Review of Project Agosha
Posted: 10 Oct 2023, 21:36
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Project Agosha" by MT Lynx.]
Project Agosha: Call of the Koteli is a gripping fantasy fiction novel that serves up an evocative storyline. The first in the Project Agosha series by MT Lynx, it’s sure to leave readers hankering for more.
Maddau has one charge: give his life for his Brehines. He and the other six members of the Koteli Knights are leading agents in the war against the Darkness, each given a virtue to embody. When the dark fiends make for Caer o Wyr, however, his destiny takes an abrupt shift. He leads the Koteli Knights to the Temple de la Sagesse, travelling from the Dragon’s Nest to the Dragon’s Maw, carting a relic of the light to safety. But the darkness won’t let them carry out their mission so easily, sending dark lords and their chevalier counterparts to thwart their journey. What’s worse, Maddau has a sneaking suspicion that one of their own is hiding something.
From early on, clues point to a traitor in the heroes’ midst, making me wonder how Lynx was going to fabricate and build up the suspense of the story. Readers take on an omniscient viewpoint, so we’re really watching with bated breath for the big reveal. Honestly, I wanted to portal my hands through the book and shake Maddau, who willfully ignored the red flags that popped up time and again. When the moment did arrive, I was delighted and, admittedly, a little teary, so I can attest to the emotive aspect of the story, feeling frustration, disappointment, and empathy right there with the rest of the characters.
I had a love-hate relationship with the prose and the narrative of the story. It’s Arthurian, so that should immediately bring to mind words like ‘thou’, ‘fare thee well’, and lots of and lots of apostrophes. Sometimes, this worked in the book’s favour, lending it an artistic but realistic edge that played well with the settings and themes. Other times, it dragged the book down a long-winded path that could have been replaced with more concise language. Lynx is a fan of the heavily implied, leaving readers to infer a great deal about the plot, which, as mentioned previously, I was both appreciative of and exhausted by.
The unrequited love trope? I’m a sucker for that—because, really, who doesn’t like to hopelessly yearn?—and it seemed that nearly all the characters in the book were masters of the angsty, unsaid pining variety. Most of this was subtle and sometimes unexpected, relating to my previous comment about the book’s never explicitly confirming some things.
What didn’t impress me about the book was the frequency and number of editorial errors. This impacted the overall finish of the book and was an undeniably negative factor that is in need of improvement.
I was so confused about the correlation between the title and the storyline. What is 'Agosha'? Why is it a project? Does this not bring to mind something with a more science-fiction bent? Even with the conclusion of the book, I have still not gotten an answer to this. I believe the title might benefit from a name change unless it is to be cleared up in subsequent instalments.
All being said, I think Project Agosha was a fantastic read, deserving the rating of three out of five stars. The negatives noted in the two preceding paragraphs warrant a two-star removal, but everything else about the book is up to scratch. This book contains mature themes necessitating a similarly mature audience. It’s a good fit for readers on the hunt for stories about agents of Light fighting against the encroaching Darkness, one-sided romances, and characters charged with a destiny greater than themselves. Readers who are unable to handle gory scenes and main character deaths might not take a fancy to this book.
******
Project Agosha
View: on Bookshelves
Project Agosha: Call of the Koteli is a gripping fantasy fiction novel that serves up an evocative storyline. The first in the Project Agosha series by MT Lynx, it’s sure to leave readers hankering for more.
Maddau has one charge: give his life for his Brehines. He and the other six members of the Koteli Knights are leading agents in the war against the Darkness, each given a virtue to embody. When the dark fiends make for Caer o Wyr, however, his destiny takes an abrupt shift. He leads the Koteli Knights to the Temple de la Sagesse, travelling from the Dragon’s Nest to the Dragon’s Maw, carting a relic of the light to safety. But the darkness won’t let them carry out their mission so easily, sending dark lords and their chevalier counterparts to thwart their journey. What’s worse, Maddau has a sneaking suspicion that one of their own is hiding something.
From early on, clues point to a traitor in the heroes’ midst, making me wonder how Lynx was going to fabricate and build up the suspense of the story. Readers take on an omniscient viewpoint, so we’re really watching with bated breath for the big reveal. Honestly, I wanted to portal my hands through the book and shake Maddau, who willfully ignored the red flags that popped up time and again. When the moment did arrive, I was delighted and, admittedly, a little teary, so I can attest to the emotive aspect of the story, feeling frustration, disappointment, and empathy right there with the rest of the characters.
I had a love-hate relationship with the prose and the narrative of the story. It’s Arthurian, so that should immediately bring to mind words like ‘thou’, ‘fare thee well’, and lots of and lots of apostrophes. Sometimes, this worked in the book’s favour, lending it an artistic but realistic edge that played well with the settings and themes. Other times, it dragged the book down a long-winded path that could have been replaced with more concise language. Lynx is a fan of the heavily implied, leaving readers to infer a great deal about the plot, which, as mentioned previously, I was both appreciative of and exhausted by.
The unrequited love trope? I’m a sucker for that—because, really, who doesn’t like to hopelessly yearn?—and it seemed that nearly all the characters in the book were masters of the angsty, unsaid pining variety. Most of this was subtle and sometimes unexpected, relating to my previous comment about the book’s never explicitly confirming some things.
What didn’t impress me about the book was the frequency and number of editorial errors. This impacted the overall finish of the book and was an undeniably negative factor that is in need of improvement.
I was so confused about the correlation between the title and the storyline. What is 'Agosha'? Why is it a project? Does this not bring to mind something with a more science-fiction bent? Even with the conclusion of the book, I have still not gotten an answer to this. I believe the title might benefit from a name change unless it is to be cleared up in subsequent instalments.
All being said, I think Project Agosha was a fantastic read, deserving the rating of three out of five stars. The negatives noted in the two preceding paragraphs warrant a two-star removal, but everything else about the book is up to scratch. This book contains mature themes necessitating a similarly mature audience. It’s a good fit for readers on the hunt for stories about agents of Light fighting against the encroaching Darkness, one-sided romances, and characters charged with a destiny greater than themselves. Readers who are unable to handle gory scenes and main character deaths might not take a fancy to this book.
******
Project Agosha
View: on Bookshelves
