The True Adventurer
by Robyn Singer
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GENRE: Science Fiction
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BOOK BLURB:
Layla N’gwa is finally free to attend art school and live a life of peace. She’s sipping spinach smoothies in the quad with her new friends, attending protests against the ongoing war, and studying to fulfill her dream of becoming a great glassblower.
Layla’s former friend, Kaya Langstone Bythora-the boy-band-loving cyborg princess of the Cykebian Empire-has embraced being evil since killing Yael, and now acts as the ultimate sword of her mother, Empress Molina. With Kaya’s help, her mother will become the absolute ruler of the universe by winning the war with the Utozin Authority. Kaya wishes she wasn’t doomed to be a monster but feels resigned to her fate and just seeks acceptance from her only friend, Layla.
Layla loves her new life, but she can’t stand back and watch as Kaya is used as a weapon and her old professor conquers planet after planet. As a war rages with the fate of all life in the balance, Layla and Kaya find themselves on opposite sides. Kaya may be the most powerful cyborg ever designed, but Layla has some new tricks up her sleeve. Has absolute order snuffed out all freedom, or is there still room among the stars for a little chaos? Only together can Layla and Kaya find the answer.
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EXCERPT TWO:
“What’s our ETA, General?”
“We should be reaching Caldey-Cocoon’s atmosphere in twentyfive minutes, Princess.”
I twirled my hair around my finger. “Splendid.”
The voyage from Cykeb had been peaceful. I’d had ample time to listen to music and shop for art in my room, torture the prisoners I’d brought along with me in the brig, and take advantage of the other amenities my ship offered.
The Winjolla, named after my departed, beloved aunts, was second only to my mothers’ flagship, Ricochet Supreme, in terms of grandeur. 2400 meters in diameter, it was crewed by a staff of 15,000, all of whom I was free to terrorize to my heart’s content, with 30,000 ground troops also living on board.
I’d gotten to design every aspect of my ship, from its weaponry, which was capable of leveling small continents, to its torture chamber, which I prided myself on being the most nightmarish chamber of horrors ever devised—putting even Mother’s past works to shame—to its spa, swimming pool, light squash court, juice bar, and karaoke studio.
The only thing my ship lacked was someone to enjoy all of this with, but my mothers rarely ever left the palace, and there was no one else worthy of my time. I’d tried forcing some of my lessers to have fun with me in the past, but the only enjoyable parts of those experiences had been when I‘d blown their brains out. Being better than and above everyone else could really suck.
On the bright side, I was almost 14. In just over one year, I’d be allowed to make the members of EZ Street my personal concubines. Then I’d never be lonely again.
Plus, the highlight of these trips was always the destination, not the journey. As the crown princess of The Holy Cykebian Empire, and the most advanced cyborg in existence, I had the honor of serving as my mothers’ ultimate sword. If a rebellion took place that our soldiers couldn’t quash themselves, or if initial conquest was met with more resistance than initially anticipated, I was deployed to handle it. I never failed my mothers. I never would.
“Princess, we’ve arrived.”
Grinning from ear to ear, I rose from my chair in the center of the bridge. “Beam me down. I’ll let you know when to deploy the troops across the planet’s surface.”
“Yes, Princess. Understood, Princess.”
My helmsman did as he was told and a moment later, I was standing in the middle of Caldey-Cocoon’s capital city: Jeradoth.
The blood-red sky matched the dirt beneath my boots. Their architecture was cylindrical, all of their buildings the same sickening shade of green. The air stank of cold macaroni and cheese. From what I’d read, their only major export was middle- quality feathers.
I’d only been here five seconds, but I couldn’t fathom what about this pathetic world its people treasured so much that they wouldn’t want to be a part of the empire. It wasn’t as if I was complaining, though. If every world submitted immediately, I’d never get to have any fun.
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GUEST POST:
Bring on the boo’s! Everyone loves to hate the villain! Tell us all about this truly loathed character and the inspiration behind their development.
The main villain of “The True Adventurer” is Empress Molina Bythora-Langstone. As fans of the previous books in The Ricochet Trilogy will remember, Molina was one of the two main heroines in them. In “The Sunrisers,” she was a driven, brilliant, and responsible peacekeeping officer torn between her duty, and the affection she holds for her childhood best friend, Yael Pavnick, who’s become an infamous thief in the ten years they’ve been apart. The two’s love for each other ultimately wins the day, as Molina learns the dark truths of the empire she’s loyal to, and abandons her career to be with Yael. By the start of “The Order of the Banshee,” the two have been married for five years, built a strange found family, and taken on students to teach the art of the thief. Tragically, Molina’s marriage, Molina’s soul, and Yael’s life are all casualties of this story.
The plot of “The Order of the Banshee” is kickstarted when Moina is informed of the death of her father. As she’s forced to attend his funeral without her criminal mastermind wife, Molina confronts how inadequate she’s always felt next to Yael, and how, while she loves Yael, their relationship is the only meaningful part of her life. At the funeral, Molina encounters her former best friend and partner, Kaybell Bythora, who Molina ran away from after discovering what a monster she really was. While Molina is initially afraid of her, especially as Kaybell has gone from Princess to Emperor of the universe’s largest empire, Kaybell proves herself to have changed for the better, inspired by Molina, and she helps Molina discover the truth of what happened to her father. And as they work together, feelings start to bloom, and Molina begins to wonder if a life with Kaybell couldn’t offer her more fulfillment than her life with Yael. When Molina learns the identity of her father’s killer, she discovers a horrible truth: Kaybell used her DNA to artificially grow a daughter, Kaya. Despite being initially outraged, Kaya’s existence further pushes Molina to believe Kaybell is who she belongs with, and she regretfully cheats on Yael. What she isn’t prepared for while doing this is Kaya’s subsequent murder of Yael.
In “The True Adventurer,” a year has passed since the last book, and Yael’s death has turned Molina into a monster. Having married Kaybell, and used her newfound ruthlessness to seize power from her in her new position as Empress of the Cykebian Empire, Molina wages a brutal war on the rest of the universe. All her life, Molina felt inadequate next to Yael, Kaybell, and all the other geniuses around her, and her only ever being average at best led to her being repeatedly hurt, used, and taken advantage of, and unable to protect the woman she loved. Now, Molina seeks to amass absolute power so no one will ever be able to hurt her ever again, and to psychologically torture Kaybell, blaming her for what happened to Yael.
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AUTHOR BIO & LINKS:
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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 was her debut novel. The Order of the Banshee is book 2 in the The Ricochet Trilogy. Robyn was the author in residence for the first quarter of 2022 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 publication by Band of Bards in 2022.
Amazon Author Page:
Publisher Author Page:
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GIVEAWAY:
Robyn will be awarding a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner's Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thank you so much for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a enthralling read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI really like the cover and the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteExcellent guest post
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