The Voynich Ninja

Full Version: Novel Inspired by the Voynich.ninja Community - You're in the Plot!
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Dear Voynich Ninjas,

I'm excited to share with you a new novel that I've written called "Decoded" which was heavily inspired by the incredible knowledge, theories and discussions in this very forum. In fact, you may notice that Voynich.ninja itself features in the plot!

The story follows Amalia Rose, an intrepid journalist who finds herself on the trail of the Voynich Manuscript's secrets after a mysterious blog post by Computational Linguist, Dr. Emily Hathaway, goes viral claiming to have finally decoded it. As Amalia investigates, enlisting the reluctant help of her ex-partner and rival, a charismatic YouTuber named Bastian Ham, she uncovers clues pointing to a lost matriarchal civilization.

At a critical juncture, an anonymous source directs Amalia to the Voynich.ninja forums, hinting that the collective wisdom and keen insights of this community may hold the key to unlocking the manuscript's ultimate mysteries. Fascinated, Amalia and Bastian use your knowledge to guide them on a globetrotting adventure involving secret societies, psychedelics, AI, and a battle over the very future of civilization.

This book is my love letter to the Voynich Manuscript and the dedicated community of scholars, enthusiasts, and armchair detectives who have poured so much passion into unraveling its secrets. Your tireless efforts and brilliant observations have been a constant source of inspiration to me.

Of course, the story takes fictional liberties and should not be considered a factual account. However, I've woven in many real historical details and Voynich theories, and provide an extensive bibliography at the end for those who want to dive deeper. I hope the book will entertain you and perhaps bring a few new curious minds into the Voynich world.

I'm making the book available online for free for the next five days, and would be delighted if you'd consider reading it and sharing your thoughts. As the people who inspired so much of the story, your feedback would mean the world to me. Thank you for being such an amazing community and for all you've done to shed light on the beautiful enigma that is the Voynich Manuscript.

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In case the genre does not interest you, I leave the extract I want you to read:

"But every time I sat down to write the piece my editor so desperately wanted, the faces of my heroes danced before my eyes. An ancient scribe, Elizebeth, Ethel, Mercy, the brave souls of the Cretan resistance, and countless others who had sacrificed everything in the pursuit of truth. And then there were the unsung heroes, the librarians and archivists at the British School at Athens, painstakingly digitizing the John Pendlebury Family Papers and blogging about Mercy’s achievements so that they wouldn’t be lost to time.

And of course, there were the mighty academics at Yale, who had the foresight and courage to open-source the Voynich Manuscript research and the Voynich family archive, inviting a multidisciplinary gang of ninjas to join the hunt for answers. There was wisdom in that approach, the same collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that had allowed John Seiradakis and his colleagues in the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project to crack the secrets of that ancient wonder. We walk farther when we walk together, pooling our knowledge and resources in the service of a common goal."


With gratitude, Amalia Rose #TheExFiles
Welcome to the forum, Amalia!

Your strategy reminds me of the emails I sometimes get from Academia.edu. "You have been mentioned in this or that paper, subscribe to find out more!"  Big Grin 
Unfortunately I cannot read your novel since I don't subscribe to Kindle...
(24-06-2024, 05:50 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Welcome to the forum, Amalia!

Your strategy reminds me of the emails I sometimes get from Academia.edu. "You have been mentioned in this or that paper, subscribe to find out more!"  Big Grin 
Unfortunately I cannot read your novel since I don't subscribe to Kindle...

Ha ha no strategy. Just creativity going wild. Everyone researching the manuscript finds this stop so did I and my protagonists. Frankly, the name of the forum is pretty cool. I was considering not posting here, as fiction is just that, and the conversations here can be quite skeptical bordering on cynical or I could just summarize as academic Tongue  But alas, I'm proud of it and maybe some stop by that like genre-bending adventures.

p.s. anyone with an amazon account can read free for 5 days (24-28 June) without subscription.
For me it already stops at amazon. 

It's a pity, I would certainly have looked at it.
(25-06-2024, 04:30 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.For me it already stops at amazon. 

It's a pity, I would certainly have looked at it.

Yup. I'm still waiting for a non-fraudulent, pro-planet decentralized NFT-like solution where Indie authors can make a living. Unfortunately, to date, Amazon is the best option for Indies. And yes, I hate it as much as everyone else.
In fact, while amazon does not work in my home country, I managed to get around that, and for Koen: you can use a web-based Kindle reader which does not require you to log in or become a registered user.
Initially, it was extremely slow, but that may have been a local issue for me.
Another fiction writer, hi! I don't use Amazon but if you ever upload to other platforms I would love to read this.