Fog & Fireflies

Ogma’s homeland wasn’t always like that. A wizard war caused a disruptive fog to cover the entire land. The fog had taken over the villages, and it continued to spread. A wall serves as a boundary to keep the fog away. However, this wall needs to be guarded at all times by children. Unlike adults, who will be attacked by the phantoms the fog creates, the children go unharmed. However, the younger they are, the better it is to be one of the guards. As the seasons go by, the children are rotated. There’s Ogma, who acts like a supervisor over the children. As the years go by, she gets older and becomes more vulnerable to the fog.

The children try to have fun in the situation but can’t ignore the dangers. Also, it makes funny shapes, often mimicking animals to distract the children from their posts. The villages have adapted to their reality and mostly look forward to fog breaks when they can trade easily, have festivals, and visit other places.

Things go awry when their village is attacked by alien caravanners who can move within the fog, and they aim to kidnap the children. Amid the brouhaha, Ogma gets lost in the fog. How will she protect her friends and reunite with her loved ones? In serious situations where the adults are tense, the children find a way to make light of the situation. This is a reminder of the carefree and playful nature of kids. Some of my favorite characters were Nod and Wheeler. Nod shows traits of a leader, and I consider him daring.

Ogma does a great job of keeping everyone in check and is always on the lookout for her people. She appears strict, but she’s a selfless person, putting the safety of her people at the top of her mind. Even when she finds herself in dangerous places, she cares about protecting other people. The main theme of the book is role reversal. We often see scenarios where the adults are the protectors, but in this case, the younger children are the guards since they have stronger resistance to the fog.

The world-building in the book was fantastic. I also loved the idea of introducing a new language to the story. Although I think there were too many characters and the plot seems a bit fast-paced, but overall, it was an engaging novel, and I would recommend it to readers of fantasy fiction.