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A NEW SERIES IN THE UNIVERSE OF THE DABARE SNAKE LAUNCHER!
PODKAYNE OF MARS AT SATURN'S RINGS—HARD SF WITH A HUMAN FACE
It is a time of humanity’s exuberant expansion throughout the Solar System. We have colonies on the Moon, Mars, as far as Saturn’s rings. And we’re heading out even further.
But it does mean that we’re stretched thin, and that every person who is part of the great experiment must do their part. To include the least likely scion of a famous explorer the Sadous.
The Sadous were in space exploration from the start of the space elevators in Africa, and they remain powerful to this day. But power draws envy, and for 12-year-old Calypso, life ain’t so easy. Especially when her mother, father, and two prodigy brothers—no pressure—head out, leaving her alone on Saturn’s ring station with her grandparents in charge.
She becomes the focus of a lot of strife, political maneuvering, and simple jealousy. As her grandparents are aging, she's going to have to grow up fast to protect them and her own hopes for a productive future. It’ll take everything she’s got to prove worthy—to her family, to her colony, and most of all, to herself.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Praise for The Dabare Snake
“Joelle Presby’s novel is a fascinating fictional look behind the scenes of the construction of the world’s first space elevator in a near-future version of Africa that has enough grounded elements to be thoroughly believable . . . The story maintains a keen eye on the largely larger-than-life characters and respect for the business processes, customs, and beliefs of the people on the ground making things happen.” —Wole Talabi, multiple-award finalist author and editor of An Anthology
“You guys should all be on the lookout for Joelle Presby’s solo Baen novel The Dabare Snake Launcher. It is . . . remarkable. Just truly, truly remarkable.” —David Weber, New York Times best-selling author of the Honorverse series
“The Dabare Snake Launcher is a very believable depiction of when this species decides to do something backstabbing, plotting, and inflamed passions galore. Presby has created a future that I could easily imagine reading on the news in a few decades, and the novel is all the better for it.” —Warped Factor
“The Dabare Snake Launcher takes you on a journey of possibilities, an Africa foremost in groundbreaking technology and not focused on deprivation and poverty. Joelle’s writing is nuanced . . . There’s family drama . . . romance . . . and laugh-out-loud humour. Writing is vivid and the characters fascinating.” —Hannah Onoguwe, author and poet
“Set in Cameroon, where the author lived for many years, and full of lovely detail about the local cultures, clashes between traditional and modern, and differing expectations.” —Jane Lindskold, author of the Star Kingdom series and Over Where series
Praise for Joelle
“Joelle Presby has a knack for engaging characters and plots that skillfully walk the line between science and storytelling.” —Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Nebula Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated author and editor of The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction
“Presby’s prose is effi
PODKAYNE OF MARS AT SATURN'S RINGS—HARD SF WITH A HUMAN FACE
It is a time of humanity’s exuberant expansion throughout the Solar System. We have colonies on the Moon, Mars, as far as Saturn’s rings. And we’re heading out even further.
But it does mean that we’re stretched thin, and that every person who is part of the great experiment must do their part. To include the least likely scion of a famous explorer the Sadous.
The Sadous were in space exploration from the start of the space elevators in Africa, and they remain powerful to this day. But power draws envy, and for 12-year-old Calypso, life ain’t so easy. Especially when her mother, father, and two prodigy brothers—no pressure—head out, leaving her alone on Saturn’s ring station with her grandparents in charge.
She becomes the focus of a lot of strife, political maneuvering, and simple jealousy. As her grandparents are aging, she's going to have to grow up fast to protect them and her own hopes for a productive future. It’ll take everything she’s got to prove worthy—to her family, to her colony, and most of all, to herself.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Praise for The Dabare Snake
“Joelle Presby’s novel is a fascinating fictional look behind the scenes of the construction of the world’s first space elevator in a near-future version of Africa that has enough grounded elements to be thoroughly believable . . . The story maintains a keen eye on the largely larger-than-life characters and respect for the business processes, customs, and beliefs of the people on the ground making things happen.” —Wole Talabi, multiple-award finalist author and editor of An Anthology
“You guys should all be on the lookout for Joelle Presby’s solo Baen novel The Dabare Snake Launcher. It is . . . remarkable. Just truly, truly remarkable.” —David Weber, New York Times best-selling author of the Honorverse series
“The Dabare Snake Launcher is a very believable depiction of when this species decides to do something backstabbing, plotting, and inflamed passions galore. Presby has created a future that I could easily imagine reading on the news in a few decades, and the novel is all the better for it.” —Warped Factor
“The Dabare Snake Launcher takes you on a journey of possibilities, an Africa foremost in groundbreaking technology and not focused on deprivation and poverty. Joelle’s writing is nuanced . . . There’s family drama . . . romance . . . and laugh-out-loud humour. Writing is vivid and the characters fascinating.” —Hannah Onoguwe, author and poet
“Set in Cameroon, where the author lived for many years, and full of lovely detail about the local cultures, clashes between traditional and modern, and differing expectations.” —Jane Lindskold, author of the Star Kingdom series and Over Where series
Praise for Joelle
“Joelle Presby has a knack for engaging characters and plots that skillfully walk the line between science and storytelling.” —Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Nebula Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated author and editor of The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction
“Presby’s prose is effi
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 4, 2025
5 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Joelle Presby
21 books16 followersJoelle Presby is a fantasy and science fiction author, and a former surface warfare officer in the United States Navy.
She went to school in Ohio and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2003. She has lived in various countries, including France, Cameroon, and Japan. She and her husband, the submarine officer, live in Virginia and prefer living with hurricanes to moving again.
Presby is the author of several Honoverse short stories, one of which was published in the sixth Worlds of Honor anthology, Beginnings. She also contributed to House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion. Outside of the Honorverse, she is also co-authoring (with David Weber) new books in the Multiverse series, taking over for Linda Evans.
She went to school in Ohio and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2003. She has lived in various countries, including France, Cameroon, and Japan. She and her husband, the submarine officer, live in Virginia and prefer living with hurricanes to moving again.
Presby is the author of several Honoverse short stories, one of which was published in the sixth Worlds of Honor anthology, Beginnings. She also contributed to House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion. Outside of the Honorverse, she is also co-authoring (with David Weber) new books in the Multiverse series, taking over for Linda Evans.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 4, 2025
This is such an interesting book to discuss. It is a mix-and-mash of various sub-genres and tropes, yet it also is so indelibly unique that it needs to be talked about.
The book is a Science Fiction book, taking place on a station orbiting Saturn's rings. We'd previously seen Joelle Presby tackling the really hard sci-fi elements of a Space Elevator, and I was really intrigued to see how she'd tackle a story far further in the future with more advanced technology. Unfortunately we don't get to see much of the sci-fi elements of the story (except for at the beginning and end), as most of the book takes place in the station and is more of a character-political-business-coming of age drama. I know that I threw in a lot of ideas there, but that's the way to describe the book.
It's really about Calypso Sadou, who is an *adopted* child on the station who's parents (and brothers) are currently off station and is staying with her grandparents. But her grandparents are showing some troubling signs and everyone wants custody of Caly because of her family/inheritance.
I personally really liked the themes that are explored here. The themes about family history and living up to impossible standards was just really fascinating to me. I also loved the themes about self-determination and the value of perseverence.
The book ends with a fantastic Sci-Fi sequence that I really enjoyed. Had more of the book had sequences like that I think it would really bump up a lot higher in my estimation.
I also really liked the subtle ties to the Dabare Snake Launcher, which you don't need to read before this one as they are each standalone stories, but the easter eggs were nice to catch.
I will also add that Joelle is a delight to talk to and I'm always fascinated talking with her about combining her interest in Engineering and Science Fiction and her family history in Africa. So this next part pains me to say, but unfortunately, there were some elements of this book that either fell flat or really didn't work for me.
Calypso is supposed to be about 12(ish) years of age, but she absolutely does not talk that way. At youngest, I would have guessed she was a 17-19 year old, surrounded by other 17-19 year olds (Xavier felt much older, although Omaara's voice does fit the age well). Maybe in this Sci-Fi world living on a ship ages up characters personalities, but still the voices were really strange. So it's middle-grade aged protagonist with more of a YA voice, but the rest of the story feels much more appealing to adult readers.
I also felt that the story really lacked a sense of pace (until the last 60 pages). Much of the story often feels aimless and just letting us spend time with the characters and explore the station. Had some of the characters and voice work been better, maybe it would have worked better for me, as not all books necessarily have to have the most stellar plot, but this one needed one.
Also, I think the political and scientific worldbuilding was a bit too complicated here. It's not just Epic Fantasy where this stuff can be too complicated, but also in Hard Sci-Fi.
This next element may be more personally affecting than it will be to other readers, but the writing style of the book just didn't gel for me this time. Its very similar to the Dabare Snake Launcher writing style, but I believe the buy in for the story, plot, and worldbuilding was a bit stronger there so it worked better for me.
Overall, I think the book is fine. Some really good parts: the climax/ending, the themes, the connections to the Dabare Snake Launcher, but also some not so great parts: the weaker plot, character voices, and complex worldbuilding. I'll give this book a 6 out of 10.
The book is a Science Fiction book, taking place on a station orbiting Saturn's rings. We'd previously seen Joelle Presby tackling the really hard sci-fi elements of a Space Elevator, and I was really intrigued to see how she'd tackle a story far further in the future with more advanced technology. Unfortunately we don't get to see much of the sci-fi elements of the story (except for at the beginning and end), as most of the book takes place in the station and is more of a character-political-business-coming of age drama. I know that I threw in a lot of ideas there, but that's the way to describe the book.
It's really about Calypso Sadou, who is an *adopted* child on the station who's parents (and brothers) are currently off station and is staying with her grandparents. But her grandparents are showing some troubling signs and everyone wants custody of Caly because of her family/inheritance.
I personally really liked the themes that are explored here. The themes about family history and living up to impossible standards was just really fascinating to me. I also loved the themes about self-determination and the value of perseverence.
The book ends with a fantastic Sci-Fi sequence that I really enjoyed. Had more of the book had sequences like that I think it would really bump up a lot higher in my estimation.
I also really liked the subtle ties to the Dabare Snake Launcher, which you don't need to read before this one as they are each standalone stories, but the easter eggs were nice to catch.
I will also add that Joelle is a delight to talk to and I'm always fascinated talking with her about combining her interest in Engineering and Science Fiction and her family history in Africa. So this next part pains me to say, but unfortunately, there were some elements of this book that either fell flat or really didn't work for me.
Calypso is supposed to be about 12(ish) years of age, but she absolutely does not talk that way. At youngest, I would have guessed she was a 17-19 year old, surrounded by other 17-19 year olds (Xavier felt much older, although Omaara's voice does fit the age well). Maybe in this Sci-Fi world living on a ship ages up characters personalities, but still the voices were really strange. So it's middle-grade aged protagonist with more of a YA voice, but the rest of the story feels much more appealing to adult readers.
I also felt that the story really lacked a sense of pace (until the last 60 pages). Much of the story often feels aimless and just letting us spend time with the characters and explore the station. Had some of the characters and voice work been better, maybe it would have worked better for me, as not all books necessarily have to have the most stellar plot, but this one needed one.
Also, I think the political and scientific worldbuilding was a bit too complicated here. It's not just Epic Fantasy where this stuff can be too complicated, but also in Hard Sci-Fi.
This next element may be more personally affecting than it will be to other readers, but the writing style of the book just didn't gel for me this time. Its very similar to the Dabare Snake Launcher writing style, but I believe the buy in for the story, plot, and worldbuilding was a bit stronger there so it worked better for me.
Overall, I think the book is fine. Some really good parts: the climax/ending, the themes, the connections to the Dabare Snake Launcher, but also some not so great parts: the weaker plot, character voices, and complex worldbuilding. I'll give this book a 6 out of 10.
Displaying 1 of 1 review