Enigma is the second book in the Trigon Disunity trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. It jumps forward a little in time from the previous book as it starts with humanity having made contact with several colonies after the discovery of other humans in space that occurred at the end of the previous book. The story focuses on Merritt Thackery, a young man who is studying government administration in college. After a journey to see the moons of Jupiter he finds himself becoming somewhat obsessed with the idea of traveling more in space so he transfers colleges and disciplines in order to enter the space service. Eventually he gets assigned to a survey ship in charge of trying to find more potential colonies. In the process he also finds himself getting caught up in the big question that still drives the survey ships, how many colonies are out there and what led to the original colonizations. A question that seems to be difficult to answer though he finds himself getting closer after several interactions with newly discovered colonies.
This was a good addition to a pretty good series and one that puts forth some rather interesting ideas. At the same time it also introduces some distinct changes from the previous book. With the slight time jump between books the setting goes from struggling to have any kind of space ship to having a dedicated series of space ships constantly traveling through space in order to move freight and supplies or merely to survey different planets in hopes of finding more colonies. It creates a different feel as this book takes place almost entirely in space while the previous book took place almost entirely on Earth. Both are good but they are still rather different. One change that I did like is that this book follows one character, Merritt Thackery, for the entire story rather than change characters as the story progresses like the previous one did. I feel like it allows for a greater continuity within the story. The plot for this story though seems more complex with more numerous layers and elements to it though. There is the obvious focus on Merritt Thackery and his time on a survey ship but there is also the exploration of first contact with the various colonies that are introduced. On top of that there is also the growing interest in what led to the colonizations and when they happened and how they happened. It feels like the story is branching out a little bit more which I enjoyed. Something else I enjoyed is the ideas presented when the story discusses how and when a first contact should be made. I like when a book occasionally introduces the more philosophical ideas and theories in addition to the straight science like is often presented. This series is surprisingly enjoyable while also surprisingly thought-provoking. Overall a pretty good book that I am happy to give four out of five stars.
This book is a pretty good example of older science fiction so if that happens to be something you enjoy I would recommend it. Especially if you prefer science-fiction that focuses on space travel or exploration instead of on robots and AI. If not I hope you would at least consider it anyway. This series in general is aimed primarily at adult readers and in this case I would mostly agree with that. There is some violence though not a lot of it and not necessarily overly graphic and there are some adult references though again nothing overly graphic. I would have no issue with older teens and young adults reading it but I would recommend nobody younger than about fifteen or sixteen due to that. Like I said before, a pretty good book and a pretty good series so if it sounds like something you would enjoy consider trying it out. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.