The Tree of Knowledge - Daniel G. Miller 

It is said that the greatest chess grandmasters envision a match’s outcome ten moves before it occurs. Imagine a person who could visualize ten steps ahead not only in the game of chess but in every human interaction.

This novel is great for mystery and puzzle lovers as the storyline is full of riddles and mathematical problems. The Tree of Knowledge is a secret knowledge of how to anticipate all of the possibilities that one may encounter during any given situation and the ability to manipulate others so that your desired outcome is met. This knowledge has fallen into the wrong hands and it is up to a mathematics university professor, his mentor and his graduate assistant to recover the secret back.
The author deals with the enigmas and codes in a really approachable and readable manner that means that even if you don’t like maths or can’t wrap your head around riddles, it is still an easy read.
I enjoyed the novel and feel like I could definitely see this being made into a film that I would watch!

The Tree of Knowledge is released on 30th March 2021 and it is now available for preorder!
Thank you to Houndstooth Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy

A great movie consists of many things. From the production until to the team that would finalize all the details needed before they show it to everyone. But in a book, you only need one person, one great mind that can make a story ten-fold greater than a movie that is loved by many. In this story, a lot of mystery will be solved and a lot of answers unfold along the journey. When Dr. Albert Puddles discover something that no one knew was possible, everything about his life change after discovering the tree of knowledge. It was like he knew and know everything. Answers that are before hard to solve is now within his palm. But he was also involved in a murder. He thought that what he discovered was big enough but now he is also under investigation on things he did not do. This starts the never-ending riddles and mysteries to solve to recover the remains of the book and knows the limits of a human mind.

A story for lovers of the Da Vinci Code, Logic, secret societies, heists and mathematics. 

This story follows Dr. Albert Puddles who gets mixed up in something bigger than himself when he discovers the Tree of Knowledge. This story is a fast-paced and engaging story that catches your attention from page one. The reveals were done amazingly in this book and the ending was also executed very well. 

Miller succeeds in interweaving mathematics and logic into the story and makes it approachable the average reader. The Tree of Knowledge is the most fascinating thing in this story and Miller gives this logic concept an almost magical feeling. 

Ying is definitely my favourite character and my favourite quote from her is by far "Ying's guard went up when she heard one old white man celebrating another old white man."

This was intoxicating from beginning to end. The ever-ending riddles, enigmas, and puzzles brought a plot based on rationality to feel like magic. And not only are all those aspects craftingly made but they are explained in a simple tone and diagrams which make you understand every single aspect from beginning to the end. The only disappointing factor of this book, is the lack of people reading it.

This was one of those books where I sat down to read it and did not get up again until I had finished it some hours later. To be fair, this book was probably bound to be a favorite simply because 1) it's set, at least partially, at a university with professors and students playing the main roles and 2) it is filled with puzzles, riddles and logic (and a bit of chess), which, as a board game and escape room enthusiast, I highly appreciate. 

The book starts right in the middle of the action, making it a good page-turner quite literally from the first page. The book is, in many ways, a love song to logical thinking and gamification. Casual explanations of the three laws of logic, some Greek mythology and some actual statistical puzzles (looking at you Monty Hall), added a lot of flavor and actual moments of learning to an otherwise riveting and action-packed story. 

I found most characters in the book to be relatable, their actions and thought-patterns relevant. To be honest, it has been a long time since I felt myself so seen in a literary character.... especially considering it was not the protagonist of this story. One note I would make is that, especially towards the end, a little suspension of disbelief will be required. Yet, I did not find the somewhat fantastical scenes to be off-putting in the least. 

I do believe that this book will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I 100% loved it. Fellow logic enthusiasts, mathematicians, chess players and puzzle/riddle solvers, if you love a good story, make sure to pick up a copy!

I could not put this book down, it’s written so well that you get to understand each character and want to finish the book to find out what happens to them. There are some awesome twists that I did not expect throughout the book. Highly recommend. I absolutely love that you got different perspectives throughout the book to really get the whole story