Shade's Children

#192
Title: Shade's Children
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Year: 1997/98
351 pages

I haven't yet had a chance to get Nix's Superior Saturday (Keys to the Kingdom #6), so I picked up Shade's Children for a break from heavier reading. It isn't a stellar example of what Nix can do, though it is sufficiently entertaining to carry itself. Compared to his other stand-alone novels, the concept is less-well thought through and rendered. The premise is promising: Aliens have made everyone over 14 disappear and now keep children corralled in dormitories until their "Sad Birthday," when they're taken away for parts. Most runaways are caught, but a few survive, including a group lead by Shade, a computer intelligence. As is always the case, Nix creates his environment well, dropping succulent hints and unusual details. The plot, however, has more holes and inexplicable events than is typical for this author. The wrap-up seems abrupt and would have benefited by 20-30 more pages focused on Shade before and during the climactic events. Read this one for the worldbuilding, not the story.