Ian Mackinnon Caldwell is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

known for co-authoring the 2004 novel '' The Rule of Four''. His second book, ''The Fifth Gospel'', was published in 2015.

Personal life

Caldwell was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia during which time he met his future writing collaborator,

Dustin Thomason Dustin Thomason (born 1976) is an American writer and producer who co-authored the ''New York Times'' bestselling historical fiction novel '' The Rule of Four'' with Ian Caldwell. Novels Thomason began his career as a novelist. He is a co-autho ...

. Both graduated from the

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (also known as TJHSST, TJ, or Jefferson) is a Virginia state-chartered magnet high school in Fairfax County, Virginia operated by Fairfax County Public Schools. The school occupies the buil ...

in 1994. Caldwell graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

with an A.B. in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1998 after completing an 127-page-long senior thesis, titled "The French Popular Front and the Debate over Intervention in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

", under the supervision of Thomas J. Dandelet. After college, while working with Thomason on their first novel, Caldwell worked at

MicroStrategy MicroStrategy Incorporated is an American company that provides business intelligence (BI), mobile software, and cloud-based services. Founded in 1989 by Michael J. Saylor, Sanju Bansal, and Thomas Spahr, the firm develops software to analyze ...

in Tyson Corner and taught test preparation for Kaplan in Blacksburg while his wife, Meredith, earned her DVM at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

. The couple lived in Newport News, Virginia, before moving to

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, and 22182), bordered approx ...

, to raise their three children: Ethan, Jude, and Luke.

Writing career

Upon graduating from their respective colleges, Caldwell began working with Thomason on the novel '' The Rule of Four''. After writing together for a summer, the two continued to collaborate online and by telephone for the next five years. The plot centers on four Princeton seniors attempting to solve a mystery related to the ''

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...

'', an Italian work from the early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

. The book was published by Dial Press in 2004, spent 49 weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list and has sold almost 2 million copies. It was often compared to

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), '' The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), '' Inferno'' (2013), ...

's novel ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Lang ...

'' due to its similar style of teaching history through a fictional plot as well as the proximity in date of publication. It took Caldwell ten years to complete his second work, ''The Fifth Gospel'', which was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

in 2015. This solo work tells the fictional story of two brothers, both priests, exploring the '' Diatessaron'', the "fifth" gospel, and how it might lead to reconciliation between the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

churches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Ian 1976 births 21st-century American novelists Princeton University alumni People from Vienna, Virginia Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology alumni People from Fairfax County, Virginia American male novelists Living people 21st-century American male writers