Chris Aldrich reviewed The rule of four by Ian Caldwell
Review of 'The rule of four' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A nice little thriller about an obscure text from the Renaissance (quattrocento) set in modern times. This falls into the genre of historical fiction that's similar to [a:Dan Brown|630|Dan Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399396714p2/630.jpg]'s Robert Langdon series or films like the Nicolas Cage National Treasure series, though not quite as "rompish". I have to imagine that those who liked [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|Robin Sloan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543], [b:Gentlemen and Players|15102|Gentlemen and Players|Joanne Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428545269s/15102.jpg|1099308], and [b:The Thirteenth Tale|40440|The Thirteenth Tale|Diane Setterfield|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346267826s/40440.jpg|849453] will enjoy this quite a lot.
Spoilers follow:
The Vincent Taft character could have been a better "heavy" but was pretty functional in the story given his limited appearances in the actual plot. I saw the Savonarola portion of the plot a mile away, but to most this will be an interesting historical diversion/lesson. I thought the ending was a bit too literary given the more plot-motivated feel of the rest of the narrative, …
A nice little thriller about an obscure text from the Renaissance (quattrocento) set in modern times. This falls into the genre of historical fiction that's similar to [a:Dan Brown|630|Dan Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399396714p2/630.jpg]'s Robert Langdon series or films like the Nicolas Cage National Treasure series, though not quite as "rompish". I have to imagine that those who liked [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|Robin Sloan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543], [b:Gentlemen and Players|15102|Gentlemen and Players|Joanne Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428545269s/15102.jpg|1099308], and [b:The Thirteenth Tale|40440|The Thirteenth Tale|Diane Setterfield|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346267826s/40440.jpg|849453] will enjoy this quite a lot.
Spoilers follow:
The Vincent Taft character could have been a better "heavy" but was pretty functional in the story given his limited appearances in the actual plot. I saw the Savonarola portion of the plot a mile away, but to most this will be an interesting historical diversion/lesson. I thought the ending was a bit too literary given the more plot-motivated feel of the rest of the narrative, but in all, it was relatively satisfying given Tom's full back-story. I can see this being adapted into film, but it will take some creative ideas to better linearize the plot and to make the ending a bit bigger for the screen.