Summary:
Brave the Fog. Embrace Another Self.
When war descends upon the nation of Entervia, history teacher Zercien Volnaire is thrust into a battle for both his homeland and his own mind.
Ankarth, the neighboring country to the north, has invaded Entervia to remove King Durnan from the throne. As the Entervian army scours the capital for soldiers, Zercien discovers a long-dead legendary hero can control his mind at will. While he fights to keep his curse a secret and maintain his autonomy, the meddlesome hero has other plans.
Under possession, Zercien is consumed within an omnipresent fog and takes on the hero’s persona at the cost of his own. But his power often summons a nightmarish faceless figure only he can see that stalks his waking world.
Zercien’s newfound abilities earn him renown in Entervia’s army, but when he faces an ancient magic long thought destroyed, he and a small band are tasked with one last desperate mission for reinforcements. However, Zercien fears the key to Entervia’s victory lies in embracing his loathsome alter ego, and before this war’s end, he may have none of his identity left to sacrifice.
Review:
If you thought history was boring, just imagine being a history teacher bewitched by a long dead fog-bound (see what I did there?) hero. Because that is pretty much the story of Fogbound (and yes, I understand that is spelled out in the blurb…). I jest, somewhat, but while there is much more to this tale than that, this concept is pretty much the front and center arc that will draw you in with its almost comical take on possession magic.
We have to start with Zercien because this story would fall flat on its face without a great protagonist, and Zercien is definitely that. He’s your quintessential nerd-type who is always late for his classes because he has history to study and loves his simple married life to his wife, Saena. He’s just a regular Joe. Until one day, he’s possessed (by a gnarly fog that I was never quite certain if the other characters saw or not (maybe I missed this during my read)) by the renown warrior, Voks, who did some magical things ages ago (won’t say what for spoiler reasons). Voks makes Zercien a deadly soldier, a smart tactician/diplomat, and all around badass, but you know, that comes only when Zercien is completely possessed by the ancient warrior dude. It’s funny, I basically related Zercien/Voks character traits to that of Jim Carrey’s Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask, but without the ridiculous one-liners.
And while there is a lot of stuff happening in this story, the basic crux is how Zercien will or won’t be able to deal with Voks taking control of his body/mind. For me, while I enjoyed the diplomatic arc Zercien is sent on (all because of a stupid fast, semi-humorous rise from unknown soldier to honorably discharged hero of a battle) and the magical things happening around him, I found this inner battle to be the best part of the story. Zercien just tries so damn hard throughout to maintain his sanity (hard for him, I’d be a lot more aggro about it haha) and control and I enjoyed every minute of it.
But this story also has some great side characters. Euvard is that joyous sidekick who is practically a lovable doofus. The man has failed the test to get into the army so many times, it’s kinda sad. He just wants to fights some enemies, poor guy. Fynnian had an interesting arc, being connected to the magical bloodline of a person mentioned in the prologue, aka a buddy (?) of Voks. Lloyd, a mysterious swordmaster who doesn’t remember his past and kills people for bugging him all Gran Torino style. And then there is my favorite character, the boil-faced man. I don’t want to get too deep into his character but I loved every single scene of this really gross man and his golden lance. There was just something sinister and funny in the way he acted, it drew me in right away. And I love a great mysterious character.
Oh, there are also monsters in this world with locusts and flies for eyeballs, misshapen bodies, very gross stuff. But cool nonetheless! Some intriguing magic art styles with cool names, like Pariah Arts. We even have some magic weapons, can never go wrong with magic weapons.
The prose is great and the pace is pretty fast, but not so fast that the story doesn’t breathe. There are plenty of scenes that allow the characters to transition from tension to tension, allows them to grow as needed. Lots of small moments between characters. It’s not a major thing, but for me, some of the chapters were very short when I wasn’t sure it was needed, maybe a scene break instead of chapter break. Definitely a small thing that’s probably just a me thing.
I found Fogbound to be a great read and I’m really interested to see where this series goes next. I also have to say, N.J. Alexander’s marketing ploy of a selfie from inside his car holding his book gets a chuckle out of me every time!