I just read The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, and all I really have to say about it is: ho hum. It's a best-seller right now, so you can find lots of info about it otherwhere. The story involves four male Princeton suitemates who all become caught up in trying to solve the puzzles contained in a lengthy novel from the 15th century. Are Princeton students really anything like this? Any of you out there know the answer to this? These people bear no resemblance to anyone I went to school with at any of the various schools I attended. The historical mystery was the best part of the book, following the riddles and clues. The end was a big cop-out, IMHO. The book seems to want to follow the path laid out by Dan Brown in the DaVinci Code, but the results here are far less gripping.
Right now I'm reading the first in Terry Pratchett's Disc World series, The Color of Magic. Yep, back to fantasy fiction. I've wanted to read this series for quite a while (ever since I read Good Omens, in fact) but couldn't find the first one. I finally found it in D.C. over Christmas, so...here I go. I can't read this series exclusively, it would be like a diet of nothing but Twinkies. Still, Twinkies have their place in my cosmology. And so does Disc World.
1 comment:
When I first read the Rule of Four, I couldn't stand it. I thought it was pretentious and had to stop reading it midway. Then I gave it another try and it grew on me. I actually liked it much better than The Da Vinci Code. I thought the Hynerotomachia Poliphili was a fascinating book [the fact that it actually exists made it more so] and that the background story about friendship more affecting than the contrived chases and cliffhangers in DVC. Oh well, that's my humble take.
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