This first book of a dystopian, steampunk duology was a fun and creative read, with rich characters, but an unfortunate touch of wokeness.
Once the Fog started rising, the earth was covered with a deadly white mist until nothing remained but the mountaintops. Now humanity clings to its highest peaks, called the Rooftop, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the lower slopes and floating junkyards.
Thirteen-year-old Chess and his friends Hazel, Bea, and Swedish sail their rickety air raft over the deadly Fog, scavenging the ruins for anything they can sell to survive. But now survival isn’t enough. They must risk everything to get to the miraculous city of Port Oro, the only place where their beloved Mrs. E can be cured of fogsickness. Yet the ruthless Lord Kodoc is hot on their trail, for Chess has a precious secret, one that Kodoc is desperate to use against him. Now Chess will face any danger to protect his friends, even if it means confronting what he fears the most.
Amazon Blurb
Joel Ross did a great job with his characters, pacing, and worldbuilding. The action is fast and full of cliffhangers, and the characters all stand out in their own way. The first book contained one curse word, and the second was clean. Unfortunately, he gives one of the characters two dads — as if, in a dystopian world where every day is a fight for survival, mankind would ignore the fact of nature that only women can have children. Ross does a similar thing in another book of his, Beast and Crown.
Other than that, however, the book is clean. The violence goes no further than mentioning blood and wounds in little to no detail. I enjoyed this book a lot as a kid (the nod to wokeness went completely over my head.) If you have a kid who loves a good adventure novel, or found family tropes, this could be a perfect read for them.
Anyone read The Fog Diver? Thoughts? Leave a comment, I’d love to chat.
Have a good week, all!
Cheers!
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