Wooden book requires you to solve complex puzzles before you can turn the page.

Made of laser-cut wood, the Codex Silenda is a five page book telling the short story of Leonardo Da Vinci's apprentice in the master's workshop.

While such a brief book, the real interest isn't so much a gripping narrative. The book's appeal is that it refuses to let you turn one of the five wooden pages until you decipher an intricate and complex moving puzzle. And this isn't your grandma's Rubik's Cube either.

Created by Brady Whitney, an industrial designer--who began a Kickstarter drive that was almost immediately funded--the initial goal was to sell 500 books, each handmade. The books sold out rapidly. Whitney hopes to create more since the demand is high.

As for how the book's plot works with the puzzles themselves, Whitney tells the site Dornob, "[I]n the story the Codex acts as a trap set by Da Vinci to capture any would be spies/snoopy apprentices in order to protect his work. The only way to escape is to solve each of the puzzles before the master returns from his trip."

Well, Leonardo's going to kill me then, because there's not a chance I'm solving any of these puzzles.



photos: Codex Silenda