Sci Fi, Young Adults, Dystopia, AI, the lot

Excellent pot boiler! Taut writing by Garth Nix and colourful characters mean that this book is a hit.

In a futuristic dystopian world, a reality altering event means all the adults are gone and kids brains are being farmed by the "Overlords" in a sick game. Our heroes go about trying to fight the overlords with the help of AI.

Overall, I was totally hooked and enjoyed it. My only minor problem was with the storyline vaguely being similar to movies from the 60s, but you hardly notice it. The characters get you hooked as you move from scene to scene. The scenes are interrupted by "audio" excerpts from the characters in different scenes - just to provide an interlude. It makes for a great effect as it is not so commonly used, even though its a well known method.

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childhood favorite

I read this book at least 4 times when I was around 14. I loved it so much. I was so happy to see there was an audiobook version finally and I thoroughly enjoyed it yet again. I always thought this would make a great movie or limited mini series and I still do. Maybe one day they'll make it!

1 person found this helpful

Timeless

The first time I read this book I was 11 and instantly it became a childhood favorite. At 22 I read the book again, thoroughly enjoying it. At 30 I’ve just finished the book for the 3rd time and if anything it’s gotten better with nostalgia value. Will certainly read a few more times in the future..

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Hard to fully enjoy

The narrator of this book has a cadence to his reading that is distracting. I hung on just to find out what happened but I couldn’t really fully enjoy the story because of the distracting rhythm of his reading.
The story was pretty good. But I’m coming from Tim Curry reading Sabriel and nothing beats that!

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Blast from the past

One of the first books I read as a teenager. Garth Nix is still one of my favorite authors now I own the audio and a hard cover. people complain about Charles Carroll but I had no problems with his performance.

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Good One

I felt the story could have had more to follow. The narrator was a good choice but a little more effort on the characterization would have made it great.

First book

This was the first book I ever read. Was happy to hear it in Audible

Amazing book.

Garth Nix has always captivated me through his dark worlds. I recommend the abhorsen series as well.

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Wish the narrator was Australian

As the author is and the story isn't set in North America (dialogue clues). However, that said, the narrator is competent enough though he sounds as though he's reading to children. The story however, is fantastic and moving I highly recommend it. It's a unique dystopian vision of a world populated by children used as fodder for an invasive force bent on processing the children into creatures used as pawns in a literal battle to the death 'game'.

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Disappointing

Shade's Children has an interesting premise - dystopian Earth dominated by other world beings, all adults are gone, and the children are rounded up and cultivated for parts to create more evil beings. Into the mix, Nix introduces a human personality housed in a computer that becomes the leader of the few children who have escaped the clutches of the Overlords. Nothing entirely new, but certainly enough promise to deliver a cracker-jack YA sci-fi. But Shade's Children fails in the execution. The human children protagonists are sympathetic but not fleshed out enough to really invest a lot of emotion in them. Only Ninde was portrayed with enough distinct personality to make me care a little. There is virtually no explanation for how the Overlords came to seize control of the planet and since the story takes place in one city, it is hard to understand how our "heroes" will throw off the domination of a whole planet from one isolated location. The plot is predictable and not engrossing enough to make the listener suspend disbelief and the ending is rushed and rather a let down. In addition, Charles Carroll does not add much in the narration. His delivery is rather slow and although he does a computer voice rather well, he doesn't lend much to the characters in voicing the human or alien dialog. I know the author of the wonderful Abhorsen series can do better than Shade's Children.

2 people found this helpful