Space, Spirits, and Money
The race to build a space elevator and revolutionize the world
“The Dabare Snake Launcher” was written by Joelle Presby. This book is about the attempt to build the first space elevator to revolutionize and make space mining and production even more profitable. In the time this book takes place, humanity regularly goes to the moon and even further, and one of the main reasons for it is deep space mining. However, one of the most significant issues we have with mining minerals from rocks floating in space is getting them back to Earth to turn them into products. That is where the space elevator comes in.
In the book, a corporation, TCG, invents a material strong enough to use as the tether for the space elevator, and they begin constructing the elevator. In this company, the HR guy is related to an African family, the Sadous, that runs a gas & oil company, giving them a lucrative contract to repay the family for the head start they gave him. This contract is to build a maglev launcher to deliver the building supplies to orbit for constructing the elevator and its counterpart station in orbit. The book is about this family and TCG trying to get the maglev completed and the elevator started.
“The Dabare Snake Launcher” is pleasant enough to read. It’s divided into three parts, the first being about the deal and sub-deals being set up. It is also the longest part and holds the longest chapters. The second is primarily about the construction of the launcher, and the third is about the launcher going into service and the focus shifting to the elevator. As for the read, since the first part has most of the meat, I found myself flying through the other two parts once you get past that. This doesn’t detract, but I wished the second and third parts had more meat.
The characters are all decent, even though they are not unique or memorable. I would say you have three main characters in this book. A pair of cousins trying to get the launcher built and make sure it succeeds, and the HR guy who gave the family the launcher contract. The chapters go back and forth between these three and a few other side characters. All of whom are trying to make this grand project a success for personal and financial reasons. Some of the characters are African spirits that interact with a few of the characters. However, I didn’t see much point in them being in the book. Because removing them won’t take anything away. Besides this, the characters were likable and moved the story forward nicely.
One major thing I didn’t like about this book was that the space elevator, the whole project the book revolves around, doesn’t get built. It’s still under construction by the end of the book. It does give us an ending hopeful of the future and continued success, but after the launcher is completed, the book ends in a few short chapters. I wish Presby had written an epilogue chapter showing us the world after the elevator was built. However, the ending does wrap up the story and all its subplots nicely.
Overall, the story was quite enjoyable, especially if you enjoy anything to do with expansion into space. I recommend reading it if you have the chance and giving it a rating of 3.75 out of 5 stars.