
In the brutal world of Shade’s Children, your 14th birthday is your last. Malevolent Overlords rule the earth, directing hideous, humanoid creatures to harvest the brains and muscles of teens for use in engineering foul beasts to fight senseless wars. Young Gold-Eye escapes this horrific fate, fleeing the dormitories before his Sad Birthday. He is rescued from certain doom by other refugees who live in an abandoned submarine and work for Shade, a strange, computer-generated adult. Shade provides food and shelter in exchange for information that the children gather on dangerous forays into Overlord territory. But what does Shade really want? He is a sworn enemy of the Overlords, but his use of the children to gain knowledge and power seems uncaring and ruthless. Finally, Gold-Eye and his new friends set out to destroy the Overlords–with or without the enigmatic, dangerous Shade. Garth Nix, author of Sabriel, blends suspense, action, and high emotion in this excellent, fast-moving science-fiction story.
Review
Shade’s Children was a book I read and loved as a child and I thought it would be fun to revisit it as an adult. It was just as bleak and terrifying as it was all those years ago, and I absolutely loved rereading this childhood favourite.
Shade’s Children is set in a world in which everyone above the age of fourteen has disappeared. Now when you turn fourteen you are taken to the meat factory to be harvested. The story follows Gold Eye, a young boy who escapes the dormitories before he can be taken to the factory. While fleeing the monstrous creatures who mean to return him, he teams up with a band of Shade’s Children, and together they fight to survive against Overlords.
I honestly just adored this book. It’s dark and gritty and absolutely stands the test of time. It was just as gripping and absorbing as the many times I read it as a child. The world is completely fascinating and I loved learning about this unique dystopian world that Nix has created. While everything isn’t necessarily explained, the world building is solid and the plot exciting. Despite this book being published over twenty years ago, it definitely still stands up as a brilliant YA story.
Shade’s Children is just over the three hundred page mark, but I absolutely raced through this. You’re dropped right into the action in this one and it’s an absolute roller coaster ride. This story has such a tense, eerie atmosphere as Gold Eye and the gang fight to survive. If you’re looking for a dystopian tale that will have you reading long into the night, you definitely need to check this one out.
Garth Nix has been one of my favourite authors since I was a little girl. My dad bought me a copy of Sabriel, and then pretty much every birthday/Christmas after that I asked for one of his books. Shade’s Children is one of my all time favourites, and I just fell in love with his newest release Angel Mage. When he announced this new title I almost squealed with excitement because not only is it a new Garth Nix book, but it sounds incredible. The title really drew me in and I love the blend of fantasy and historical fiction. Nix always creates these really imaginative worlds and I have no doubt that this one is going to suck me in just like all the others. I cannot wait to get my hands on this book, and I patiently praying that it might end up on Netgalley sometime soon. If like me you’re desperate to get your hands on this, you don’t have too much longer to wait – 
To say that Angel Mage was one of my most anticipated books of the year is probably an understatement. Garth Nix has been one of my favourite authors since I was a child, and I absolutely credit him with being the reason I love fantasy books so much. So many of his books – Shade’s Children, Sabriel, A Confusion of Princes – are some of my all time favourites so going into Angel Mage I had the highest of expectations. The story captivated me from the very first page, and I am already considering when I can make time to reread this stunning book.
I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK. Garth Nix is definitely an author that I don’t talk about enough on this blog – but that’s all going to change now. I’d pretty much credit Garth Nix and J.K. Rowling with my love of reading. I read the Abhorsen Series when I was young and that pretty much started my life long love with fantasy. Shade’s Children is one of my absolute favourite books and I’ve read Sabriel so many times my copy is barely still in one piece. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to a couple of signings that Garth Nix has done and he was always lovely and my signed copies are some of my most prized possessions. I’m so excited to read his first take on adult fantasy and this story just sounds brilliant. This has definitely become one of my most anticipated releases for 2019 and I’m obsessed with the cover. 
The Bibliophile Chronicles 