The Order of the Banshee

November 06, 2023

The Order of the Banshee

by Robyn Singer

GENRE: Sci Fi Space Opera

It’s been five years since Yael and Molina reunited. Yael is one of the richest and most infamous thieves in the universe and a member of the Order of the Banshee. She is rising through the ranks of the elite organization with her wife and her ride-or-die best friends, Aarif and P’Ken, at her side, and she’s even running her own school for thieves. Molina, former captain in the universe’s premiere peacekeeping organization, the Sunrisers, is happily married to Yael and tells herself that’s enough.

Their seemingly perfect lives are interrupted when they receive news of the death of Molina’s father. When Molina returns home for his funeral, she reunites with her former friend and now enemy: Kaybell, the emperor of the Cykebian Empire. Kaybell, eager to mend the relationship, informs Molina that her father was murdered and offers to help Molina find those responsible and bring them to justice.

While Molina and Kaybell hunt the people responsible for her father’s death, Yael is hunted by an invincible assassin – one with a terrible secret. These two seemingly unrelated events are more connected than Yael or Molina could possibly imagine.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

“Yael, you must get up and shower,” P’Ken declared, standing right over me, both hands on her stick.

“Seriously, you’re starting to stink pretty bad,” Aarif followed, standing right next to her.

“Waaaaaaaah!” I cried, curled up in a ball in my bed. “I miss my Moli!”

The past few days had been absolutely miserable. For security reasons, I couldn’t contact Molina while she was on Cykeb, and living in the school without her around was too weird. As much as I’d been staying in bed, I couldn’t even sleep in such a big one without her. My only comforts had come from my endless supply of beer, instant ramen, and gummies, the bottles, cups, and bags they’d come in all over my bed and floor.

“She’ll be back soon. And then you can make up for lost time.”

“For now, however, you promised Shun you’d spar with her today, and a thief of your distinction shouldn’t be gaining a reputation as a lying thief.”

“Come on, let’s get ready for the day.”

I groaned for an extended period, rubbing my temples. “You’re not my parents.”

“Obviously not,” P’Ken rolled her eyes. “My child will never be allowed to make their room a pigsty.”

Aarif plopped down next to me, shaking the mattress. “We may not be your parents, but we are your family. We want to help you.”

I shook my head. “You can’t.”

About the Author:

Robyn Singer is a lifelong New Yorker, and since she was a kid playing with her action figures, all she’s wanted to do is tell stories. She went to SUNY Purchase to get a degree in Playwriting & Screenwriting with a minor in Film and has produced several comic books, but she’s always had her eye on becoming a published novelist.

As an Autistic, bisexual trans woman, diversity and inclusion in stories are vitally important to her, and she seeks to represent as many groups as possible in her work. While she wants to show characters of marginalized groups experiencing joy, she also draws inspiration from real-world problems which bother her.

The Sunrisers (Cinnabar Moth Publishing, November 2022) is her debut novel. Order of the Banshee is book in the The Ricochet Trilogy. Robyn was the author in residence for quester 1 of 20222 for Cinnabar Moth Literary Collections. She writes novels and short stories of all genres and for all ages, and she continues to produce comic books. Her ongoing series, Final Gamble, began publiscation by Band of Bards in 2022.

See her ramble about her passions on Twitter https://twitter.com/emmalsinger

Follow her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emmalsinger/

Q&A With the Author

What was your inspiration for writing this book?
The Order of the Banshee is a sequel to my previous novel, The Sunrisers. I conceived The Sunrisers when I was trying to figure out what to write for Nanowrimo in 2020. I thought the pitch of “Killing Eve in Space” sounded perfect when I came up with it and ran with it from there. When conceiving my central protagonist, Yael Pavnick, I decided to make her everything I knew I would have wanted in a hero as a kid. She’s hyper-competent and unstoppable, an Autistic, ADHD lesbian, and extremely caring with the people she loves, while also being a living disaster and a bad girl.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The most fun part of writing The Order of the Banshee was, in a sense, defiling my own work. The Sunrisers was a largely optimistic story and a simple, fun adventure with a happily ever after. With this sequel, I challenge the simplicity of the previous book, I tear away a lot of characters’ happy endings, and some of them don’t get them back. It was painful hurting these characters I love like that, but there was also a peculiar perverse pleasure.
Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?
While not a novel, I am the writer of the ongoing comic book series, Final Gamble. Final Gamble is a thriller/horror from the publisher Band of Bards centered around the world of underground gambling, and the lengths people will go to to survive capitalism. It’s drawn by Jorge Santiago Jr, colored by Harry Saxon, lettered by George Gant, and we currently have three issues out, with more on the way.
Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?
I have a few projects cooking that I unfortunately can’t talk about yet, but in 2024, I’m planning on turning my attention to screenwriting. It’s what I earned my degree in, and with the success of the WGA’s recent historic strike, I’m eager to write some movies and TV pilots.
Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Everyone who read and told me how much they loved The Sunrisers means the world to me. You’re why The Order of the Banshee exists. I hope you’ll all enjoy it as much as the first book, and I hope its more mature themes will resonate with you.