It looks like an interesting book when i read the cover before i purchased it. Initially i tot it's a suspense story, smth similar to Dan Brown kinda story with a lot of twist and ancient secrets revealing one after another.

This book talks about Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a five-hundred-year-old book which is famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it. This story by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason drags a lot in elaboration, and literature (which is not really my cup of tea). There's little cyptography and cypher-cracking techniques used in this book, only the "output" of the cypher is written down.

Maybe it's because i took too much time to read the book, that's why i have a feeling that this book is kinda boring. There's not much thrilled, as the thrilled doesn't keep you continue until the next exciting part of the book. It's a good first attempt by these two authors, i believe they must have read up a lot before writting, as they spent 5 years researching and writing this book. Congratulations to them being one of the New York Times Bestseller.

I tried check out if i can download a copy of the Hypnerotomachia, but it's in some mixed language which i don't understand. I'm not a western language student am I? Luckily there's an English version translated by Joscelyn Godwin in 1999. You can buy a used copy through Amazon.

Overall, can say that The Rule of Four is some sort of a summary from Hypnerotomachia by Francesco Colonna. The name of the author was not really mentioned on the original book, but historians and people in the literature world have decipher some of the codes hidden between the lines. It's really a pity that during those days where Florence, Italy was at its peak, there came a priest which burns up all the reading materials, smth like what the Emperor Qing in China did.

It's a good read overall, but not as good as Dan Brown and Mitch Albom's in my personal opinion. Not sure about the rest of you. Looking for some other titles to read next...maybe the Harry Potter's Half Blood Prince? Or The Curious Incident Of the Dog In the Night Time. I've just checked the Articles list from my university's Student Publication Board (neXus), those people doesn't seemed to be reading much book, or more specifically non-academic based books. My level of english is not really that good, but at least i constantly read to maintain my english from getting rusty. I wonder what will the next batch of students turn out to be...talking about computers and having fun in front of the TV all the time. It's time to get back to the old school novels my friends.