Cheap The Rule of Four (Book) (Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Rule of Four

Strong plot, weak characters
These two young writers are clearly very intelligent and well-read, and they have developed a story that is exceptionally intriguing and has a worthy pay-off. Their explanation of the Hypnerotomachia, at least to the lay person, is believable and satisfying. I can't say that I was looking forward to reading about the Renaissance, and much of the mystery involves historical characters, theories, and beliefs, but I found the story well-paced and interesting throughout. Stylistically, they use the device of telling back-story in the past tense and the current story in the present tense, easily and nicely differentiating the time-frames. I remain somewhat skeptical that 20-year-olds could be as exceptionally well-versed in so many historical areas as these characters, which is necessary for the plot, but then again I did not attend an Ivy League school. Perhaps there are people like that, and perhaps the authors are those people.

If so, that would likely explain my criticism of the book, which is that the characters are flat and the relationships are lifeless despite the authors' attempts to make them dynamic. Each character is little more than a caricature painted in broad strokes: the "nerd," the wealthy WASP, the intelligent, athletic, and exceptionally moral minority, the long-suffering girlfriend, etc. There was not a single surprising decision by anyone in the book, and the villains were easily identified within the first few chapters. Proctors are described as though they are thoughtless robots, determined yet easily outsmarted. The dialogue is flat and sometimes borders on the nonsensical (try reading some of the dialogue aloud; it's disjointed and confusing, and certainly not how real people talk). The authors realize that tension is necessary for character and story development, but they don't know how to create it. As it is, people come together and drift apart for no apparent reason; two of the main characters have a severe falling-out that is never explained in any meaningful way, while the protagonist and his girlfriend wax and wane with little explanation for why they even bother with each other.

Similarly, they do a very poor job providing a sense of location or describing surroundings. The timeline remains confusing throughout, with too much happening in too short a timeframe. For example, I found myself reviewing sections I had just read to see if the characters had really decided to play a game of tag, made preparations for it, arrived at the location, played for a while, got away from proctors by running around in the nude, got a new change of clothes, gone to a museum to admire art, and then attended a Friday night lecture (!), all in the space of about two hours. Perhaps the authors are big fans of "24."

If one assumes that the main characters are based to some degree on the authors, one could imagine that they spent much more of their time trying to understand history than trying to understand people. I am amazed that they could explain a real, mysterious book in such a believable and satisfying manner; if only they could do the same for their characters. This is clearly a book that started with a great story, with everything else just being filler.

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No Way Near The DaVinci Code!
I purchased this book because it was tauted as The DaVinci Code for 2004. NOT! Where the DaVinci Code engaged the reader in the problem solving and code breaking, in The Rule of Four, the reader is spoon-fed the answers. I was very satisfied with the DaVinci Code, esp. when I would get the answers to the cyphers correct. I am so disappointed in The Rule of Four, that maybe I will just set it on fire too, though I doubt anyone would martyr themselves rescuing it...

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Not the Da Vinci Code! But still good
Do not expect to read a nail biting thriller. The comparisons to the Da Vinci Code are very few. They both deal with a historical mystery, end of comparison. This is a good book though. It is worth a look if you have an open mind.