I was up late one night randomly sifting through the Kindle Store on the lookout for my next read. After nearly 30 minutes of electronic rabbit holes I had given up finding something to read. I had seen adverts for The Enigma Cube on my Kindle’s off screen. I normally do not select ebooks based on the ads that Amazon sent me but this time I did it on a whim. What transpired as a fun and fast paced sci-fi action thriller.
Initially set in the near future, the reader is introduced to the main protagonists. They’re enjoyable enough if somewhat idealistic in both thoughts and prose. We deal with an enhanced soldier and a baseline human female and the two do have chemistry which makes for enjoyable reading. It also helps that there are a variety of witty responses and sarcastic comebacks thrown in with some sci-fi references that will make any true nerd in the 21st century happy. What struck me as interesting was the way that the author dealt with the two timelines within the novel. The initial timeline takes place in the USA in the mid 2020s. During this time, the American government has discovered the “Enigma Cube”. It’s actually not called this in the novel but it’s better than just saying “cube”. We discover that this cube has the power to control space and eventually, time. The Chinese, of course, know about this cube as well through some techno wizardry and of course want it.
Approximately midway through the novel the main characters are transported back to the world in the midst of WW2. Through scenes taking place in both Berlin and Canada we come to learn of how the “Enigma Cube” was discovered and how it almost fell into the hands of Nazi Germany. And this is where the timelines play a fun tug of war with the reader. While time travel is involved, there is a plot twist that was enjoyable enough to tie the two timelines together in a way that would have made for a satisfying closure without needing to explore the WW2 timeline in greater detail. But, we get that anyway which is great. There’s even a moral conundrum which makes one really think about whether or not changing the past would make the future better.
The book ends with some nice emotional prose about family and finding meaning and connection in life which helps to humanize the characters. All in all this was a fun book and one that I would recommend.
Wonder Wander Wine 