Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Rule of Four | 2004 | Ian Caldwell | Buy |
| 2 | The Fifth Gospel | 2015 | Ian Caldwell | Buy |
Ian Caldwell’s two standalone novels are separated by over a decade but share a fascination with texts, secrets, and the way history shapes the present. The Rule of Four (2004), co-written with Dustin Thomason, follows four Princeton seniors trying to unlock the secrets of a real 15th-century book called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
The Fifth Gospel (2015) moves from an Ivy League campus to Vatican City, where a Greek Catholic priest must investigate the death of a curator and the meaning of a controversial fifth gospel. Both novels are densely researched and treat their academic settings with the kind of detail that rewards patient readers.