A note to authors out there: If you ever want me to read your Fantasy book, compare it to The Chronicles of Narnia. Seriously. When I saw that G.A. Morgan's new book was billed as "the next Narnia", I had to read it! Those books fueled my childhood imagination, and I've re-read them many times since then. I was excited to see where The Fog of Forgetting would fall for me in comparison, and anxious to be introduced to a new world.

That being said, there were plenty of things about this debut novel that I really did like. Starting with the setting. I can think of no better place to hide a new Fantasy world than off the banks of a summer lakehouse. I loved the fact that the characters had such an attachment to this seasonal destination. That there were memories, both good and bad, wrapped up in this place made it feel that much more real. It was a place of magic, and I completely believed that a new world could be hiding just beyond the horizon.

I also liked the characters, although they took me a while to warm up to. Chase, Knox and Teddy were a little much to handle at first. Well, in all fairness, they are three young boys. I suppose they'd be a lot to handle in real life! However it took me a while to see past their childishness. It wasn't until they actually arrived in the land of Ayda that I started to enjoy following them. Each boy soon came into his own, and they did grow a lot during their adventures. I have to admit that I still never really felt connected to them entirely though. I just never felt like I knew them well enough to be invested in their journey.

In terms of the world-building, Ayda wasn't quite what I expected. I loved the idea of a world surrounded by fog. Of a place where magic is commonplace. I was never able to actually place myself there, unfortunately. The concept of calling the magic that flowed through people "daylights" bothered me, especially since it was never explained. The other main problem was that most of the actual world descriptions are done through info-dumps. Even though they were masked as stories told by characters to our protagonists, they lost their magic. I never felt like I was in Ayda. Only that I was reading about it.

Still, I did enjoy the good majority of this read. The ending left me wanting a bit, but I'd be willing to continue on to see what happens next. This bookworm gives The Fog of Forgetting three stars. It wasn't quite Narnia, but I see potential in G.A. Morgan's new world. ( )

I stopped this one at page 119. The magic system is pretty stereotypical and explained through info dumps. There were times when I enjoyed the writing but I also got annoyed by certain style choices, especially the magic being called a person's "daylights" without any explained reason.

Really liked this fantasy about five young people who stumble onto a mysterious, fog-hidden island and are drawn into an ageless conflict over the Five Stones of Ayda. In the Tolkien tradition without being derivative. Beautifully written with great characters (the three Thompson kids, their two girl friends, the godlike holders of the Stones, the larger-than-life catlike and doglike sidekicks), a full and varied world, an intriguing plot. ( )