Over the last few years I’ve read (and indeed reviewed) plenty of Voynich-themed novels, and indeed have several queued up here I’m trying to steal enough time to read (e.g. Linda Lafferty’s The Bloodletter’s Daughter, etc).
So my default answer to the question “does the world need another Voynich-themed novel?” is normally “no, sorry, I don’t honestly think it does“. Even so, I have to say I’m looking forward to the English version of one just released in Spanish by Enrique Joven (disclaimer – whom I collaborated with on a Spanish history-of-the-telescope article back in 2008).
His previous book (“The Book of God and Physics“, I never did like that title) was a Voynich novel set in modern times, but his new book “El templo del cielo” (i.e. “The Temple of the Sky”, though doubtless his publishers will rename it “The Book of Noodles and Zodiacs”, *sigh*) is set in the early 17th century. Hence it’s kind of a “Voynich prequel”. Errrm… except if he writes a further Voynich novel set in the fifteenth century, when I guess it would become a “Voynich postprequel”. Or (more likely) “book two of the trilogy”. 🙂
In real (i.e. non-novel-writing) life, Enrique is a professional astronomer in Tenerife, and so likes to build his books around ideas that define the history of astronomy. So what’s nice here is that because he has his (historically real) team of Jesuit missionaries (supposedly) take the Voynich Manuscript with them to China (along with the 7000 volumes they did genuinely take), his story should foreground many interesting aspects of the ups and downs of that whole historical sequence. In fact, when I discussed this little-known history here back in 2010, Enrique left a comment outlining what his novel would be about. So we can’t say he didn’t warn us! 😉
PS: here’s a link to Enrique’s blog.
I’m certainly getting a copy when it’s out.
I wish it were possible to get every word written about the Voynich over the past century and put them all through the word-frequency filter, removing pure duplicates (e.g. paragraphs lifted entire from the wiki article or from Rene’s introduction).
Then using the top 500 words and making sentences, the answer to the riddle must surely emerge.
I expect the result would be something like
Mysterious manuscript European Chinese water stars plants Arabic lunar mansions Kircher Roger Bacon…
Sounds good to me.
🙂
Diane: actually, there are thousands of computer-generated blogs out there that do something tediously close to this already. But the clever bit is telling them apart from real Voynich blogs… 😉
That’s extraordinary. I’d never heard of computer-generated blogs. How a computer could generate a Voynich blog without cracking a gasket – or having a meltdown or whatever overstressed computer-blogs do.. I can’t imagine.
Just trying to find out what has been said before would need a computer of the mega-mega type, I should think.
Diane
Diane: “How a ***human*** could generate a Voynich blog without cracking a gasket – or having a meltdown or whatever overstressed bloggers do.. I can’t imagine.” 🙂
Yes, Nick. We have a new novel about the Voynich!
(but it is not as “voynichese” as the previous one) China and astronomy in the XVII century. Unfortunately (for me and you and many people, I guess) there is no English version foreseen. We are waiting for offers…
All the best from Tenerife
Enrique
Enrique: well, best of luck finding a publisher who won’t rename it “The Book of Noodles and Zodiacs”. 😉
Nick & Enrique,
Have either of you considered the possibility of you (Nick) publishing Enrique’s book with your Compelling Press?
bd
Nick
Thanks for the explanation. I wondered why you made so little mention of work published through blogs.
Blurb for book called “The Bloodletter’s Daughter”
Enrique (& Nick, of course!)
I just assumed that Nick had previously discussed the development of the telescope. So, I’ll pose a question here:
Have either of you read part of a biography of Athanasius Kircher, where he is given the eyepiece of a telescope? The writer of the biography mentions that Kircher was enthralled with the tiny living organisms which he viewed through the eyepiece. Kircher’s soliloquy was along the lines of “how do their little hearts beat”…….
Another item about Kircher’s supposed boast that he could make plants grow from their ashes. My “take” on this tale is:
If a person makes a compost heap from plant/vegetable waste, and adds wood ashes/cinders (for potash), one could end up with an outcrop of seedling vegetation wherever the compost pile has been spread across freshly dug soil.
Voila! Fresh vegetables from their ashes.
Nick & Enrique:
I just went back into Nick’s earlier discussions (2010) with you regarding the telescope:
Riveting! Especially in regard to the Jesuits activities in China: So, could that explain how Fr. Kircher received the eyepiece for a telescope (if not an entire ‘scope)? Kircher was the head of the Jesuit missionary activities at that time, wherever they went.
Maybe all coincidental to the discussion which is appearing on these later pages? Please forgive my ignorance (and maybe my lack of diligence when I visited Nick’s discussion of two years ago).
I’m still very opinionated (if not biased) but I like to back up my opinions with positive feedback. Publication: however you guys do it, put me at the top of your potential purchasers!
Very sincerely yours,
beady-eyed wonder