The Emperor's Riddles by Satyartha Nayak

"The Emperor's Riddles" by Satyartha Nayak. This book is published by Amaryllis in 2014 and has 398 pages. This is Satyarth's debut novel.

Nine brutal murders take place. Ninth murder victim makes a mark of Om on his cheek before dying. His daughter calls Professor Om Patnaik. (Does this remind you of Da Vinci code?). The constellation (a secret organization) sends them on a quest.

What is'The constellation'? Why are they sent on a quest? What lies at the end? What is the secret society guarding? Can they do it? Who is murderer?

This is the third fiction on the "Nine unknowns" that I read in last two years. Nine unknowns was a secret society constituted by Samrat Ashok, in 261 BC, after Kalinga war, when he recognized the devastation science can cause. He handed over nine sciences to nine learned men and asked them to hide them from humanity. The nine sciences are Psychology (Psychological warfare), Physiology, Biotechnology, Alchemy, Communication (Extra terrestrial), Gravitation (Flying machines), Cosmology, Light (Laser) & Sociology

It is said that in those days science was much more advanced than today, with flying machines, nuclear weapons and what not. The nine unknowns have been hiding them ever since. 'The nine unknowns' is considered the most ancient secret society. As compared to it 'The Illuminati' or the 'Freemasons' are mere babies.

Though the concept is most interesting, the execution is not. Rather than sticking to mystery, author has tried to bring in angle of science fiction without explaining how the robots appear. The motive of murders is also weak and how two people find eight other Mahatmas who were hidden for centuries is also not elaborated.

The book did not generate interest in me and I took more than two months to read it. Since this is a book about esoteric, clues and symbols; author should have supplemented the text with figures. For example evolution of number nine.

Give it a miss.