Falling into a cavern on the planet Triton, survey pilot John Bandicut disrupts a strange disembodied alien known as a quarx, which predicts a comet collision that will threaten all human life, unless Bandicut can prevent the disaster.
Stranded on the artificial structure known as Shipworld, John Bandicut searches for the keys to its mysteries and stumbles into a confrontation with an entity known as the boojum, an evil corruption that threatens both Shipworld and the universe.
Interstellar troubleshooter John Bandicut returns for an amiably routine third installment (after Strange Attractors) in Carvel's Chaos Chronicles, journeying to a world where the dominant civilization, the Neri, live under the sea.