Ogma and her friends serve on the walls, defending their community from the fog. They’re immune as children, but they will be susceptible to its dangers once they grow into adulthood. Their understanding of the world is shaped by stories and the scraps of information they receive whenever the fog reshapes the land and brings another village into view. But once separated from her home and her friends, Ogma begins to discover the ancient and powerful forces that shaped their world (and continue to do so).

T.H. Lehnen’s FOG & FIREFLIES is engrossing and entertaining from the start. Ogma’s town is bounded by a stone wall, which leaves the reader feeling that the world itself is, too. The narrative is dense with details both thoughtful and picturesque; man-powered “windmills” blow the fog away from the walls, and every character has an individualized pair of bells to communicate because the fog can mimic human voices. The geographic constraint is immediately effective; stories about what happens outside the walls, in the fog, are instantly gripping. By the time newcomers begin filtering in from the outside world, they too are charged with mystery and wonder. Ogma herself is an appealing protagonist. One of the older children still serving on the wall, she’s capable, kind but firm with the younger children, and sensitive to the fears of the ones who will soon be old enough for the fog to threaten. The tension of these children being forced to sacrifice their childhood to care for adults (particularly as they draw near to crossing the boundary into adulthood) drives the central drama of the text.

Lehnen’s prose is smooth and clear, descriptive without being distracting in plain but evocative language: “Outside the walls, fireflies winked green and yellow in the meadows.” Amongst its strengths is a well-drawn set of voices that enrich the text. Exposition is never overlong or boring when delivered in the excited babble of a young child, the mythologizing tones of an older one telling a long-rehearsed tale, or—a particular standout—acted out by a group of mute, sentient puppets that use theatrical masks to emote. These qualities—sleek prose and diverse voices—allow FOG & FIREFLIES to build a deep, rich world without ever feeling like it slows down for long monologues or overwhelms the reader with names and dates to memorize. That also makes it both satisfying for older readers and accessible to younger ones.

The plotting is slightly uneven; the character work and strong worldbuilding prop up a somewhat meandering story that only truly snaps into focus in the last few chapters, building and expending momentum in a disappointingly short span of time. But this hardly detracts from the overall enjoyment of an imaginative, thoughtful text with a mature thematic core.

Well-imagined and confidently told, T.H. Lehnen’s FOG & FIREFLIES is thoughtful and engaging enough to please both mature YA readers and adults alike.

~Dan Accardi for IndieReader