Fog & Fireflies

Fog & Fireflies is the first book in a YA fantasy series by indie debut author T.H. Lehnen. Released 11th April 2024, it's 380 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.  It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

The adventure story is well conceived and MC Ogma is an appealing protagonist trying to make the best of an impossible situation. Much of the characterization is spotty, however, and the world building which has huge potential is, at least in this first book, choppy and often disorganized. It's an indie debut novel and despite a lack of polish, shows a lot of promise. 

There are some moderately graphic scenes of body horror (a gut stab early in the book with graphic descriptions), fighting, psychological horror, etc. It's the first book in an ongoing series (no current publication info available for book 2), so the author will presumably expand and explain some of the dangling unresolved plot threads from book 1; it could just be a while.

Three and a half stars. It would've benefited from a thorough/ruthless editing and polishing process, but it's entirely readable and enjoyable as it is. Recommended for dark YA fantasy adventure fans.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.