Something Coming Through

Something Coming Through is a 2015 novel by Paul J. McAuley featuring elements of science fiction and crime fiction.

Setting

In the near future, Earth suffers from both adverse effects of climate change and a destructive outburst of war and terrorism known as "The Spasm", which includes small-scale nuclear attacks on various major cities. Soon afterward, an alien species known as the Jackaroo make themselves known, offering humanity access to wormhole connections to fifteen human-habitable planets elsewhere in the galaxy, automated shuttles to transport people and materiel to those planets, and the right to exploit them - along with anything found on them - as humanity sees fit. The nations of the world accept this, and soon emigration (controlled by a UN-administered lottery) begins to the fifteen new worlds, which are littered with artifacts and structures of the "Elder Cultures", long-vanished civilizations that were themselves once clients of the Jackaroo. The novel takes place in the second decade after colonization has begun.

Part of the novel takes place on Mangala, one of the colony worlds. Mangala is a primarily desert planet which orbits its red dwarf primary in 3:2 resonance. As a result, it has a year-long day and a year-long night, each 15 Earth days long. (Mangala is also the Sanskrit name for the planet Mars.) Most of its settlers are from various European countries - emigrants to the frontier worlds tend to take the Jackaroo shuttle whose launch point is closest to their home on Earth, leading to different worlds having majorities from particular nations of groups of nations.

Plot

The novel follows two characters in alternating chapters.