Title: Agamemnon Frost & the Hollow Ships
Series: Agamemnon Frost 02
Author: Kim Knox
Genre: Historical (1891), Science Fiction
Length: Short (78pgs)
Publisher: Carina Press (16th September 2013)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3½ – 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Edgar Mason is ready to embark upon his new life at Agamemnon Frost’s side. But all is not perfect. His Martian overlord, Pandarus, has implanted a dark voice in his mind, a voice that urges betrayal. And though Mason can keep close to Frost, there’s little room for romance under the watchful gaze of the engineers from Station X.
That changes when Mason and Frost reopen their investigation into their old enemy’s whereabouts. Posing as double agents and investigating cryptic rumors of “hollow ships,” they find him impersonating a London banker and worm their way into his confidence.
But their success brings them trouble in spades. Pandarus takes them into the belly of his ships, where he plans to transfigure them into mindless automata. And with Earth on the brink of invasion, Frost’s old flame Theodora reappearing and Pandarus’s brainwashing growing more effective, Mason and Frost will find their bond tested as never before.
Review: This story is part of a series and must be read in order. Edgar Mason has no choice but to embark on a new life as Agamemnon’s partner and valet. It is a life he is coming to resent, and love, as it holds him close to the man he cannot touch. Agamemnon has a duty to uphold and although he wishes, things could be different. He has a responsibility that cannot be ignored. The two together must investigate the rumor of ‘hollow ships’ and finding Pandarus and discover that Theodora wasn’t lost like they thought. Mason and Frost will find their bond tested as they embark on their mission.
This is a great continuation of the historical, science fiction storyline where Martian’s are plotting the demise of Earth. Mason finds himself frustrated as his attraction to Agamemnon pulls and tears at him, in a society that doesn’t approve of males loving males and is endangered by the martians Mason knows he can’t act and that Agamemnon is bound by those same rules. When Agamemnon and Mason try to discover more about the ‘hollow ships’, they find themselves caught and narrowly escape destruction. The fate of the world rests on their shoulders and their relationship is still blurred.
Sometimes you come across a story where you don’t really know where the characters really stand and this is definitely one of those stories. With Mason and Agamemnon, not only does the time they live in work against them, but the work they now both do does as well. Mason is a wonderfully written character and you can see the fight he has with himself over his longing for Agamemnon. That longing seeps through the pages and it is bittersweet being so close to the one he adores but unable to act on it. Agamemnon is harder to get a real feel for in his feelings for Mason, sometimes it is as though he really wants Mason but at other times, it is like he is a blank slate.
As the story progresses we see the mechanics of what the Martians are doing and we are given some wonderful descriptions of the bleakness, that mankind is heading for if they don’t stop the invasion. Pandarus is certainly a resourceful Martian, but he just can’t quite get a handle on Agamemnon, and his hold on Mason seems to be slipping further away. So we have the excitement of danger, explosions, and a brief trip to the future with the added twist of the discovery that Theodora is alive and the Martians are planning more than just an invasion to take over the world.
I recommend this to those who love historical science fiction, great characters, a love being confined, hope, and wishes and an ending that makes it clear this story isn’t finished just yet.