Fog & Fireflies - by T H Lehnen

About the Book

A wizard's war scarred the earth. A malevolent fog blankets the land, carrying towns like ships adrift at sea. The phantoms it creates are deadly to adults, so children must guard the walls now, and care for each other.

Book Synopsis

With refreshing echoes of golden age fantasy, Fog & Fireflies is a novel that brings together an imaginative world and fantastical cast of characters to explore the difference between growing older and growing up.

Hundreds of seasons ago, a wizard's war scarred the earth, leaving a malevolent fog blanketing the land, and carrying the settlements within it like ships adrift at sea. The phantoms the fog creates are deadly to adults, so children must guard the walls now, and care for each other.

Ogma watches the fog from the walls of her windmill town. What felt like a game as a child becomes more of a creeping dread with each season she gets older.

Ogma's town is attacked. Caravaners who roam the fog in inhuman forms have come to kidnap the children, and Ogma is lost in the fog. She must find hope, find courage in herself, and find her friends.

A novel for readers who enjoy rich worldbuilding in the style of Hayao Miyazaki, a unique cast of creatures and characters that harkens back to L. Frank Baum and Arthur Rackham, and the bonds of found family akin to the work of Maggie Stiefvater and Makoto Shinkai.

Review Quotes

★★★★★

Self Publishing Review

"A mesmerizing and thought-provoking fantasy. In this remarkably imagined fantasy world where vulnerability is flipped, there is endless space for thematic exploration about responsibility and maturity, and Lehnen builds an intricate premise on this original narrative conceit. The novel overflows with creativity and offers some of the most unique world-building you'll find in a genre that can feel like everything has already been done. Lehnen is a masterful storyteller, and his realm of fear and fireflies practically glitters on the page."

★★★★★

Robert Buccellato - Seattle Book Review

"Ogma is a perfect character for the reader to relate and root for. Envision Dorothy in a world of cruel mists summoning up her last bites of courage to save all her Oz companions."

"A literary world in which the social order has not only broken down is a common trope of fantasy. But, here Lehnen has turned it on its head, our author is less interested in the process of decay, than in the ability of humanity to withstand it"

"Make no mistake, this is a great and triumphant tale. Dark and soulful; haunting and hopeful. Epic world building, beautiful prose, and the uncertainty of what moves and screams beyond walls of protection. It's the kind of book and author that makes a darning, masterful, and compelling bid for literary greatness!"

★★★★★

Eric Smith - Portland Book Review

"Lehnen takes world-building to a new level. This is not world-building like Tolkien's Middle Earth or Lewis's Narnia. The landscape of Lehnen's creation cannot be defined by features on a map. It is an ever-changing landscape that not only influences how the character reacts, but it seems to have a personality of its own.

[...]

Better examples of world-building on Lehnen's level would be Lewis Carrol's Wonderland or Micheal Ende's Fantastica."

★★★★.5

Erin Britton - Tulsa Book Review

"A young-adult fantasy novel featuring a plucky, tenacious, and relatable heroine and set in a richly evoked world filled with danger, magic, and intrigue, T.H. Lehnen's Fog & Fireflies is an action-packed coming-of-age story in which the fate of many rests on the shoulders of one feisty young woman."

"Fog & Fireflies is an atmospheric and often nerve-wracking story. The fog and the phantoms that lurk within it are truly menacing, and there is a real sense of danger throughout. This renders Ogma's bravery even more remarkable and really makes her a character to root for. Aside from the dangers, there are other mysteries hidden by the fog, mysteries that extend to other times and places and ensure that there is much to discover as Ogma attempts to find her way home."

★★★★

Jo Niederhoff - Manhattan Book Review

"...a magical world that combines darkness and whimsy, old gods and mundane dangers, mythical backdrops and grounded descriptions."

"Even now that I have outgrown my teenage years, I still found wonder and joy in it, and I do not doubt that it will bring wonder and joy to many actual teens."

"I have no doubt Lehnen has imagination enough to populate galaxies."

★★★★

Lianne on GoodReads

"I recommend it to everyone who likes Studio Ghibli movies, and reading about found family, hope, and a compelling female hero."

★★★★★

Félszipókás_Ősmoly on GoodReads

"Dark atmosphere with Pan's Labrynth vibes."