Book: The Rule of Four

	Authors:	Ian Caldwell Dustin Thomason
	Genre:	Psychological fiction
	Publisher:	Bantam Dell Pub. Group
	Year Published:	2004

What is the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili?

It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful books published during its era (it was published in 1499). It also has a lot of secrets. First, no one alive now really knows who the author is, although there are theories - from the two Francesco Colonna to be found in history, to Leon Battista Alberti. Second, it is full of symbolism - in both the pictures and words used. Third, hidden messages within the text have been found - starting with "POLIAM FRATER FRANCISCUS COLUMNA PERMAVIT" (Brother Francesco Colonna loved Polia tremendously) - which is the phrase formed by the decorated initials to be found in the first page of each chapter.

In other words, it was a book that could churn out enough plots to make a novel - which is what Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason did. The book is actually an offshoot of Ian Caldwell's thesis at Princeton.

The publishers/bookstores may be hoping to ride on the success of Brown's Da Vinci Code when they released this ... as this book could be found displayed in the section of the store near, or even included in the "Da Vinci" pile (which includes books related to Brown's novel). One would pick this up thinking it is a novel running along a similar vein.

Is it? Well, only as far as it is about a modern day person discovering secrets embedded in something created during the western world's Renaissance period.

Dan Brown's book is a series of events that unfold as each clue is unravelled. It follows a straight line as far as narration is concerned. The Rule of Four also follows a series of clues ... but the clues may take you backward or forward that the you may get confused - is this point of the story taking place in the "current" time or is it something that happened a week, a month, or a year ago? It seems that Caldwell and Thomason are trying to imitate the dreamlike state of Poliphilo's story.

Brown's Langdon is a middle aged man at the top of his career, while Caldwell and Thomason's Paul and Tom are mere college students. Langdon deals with top honchos as peers - which gives him privileges; Paul and Tom have to sneak around if they do not have access to information they need. Brown's novel tells in detail how a museum or a police force works. Caldwell and Thomason give homage to life in university.

The Da Vinci Code is all about unraveling the secret, The Rule of Four gives its narrating character, Tom, time for introspection - so it is ALSO about a person finding himself as much as it is about people finding the secret to a treasure in a book.

The action in The Rule of Four is not as fast paced as that in the Da Vinci Code. If you are looking for this adrenalin rush, you may be a bit disappointed. The things to treasure about The Rule of Four are those statements pertaining to the character's observation of life, and the people around him, as well the authors' attempt to put the Hypnerotomachia within the context of history. Actually, you will learn more about the time of Girolamo Savonarola than you would about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphilo. Seldom would you find references to actual pictures or phrases from the book. Most of the time, the story merely says that Paul has found a new clue in the book.