Rating: 
Summary: Not just another adventure book...
Review: Set in a post-apocalyptic world fifteen years after the Change, Nix weaves a powerful narrative of how four children, escapees from the Dormitories as well as soldiers of pseudo-human Shade, overcome all odds to destroy the iniquitous Overlords. They are Gold-Eye, Ella, Drum and Ninde, each blessed with a special Change Talent unique to the individual. Yet said Talent stemmed from the very source of evil that destroyed their world; where no more hopes and no more dreams reside. Where nature has found a way to rewire malevolence.
Little is revealed about the powerful Overlords, whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to engage in mindless war-games, perverting the world into one which provides them with the minds and bodies of fourteen-year-old children to equip their engineered creatures with. These as such, are Sad Birthdays, where the fourteenth is your last.And there is Shade, just an artificial intelligence, yet still human enough to err and succumb to his own desires. Who is he, and what does he want? Will he switch allegiances and endanger the very children he strives to keep alive? Nix has created a world that is exhilarating, gripping, terrifying, and above all, original and engaging. Shade's Children is a novel that makes you think and leaves a lasting impression long after you have put it down. It is a story of "what ifs", of human fallacies, relationships and error, of hope, trust and love. It is a story of good versus evil. Shade's Children is slightly graphic and morosely flavoured, gearing it toward a more mature readership. Although the Overlords' evil seems banal and pointless after a while, the characterisations of the protagonists rather weak and slightly sketchy, it is not a mere adventure book but a novel spun on reason and morality. Not excessively descriptive or overly loquacious, Nix keeps the plot moving, never allowing it to sit in stagnant water, dwelling just enough on a subject matter before moving on. Winner of the 1998 Best Book for Young Adults, this expertly crafted novel is highly recommended to any hard-core science-fiction lover.
Rating:
Summary: Nope
Review: When I saw Shade's Children, I had my doubts. I wasn't exactly such a big fan of science fiction and that eye on the cover sort of freaked me out. I was detered from reading it, hehe. But, I was recommended Sabriel by a good friend, so I took their advice and read it. I found it amazing, and since Sabriel was so fabulous, I decided to read other works by this wonderful author, including Shade's Children. Shade's Children, luckily, was in the library, and I am sooo glad that it was. It was such an amazing story. The plot centers around these four teens who worked for a mysterious figure named Shade. The story takes place in the future, when machines are dominant, along with Nine (or is it seven) lords who like rule the earth. And Shade's children are all that are left who can defend it and save the people. Most people didn't even live to be 17 because of the terrors at the time. It takes on a certain Matrix-like idea, but I think it was written a while before the Matrix came out. But, Garth Nix had a great idea, and Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, and Shade's Children are four books from him that I love. His books alone so far taught me to appreciate all genres, and to love books not regarding the genre, but the quality. READ THIS!
Rating: 
Summary: Shade's Children by Garth Nix
Review: I picked up this book after reading Nix' fabulous Sabriel series, and from the reviews, Shade's Children looked pretty good. But I would only give it about 3 stars.
It's a teen sci-fi story, set in our world(in Sydney if you look closely). Our world is dominated by Overlords, creatures who use their mysterious powers to capture all children when they turn fourteen. These children are sent to the Meat Factory, where they are used for more than brutal purposes; their muscles and brains are extracted to create murderous monsters who add to the power of the Overlords. Not many children escape this fate, so naturally there are very few adults around.
In a way, Shade is one of these adults. His body does not remain, he is in fact a human memory housed in a computer. And he employs all the Meat Factory escapees to live a dangerous life, going on missions to find out information about the Overlords, for Shade to plan their downfall.
Four of the escapees are Gold-Eye, Ella, Drum and Ninde, who ofter jeopardize their lives to help Shade. But they start to notice weakness in their leader, who is beginning to risk everything, even the lives of the children, to get closer to the Overlords.
This storyline is creative, but the style of writing is not of such a high quality as Sabriel. This potentially sublime story is weighed down by mediocre expression.
Garth Nix should not abandon his writing talent in his less-enjoying novels like these. If you don't enjoy Shade's Children, don't hesitate to read his other books, which are completely different matters.
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Summary: A GREAT CONCEPT TO THE BOOK!
Review: This book contains a wonderful concept/idea in it! It's like the matrix, somewhat complex, weird machines and other beings have taken over the world and using us to make machines, AND it's like a whole other world (in the future). It has crazy action and suspense. It's interesting and has the BEST ENDING in the world! GREAT BOOK! Read it!
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Summary: Shade's Children
Review: One of the best books I ever read... plenty of action. A real page-turner. Garth Nix wrote another masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK Book
Review: I am not a HUGE Sci-fi fan, although occasionally I do very much like reading sci-fi, and I read Shade's Children in the hopes of finding something as wonderful as the Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen books, also by Garth Nix, which are one of my favourite books. I must say I was a little disappointed. The futuristic setting was a little less than believable (in fact, it strayed far beneath the line) and the plot was dry and uninteresting. In the book, you don't bond with the characters, so I didn't really care what happened in the end. The "suprises" were predictable and many scenes were unnecessary and didn't do anything to add to the book. I was not impressed with Garth Nix this time.
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Summary: "Shade's Children", great for Sci-Fi readers
Review: I just finished this book not too long ago and can't wait to read more of Garth Nix's books! This book is wonderful. Once you start reading you can't put it down until it's finished. It's suspenseful throughout the entire book right up to the last page. You begin to care so much for the main characters and are amazed with their relationship with eachother and what they'll go through. If you love science fiction this is a must read!!! I highly recomend it.
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Summary: Another powerful tome for Nix...
Review: My introduction to Garth Nix, Sabriel, was one of only two books that my former reading group ever unanimously enjoyed (putting it along with the classic Demolished Man); in that title Nix manages to introduce a complex, detailed world that the protagonist knows only slightly better than the reader. Nix does something simlar with Shade's Children. As much as I loved Sabriel, I put off reading Shade's Children for years due to its rather bleak concept. Thankfully, the actual tale turns out to be much more focused on action than the bleakness the plot suggests. Nix definitely touches upon and uses the concept's bleakness well but it doesn't overwhelm the story as I expected it would. Rather, it tends to drive the action and motivation for the cast. As in Sabriel, Nix's ability for subtle writing shows itself again in Shade's Children. Nix knows well how to effectively ration out the tantalizing details about his post-apocalyptic universe so that you are enticed to keep reading; to learn more about what drives this nightmare. Nix also nicely deals with the biggest weakness of Sabriel and Lirael -- the all-knowing character that explains what is going on. Shade primarily serves this function, but Nix manages to keep Shade from being a spigot of expository dialogue by cleverly giving the character mixed motivations. It's a technique that increases the novel's drama doubly. Additionally, the medium Nix chooses to give the reader insight into Shade (done in alternating chapters) is adeptly used, typically enhancing the mystery and atmosphere rather than explaining it away. While Sabriel had quite a bit of action to it, Shade's Children is almost non-stop action, with only a few brief breaks in between. Thankfully, Nix has quite a skill at writing action scenes that move quickly and draw you in to the frenzy. With Shade's Children, Garth Nix once again succeeds in creating a novel that is fast-paced, exhilarating and highly atmospheric.
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Summary: The Coolest book w/ the COOLEST author
Review: I loved this book!... I have his other series (Sabriel ,Lirael, and THe Abhorsen which I still want to read sooooooo bad) and Shade's children is equal to it. It's just so much mystery and understanding involved that u just cant put it down!... Now I am trying 2 get it on audio cassette or CD
Rating:
Summary: Shade's Children
Review: I love this book. The characters are sympathetic enough for the reader to follow them from the Shade's submarine, to the streets and the sewers of a ruined city where danger and betrayal wait around every corner. The portrayal of the Overlords, the political and the social issues are well crafted by Nix. I recomend this to readers both young and old.
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