Shade's Children - Hardcover

Nix, Garth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060273240 ISBN 13: 9780060273248

Publisher: HarperTeen, 1997

Synopsis

From renowned fantasy author of the Old Kingdom series, Garth Nix, comes a dystopian fantasy perfect for fans of Hunger Games and Divergent.

Imagine a world where your fourteenth birthday is your last and where even your protector may not be trusted....

In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no human shall live a day past their fourteenth birthday. On that Sad Birthday, the children of the Dorms are taken to the Meat Factory, where they will be made into creatures whose sole purpose is to kill.

The mysterious Shade—once a man, but now more like the machines he fights—recruits the few teenagers who escape into a secret resistance force. With luck, cunning, and skill, four of Shade's children come closer than any to discovering the source of the Overlords' power—and the key to their downfall. But the closer they get, the more ruthless Shade seems to become.

About this title

Review:

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.

From the Back Cover:

In the brutal world of the future, an unspeakable fate awaits the human children of the Dormitories when they turn fourteen. It is from this Sad Birthday that Shade's Children'Ella, Drum, Gold-Eye, and Ninde'have escaped. Hunted ceaselessly by savage mutant creatures, they join forces to form a resistance movement. Cunning, clairvoyance, and sheer desperate force of will help them. But ultimately their fate rests with the charismatic Shade, who calls himself their friend . . .

This complex, suspenseful, thoroughly absorbing tale of the future fulfills all the promise of Sabriel, Garth Nix's debut young adult novel.

Praise for Sabriel:

‘Rich, complex, involving, hard to put down, this first novel is excellent high fantasy.' 'Publishers Weekly

‘The action charges along at a gallop'a page turner for sure.' 'Starred Review/Booklist

01 Blue Spruce Award Masterlist (YA Cat.) and 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0060273240
• ISBN 13: 9780060273248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320