The Followers of Horus
by Andy Lloyd
Timeless Voyager Press, 2010
ISBN 978-1892264275
"NASA’s super-secret spaceflight to the Dark Star is barely a third of the way into its fifteen year mission when things begin to unravel. Tensions between the crew of Ezekiel One and their mysterious mission controller, Etienne Lille, are building, with potentially disastrous consequences.
"Meanwhile, on Earth, an unexpected lead brings journalist Bill Bainbridge back into the hunt for the location of the Dark Star - information which will blow apart the entire conspiracy. Without his knowledge, his actions are being guided by a tangled web of Military Intelligence operatives, aided by the enigmatic “Tall Man”, Nathan Keye.
"When the Ezekiel One black project runs into serious trouble, a third power emerges, aided by the uncompromising Followers of Horus. For the first time in millennia, humans experience how it feels to become slaves of a god.
"As Ezekiel One finally approaches the planet Nibiru, the crew wonder how things could possibly get worse…"
'The Followers of Horus' is the sequel to Andy Lloyd's first novel, 'Ezekiel One'. It moves from an espionage thriller into the realm of science fiction.
Readers' comments about 'The Followers of Horus'
"Bravo, Sir, bravo! Another brilliant success! You paint pictures with words as well as you do with paint and brush. I impatiently await your next installment in the 'Dark Star' fiction series. I know that you planned it as a trilogy, but I hope you will reconsider and extend it. Perhaps you could do a pre-quel trilogy set 200,000 - 2,000 years ago." Roger Curnow
"Hi Andy, I really enjoyed the Followers Of Horus. Great job! Looking forward to the third and final instalment." Nigel Fowler, Kent
"Superb work. Great result of "crawling into an Anunnaki's mind" which I can't even imagine. Can't wait for book #3!!" Warren Judd, Texas
Just wanted to say that I finished ‘The Followers of Horus’ quite a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it! I can’t wait for your next novel!" Cindy Wright, Minnesota
"When Bill Bainbridge, reporter for the London Daily Standard, was pulled off restaurant reviews in 2012 to investigate wild NASA UFO conspiracy theories, little did he know that he'd still be doing it six years later.
"True, he and his friends uncovered the UFO -- a giant, top-secret
nuclear-powered spaceship called Ezekiel One, built by NASA and crewed by U.S.
astronauts. But soon enough the ship slipped from the view of earth-bound
astronomers and headed into the great unknown.
"The events of 2012 were covered in Andy Lloyd's first science fiction novel
called, appropriately enough, "Ezekiel One". The sequel, called "The Followers
of Horus", begins with Bill trying to meet up with an Italian astronomer. Bill's
employer, a Russian tycoon named Mr. Provotkin, very much wants to know the
coordinates of the mysterious Dark Star, the purported destination for the
spaceship. However, anyone on the verge of finding out tends to end up either
comatose or floating face-down in a river. Very powerful interests want the Dark
Star to remain secret, and they'll stop at nothing.
"Bill was very paranoid in 2012, and rightly so -- he survived at least two
assassination attempts. However, he's gotten sloppy, lulled into complacency by
years of fruitless investigations. In his heart, he's fed up with the whole
thing and just wants to go back to reviewing restaurants. By the end of the
first chapter, we'll see how disastrous Bill's carelessness turns out to be.
While a good portion of the earlier half of "The Followers of Horus" focuses on
the search for the Dark Star on Earth, an equally important plot line follows
the voyage of Ezekiel One itself. This dominates the latter half of the book.
"The trip is to last fifteen years. The crew consists of relatively young men and
women who are beginning to feel the tedium. Having completed their spectacular
flyby of Saturn and passed beyond the orbit of Neptune, there is really nothing
now for them to see through the transparent glass observation dome, apart from
the Milky Way. Day to day, nothing ever really changes. The ship feels
motionless. The Dark Star, actually a giant planet called a "sub-brown dwarf",
is far too dim to notice. There is a very small amount of artificial gravity
produced by the slow, but steady, acceleration of the ship, but it is not enough
to prevent significant bone and muscle atrophy. The human body is not designed
for prolonged weightlessness. There are exercises the crew members are supposed
to perform, but they're getting lackadaisical. Also, a need for secrecy means
that, for long time, the ship is cut off from radio contact with Earth. On-board
food production is starting to falter, and people are feeling the hunger pangs.
Foolishly -- and against clear orders -- they have begun to have children.
"One major source of tension is the fact that only the commanding officer,
Bradley Pierce, knows the true nature of the mission. There are twelve priests
on board, all schooled in the ancient Sumerian language. Supposedly, they're to
serve as ambassadors for humanity when Ezekiel One reaches Nibiru, a
planet-sized moon orbiting the Dark Star. However, they are keeping watch over a
secret cargo, in a no-go portion of the ship. As increasingly mutinous crew
members hatch a daring plan to shorten the voyage and, perhaps, save themselves
from starvation, Pierce tries to dissuade them. The priests will not accept any
shortcuts, but Pierce can't tell anyone why. Before long, tensions will build to
the crisis point, and the crew will learn a terrible secret.
"I have known about Andy Lloyd for the better part of a decade, thanks to his "Dark Star" book and website. I always figured that his theories about a hidden binary companion to the Sun would make good science fiction novels, and Andy for the most part has delivered. I first read the books last fall, and have just finished them a second time. I enjoyed a couple or three exciting run-for-your-life chase or escape scenes. I also enjoyed some subtle humor, such as the absurd Monty Python line translated into Russian.
"A major character, known to Bill Bainbridge as the Tall Man, has a surprising amount of clout. His audience with the Pope is quite unconventional -- he doesn't exactly go in through the front door. And when a character jokes that he's an alien with cool space tech -- well, maybe he isn't really kidding after all. I especially liked the vivid descriptions of Nibiru orbiting in close proximity to its primary, bathed in ruddy or magenta light, looking very much like the Eye of Horus of ancient Egyptian lore.
"If you're looking for a science-fiction treatment of some ancient Babylonian and Egyptian legends, in the same vein as Stargate, this book could be for you. But definitely you'll want to read "Ezekiel One" first. I'd love to see a third book follow up on the fate of the crew of Ezekiel One, and other events on Nibiru. This story definitely isn't over yet." Robert Shepard Jr
