Cover image of "London," the book involved when I asked how AI views a novel

Only once in the past 15 years since I began reviewing books have I written about anything without reading it to the end. But I’m about to break that rule for a second time. I’m doing so to convey some of what I’ve learned about the use of artificial intelligence as it might influence my craft. I think you’ll find it illuminating as I trace how AI views Edward Rutherfurd’s doorstopper historical novel, London. The book runs to more than 1,300 pages, though I read only about 300 before throwing in the towel. Instead of reviewing, it, then, I’m offering a look at how AI views a novel. In the process, you’ll get a clear sense of how Rutherfurd’s story unfolds.

1,300 pages and a staggering number of characters

Once I began bogging down in confusion, it wasn’t long before I turned to Claude-AI and Chat GPT-5 for help. The number of individuals in Rutherfurd’s novel is staggering, and I knew I could never remember most of them. More to the point, Rutherfurd follows the 2,000-year history of London through the interconnected stories of the families he features. Some trace their antecedents to the time of Julius Caesar. But, again, I couldn’t possibly recall who was who or how they were connected to the original characters, because over the centuries they changed their names, intermarried, and merged with other families. In other words, it appeared to me that only someone with a truly photographic memory could possibly cope with the complications. And I do not have anything even approaching a photographic memory. Thus, enter AI.

London by Edward Rutherfurd (1997) 1332 pages ★★★☆☆

Painting of London waterfront in the 12th century, a key period in this account of how AI views a novel
In the 12th century, the English royal court began to grow in size and sophistication, and settled in Westminster, a neighborhood in central London. Image: Wikimedia – Business Insider

What I learned from artificial intelligence

To serve as a reference as I plowed my way through the book, I asked each of two leading artificial intelligence apps for help. I requested they construct a genealogical chart of the relationships among the principal families in Rutherfurd’s saga. The differences between the two apps were eye-opening.

First I turned to Chat GPT-5, which had been newly announced. But instead of a chart, I got the following. (Actually, I tried querying the app in several different ways to produce useful information. What follows was the best of it, keeping in mind that my purpose was to track the evolution of the principal families in the book.

Chapter-by-Chapter Overview

Chapter TitleApprox. Page LengthHistorical Era / Highlights
Preface~3 pagesIntroduces the geological evolution of the Thames valley and London’s ancient origins.
The River~57 pagesSegovax and his Celtic tribe during Julius Caesar’s invasion, setting the ancestral lines.
Londinium~55 pagesEarly Roman Londinium; life under Roman influence, including trade, roads, and culture.
The Rood~76 pagesTransition to early medieval London—possibly post-Roman Christian influences.
The Conqueror~44 pagesNorman Conquest and its impact on families and the city.
The Tower~88 pagesConstruction of the Tower of London, changing power structures, and family fortunes.
The Saint~48 pagesLikely medieval religious life or martyrdom themes—e.g., Thomas More, church influence.
The Mayor~72 pagesCivic expansion, governance, and growing merchant class in medieval London.
The Whorehouse~54 pagesSocial history—medieval vices and the underbelly of London life.
London Bridge~132 pagesThe Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, economic upheaval, symbolic history.
Hampton Court~86 pagesTudor-era court life—likely focuses on Henry VIII and royal intrigue.
The Globe~71 pagesElizabethan era, theater, Shakespeare’s London.
God’s Fire~107 pagesPossibly the English Civil War or Great Fire of London—major upheaval.
London’s Fire~28 pagesLikely the Great Fire of 1666—immediate aftermath and rebuilding efforts.
St Paul’s~67 pagesRebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral—symbol of resilience post-fire.
Gin Lane~73 pagesGeorgian era social issues, gin craze, class disparity.
Lavender Hill~80 pagesVictorian London; industrialization, expansion, middle-class suburbia.
The Crystal Palace~35 pagesGreat Exhibition and mid-19th-century innovation and empire pride.
The Cutty Sark~40 pagesLate 19th-century maritime trade and global connections.
The Suffragette~44 pagesEarly 20th-century women’s suffrage movement and social change.
The Blitz~35 pagesWorld War II—London under siege during the Blitz, civilian endurance.
The River (Epilogue)~7 pagesA reflective close—tying contemporary London back to its ancient roots.

Key Families & Recurring Traits

From the official site and plot summaries, several families and their notable character traits shape the novel’s narrative across time:

Notable Characters Highlighted by Era (Not Chapter)

Some characters and figures shine within certain periods, though sources don’t map them to specific chapters:

Summary Table (By Era, Not Chapter)

Era / Chapter ThemePrincipal Characters
Celtic & Roman OriginsSegovax, early Doggets & Duckets, Julius
Medieval & Norman TimesSilversleeves, Bulls, Barnikels, Carpenters
Elizabethan PeriodEdmund Meredith, Jane Fleming, Dogget
Chaucer’s LondonDame Barnikel, Geoffrey Chaucer
General Across ErasAll the aforementioned multigenerational families

So far, so good, I suppose. At least what I got would help me recall the names of the characters. But my original request to the app was to build a genealogical chart. And Chat GPT-5 produced the following:

Now, if you’re having trouble reading the text in this chart, don’t bother. It’s all nonsense. A mishmash of random letters and symbols that make no sense at all. So much for Chat GPT-5. Claude-AI did better, much more closely responding to the specifics of what I asked (although it, too, failed to produce the genealogical chart I specified).

A better response from Claude-AI

Over the past year or so as I’ve experimented with artificial intelligence as a research tool, I’ve consistently found the best for my purposes to be Claude-AI Sonnet 4. It’s the product of the firm Anthropic, which spun off from Sam Altman’s company OpenAI because its founders concluded that Altman’s approach was dangerous. (Claude-AI has built-in safeguards, and the company is a public benefit corporation.) Chat GPT, which I began using with its version 4, frequently included misinformation. Only once did I detect a minor example of that from Claude.

So, what follows is Claude’s response to my request for a genealogical chart.

I’ve created a comprehensive genealogical chart for the families in Edward Rutherfurd’s “London.” The chart traces six major family lines from Roman times through the modern era:

  1. The Duckets – Representing the indigenous Celtic/British population, starting with Segovax in 54 AD
  2. The de Blondels – Norman aristocracy from 1066 onwards
  3. The Bulls/Barnkels – Saxon heritage, representing the displaced Anglo-Saxon nobility
  4. The Barnikels – Medieval merchant class that rises to prominence
  5. The Meredith Family – Welsh origins, showing Celtic fringe integration
  6. The Fleming Family – Continental European immigrants, particularly Flemish weavers

The chart shows how Rutherfurd uses these families as literary devices to represent different waves of immigration, social classes, and cultural influences that shaped London over nearly two millennia. Each family line demonstrates different aspects of London’s development – from Roman occupation through Saxon kingdoms, Norman conquest, medieval trade, Tudor reformation, and into the modern era.

The families eventually interconnect through marriages and social mobility, illustrating how London’s diverse population gradually merged while maintaining distinct cultural threads. This reflects Rutherfurd’s broader theme of how great cities are built through the layering of different peoples and cultures over time.

Key Family Lines

The Duckets (Celtic/British Origins – 54 AD onwards)

Roman Period (54 AD)
  • Segovax (Celtic Briton) – First major character
    • Son: Branwen
      • Descendants evolve into the Duckets family line
Medieval Period
  • Bull (c. 1066) – Norman Conquest era
  • Geoffrey Ducket (12th-13th century)
    • Various descendants through medieval period
Tudor/Stuart Era
  • Dogget family members (16th-17th centuries)
  • Edmund Ducket (17th century)
Modern Era
  • Penny Ducket (20th century)
  • Contemporary Ducket descendants

The de Blondels (Norman Aristocracy – 1066 onwards)

Norman Conquest (1066)
  • Ralph de Blondel – Norman knight
    • Establishes family in London post-Conquest
Medieval Development
  • Geoffrey de Blondel (12th century)
  • William de Blondel (13th century)
  • Richard de Blondel (14th century)
Later Periods
  • Family continues through Renaissance and Stuart periods
  • Eventually becomes Blondel family (dropping the “de”)
  • Modern descendants in 19th-20th centuries

The Bulls/Barnkels (Saxon/Anglo-Saxon Heritage)

Pre-Norman Period
  • Leofwin (Saxon thane, 11th century)
    • Represents Anglo-Saxon nobility before Conquest
Post-Conquest Adaptation
  • Bull family emerges (possibly descendant of Leofwin)
  • Alfred Bull (medieval period)
  • John Bull (Tudor era)
Later Generations
  • Thomas Bull (17th century)
  • Samuel Bull (18th century)
  • Modern Bull family members

The Barnikels (Merchant Class)

Medieval Origins
  • Alderman Barnikel (13th-14th centuries)
    • Prominent London merchant and civic leader
Development Through Ages
  • William Barnikel (15th century)
  • Robert Barnikel (16th century)
  • James Barnikel (17th-18th centuries)
Modern Era
  • Captain Barnikel (19th century)
  • Contemporary Barnikel descendants

The Meredith Family (Welsh Origins)

Medieval Period
  • Owen Meredith (13th century)
    • Welsh origins, settles in London
Tudor Era
  • David Meredith (16th century)
  • Catherine Meredith (16th-17th century)
Later Periods
  • Richard Meredith (18th century)
  • John Meredith (19th century)
  • Lucy Meredith (20th century)

The Fleming Family (Flemish/Continental Origins)

Medieval Immigration
  • Aldric Fleming (12th-13th centuries)
    • Flemish weaver, part of London’s immigrant merchant community
Guild Development
  • Family becomes prominent in London’s cloth trade
  • Master Fleming (14th century)
  • Gilbert Fleming (15th-16th centuries)
Modern Descendants
  • Family continues through various trades and professions
  • Contemporary Fleming family members

Inter-Family Connections

Major Marriages and Alliances

  • Ducket-Bull Connection: Medieval marriage alliance
  • Barnikel-Fleming Union: Tudor-era merchant alliance
  • Meredith-Blondel Marriage: Stuart period (17th century)
  • Various 19th-20th century inter-marriages among descendant families

Social Class Evolution

  1. Roman/Celtic Period: Tribal leadership (Segovax)
  2. Saxon Period: Anglo-Saxon nobility (Leofwin)
  3. Norman Period: Norman aristocracy vs. displaced Saxons
  4. Medieval Period: Rise of merchant classes (Barnikels, Flemings)
  5. Tudor/Stuart Era: Professional classes emerge
  6. Industrial Age: Diverse social positions
  7. Modern Era: Middle-class families with various professions

Now, if you’ve skimmed through this summary, or actually managed to read it, you’ve gotten a decent sense of the evolution of London society through the 20 centuries of its history. You’ll also glimpse the storyline in Rutherfurd’s novel. And the winner, hands-down, is Claude-AI.

About the author

PHoto of Edward Rutherfurd, author of
Edward Rutherfurd. Image: David Livshin – RCW Literary Agency

Edward Rutherfurd is the author of nine doorstopper historical novels that span centuries. He was born in Salisbury, England, in 1948, and attended the University of Cambridge and Stanford Business School. After a career in publishing and bookselling, Rutherfurd retired to write Sarum, his first novel. Published in 1987, it was a history of England covering ten thousand years. On his author website, he notes that “Over the last thirty years, Edward has divided his time between Europe and New York. He has lived on the city’s East Side, the West Side, in Westchester and Connecticut. His children attended New York schools, and he served for a time on a coop board.”

Wikipedia adds that “Rutherfurd’s novels are generally at least 500 pages in length and sometimes more than 1,000. Divided into a number of parts, each chapter represents a different era in the place where the novel is set. There is usually an extensive family tree in the introduction, with each generational line matching the corresponding chapters.” That description fits this 1,300-page novel as well.

Over the years I’ve reviewed three of the author’s eight other historical sagas:

And you can always find the most popular of my 2,300 reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.