Welcome to Night Vale

In the small, isolated desert town of Night Vale, Jackie is the owner of a pawnshop that pays eleven dollars for pretty much anything that can be pawned, including tears. She's nineteen and has always been nineteen, she can't remember being any other age. It doesn't bother her that much.
Diane is a single mother to teenage shapeshifter Josh and works in an office that performs unclear business. Diane is the only person in the office who remembers a recent co-worker named Evan, though her memory of him is getting weaker. More importantly, she's shocked to see her ex, Josh's father, has returned to town after abandoning his family years before, and he seems to be working every job he can get.
Creeping into their lives is the worry about a show more mysterious man in a tan jacket who has been skittering all over town, handing over pieces of paper with two words written on them. He put one in Jackie's hand at the all-nite diner and now she can't get rid of it. The two women really dislike each other, but when Josh somehow escapes Night Vale, something few people have been able to do, they work together to find him.
Surreal, funny, and with strong doses of both sci-fi and horror, this is the second Night Vale novel I've read and now I want them all. How can I not like a place where a visit to the public library is nearly always fatal? show less

This is the much-anticipated novel -- or, dare I say, hopefully, first novel? -- based on the astoundingly popular podcast, Welcome to Night Vale. If you're unfamiliar, Welcome to Night Vale takes the form of a community radio program broadcast from the little desert town of Night Vale, a place where the bizarre is ordinary, the horrific is mundane, and all conspiracies theories are true, a place that, as one of the characters puts it in this novel, "is mostly made of the unexplained."

I'm a huge fan of the podcast and its compelling blend of surrealism, comedy, horror, humanity, heart, and bleak but strangely comforting existentialist philosophy. So I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. The actual experience of reading it show more turned out to be a little weird, though -- in different ways than the ways in which Night Vale is weird -- because reading a Night Vale story in novel format at novel length turns out to be very different from listening to a half-hour podcast in which, as often as not, the plot gets resolved offscreen during the weather. (Which is music. No, I don't know why. It's Night Vale.) I think, because of that, I kept expecting things to happen faster than they did.

But never mind that. Overall, it was enjoyable, and very much in the spirit of the podcast, while also doing things that the podcast itself couldn't do as easily. It focuses primarily on two minor characters from the show: Jackie Fierro, the pawnshop owner who has been nineteen for a very long time, and Diane Crayton, the PTA mom with the shapeshifting son. And it's interesting to see Night Vale from their point of view, and to get a look a ordinary life in that extraordinary town without it being filtered through the reporting of a not necessarily entirely reliable narrator. It also answers a long-standing mystery from the series, namely the identity of the weirdly forgettable Man in the Tan Jacket, and provides some brain-breaking insights into the way that time works, or fails to work, in Night Vale. I'm not entirely sure how much these answers and insights actually make sense, but that, perhaps, is as it should be.

I should add that while there are plenty of familiar characters and little continuity references here for fans of the show, the book is deliberately written in such a way that one could pick it up and enjoy it entirely on its own. So if you're curious about Night Vale, but, for whatever reason, don't like the podcast format, this might make for an alternative worth checking out.

(PS: ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD.) show less

An extension of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, this is the story of two women searching for .... someone? Maybe? They can't really remember. Jackie is 19 and has been working at the same pawn shop for at least 30 years when someone gives her a piece of paper that says "King City" and won't leave her hand. She goes to ask her mom about it but, like, who is her mom? Where does her mom live again?
Diane lives a normal life, taking care of her teenage son who does not have a consistent form and remembering coworkers who no one else remembers. But after seeing multiple copies of her son's father all over town, Diane finds out that her son is missing and he might be in some place called "King City"? But how do you get there when your car show more spontaneously returns to Night Vale every time you try?

This is an extremely absurd story. But unlike most modern absurd horror, which can feel extremely messy, Night Vale is a world that has been crafted with such care that it feels comforting instead. Highly recommended if you like the podcast, of course. Probably not a good starting point if you've never listened before. show less

I try not to warn people away from books--even the worst book I've read has its passionate defenders, and tastes differ--and this book has apparently hit a chord with lots of readers ... but not me, and perhaps not you.

I haven't listened to the podcast that inspired this (maybe it would all make more sense if I had). This novel is a slow-moving account of two women's life in a small town that is weird and nonsensical to an irritating extreme, weird in ways that seem motivated by an easy joke, but not in a way that holds together to create a convincing environment. Librarians are evil, a son can assume any shape he likes, coffee is ground by hammering beans on the countertop, city council eats people, etc. This is a very small sample of show more the strangeness to be encountered, as a new strangeness is introduced about once a paragraph.

I will make up something in the same style so you get the effect: "Martha wanted to cross the street, but was wary, because the last time she crossed the street it got its revenge. Instead, she continued down the block until the street ended at Fayette Park, a happy place (or at least she assumed it was happy, because it never cried torrents of tears like LaSalle Park on the west side of town)." And you can read as long as you like, but you will never find out why parks and streets have emotions--in fact, this made-up example is more consistent that Night Vale because I've established that places behave like people. In the actual book the weirdness is very random.

And it's such a disappointment because I love weird, and I love nonsense. I'm a huge fan of Lewis Caroll and Catherynne Valente's Fairyland series, but in both cases they take an unusual notion and then develop it.

You know those stand-up comics who deliver one punch line after another, rather than setting up jokes with characters and situations? It's like that. For me, a little is fun, but a lot is wearying. So I kept at the book for about 40% of its length (I'm reading on Kindle) until I realised my life and happiness would be ameliorated if I just moved on to book 2 of the Riyiria Revelations, so that's what I did.

And I'll quote Goodreads review N.K. Layne, because they summed it up best: "Reading this book was like when a friend tells you about their wild trippy dream and you have to nod to be polite, but in actuality you just want them to shut up because nothing could be more boring than someone else's weird dreams."

Two stars rather than one because at least it's inventive, even if it's virtually unreadable. show less

Night Vale is stranger than your average strange small town. When nineteen-year old Jackie who runs the pawn shop and who has always been nineteen is given a slip of paper by a mysterious man in a tan jacket with a deerskin suitcase, she assumes it's just a typical pawn. Except she cannot put down the paper. Ever. The paper's simple text of KING CITY seems to indicate just where Jackie might be able to get rid of the paper but leaving Night Vale can be dangerous. Meanwhile, Diane is trying desperately to be a good single parent, which is becoming increasingly difficult when her ex keeps cropping up everywhere and her son is desperate to actually meet him. When Jackie and Diane's paths cross the results might be devastating for both of show more them.

If you've listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, this book will be an absolute delight. If you've never listened in a) you should but b) you can still read this book. Just be prepared to miss out on why some sections are truly awesome. I giggled regularly while reading the fantastic weirdness that is this book and was thrilled that there were no real spoilers for the podcast series as I'm still a few months behind. All hail the glow cloud! show less

I was able to get a copy of the Night Vale novel out of the library more easily than I’d expected, probably because most Night Vale fans are wary of libraries so did not hurry to reserve it. (Whereas I cannot help being somewhat sympathetic towards the librarians.) It is rather disconcerting to read, given the seamless transposition of the podcast format into a novel. I wasn’t expecting it to work so well, but it really does. The delightful weirdness of the setting is equally well evoked in book as in podcast format. The narrative follows two women named Jackie and Diane, who both have annoyances to deal with that are connected to a mysterious man in a tan jacket carrying a deerskin suitcase. This story is regularly intercut with show more extracts from Cecil’s radio show, which ensure that the wider goings-on of Night Vale are also known to the reader.

I enjoyed the novel, although not as viscerally as the Night Vale live show I went to last year. The juxtaposition of the mundane with the horrifying is Night Vale’s greatest strong point and this is much in evidence here. A particular highlight for me was Diane’s office job, a lovely satire. I became quite invested in the doings of the office tarantula. I also loved the descriptions of Jackie’s mother’s house, in which Jackie struggles to find cutlery: “Who has two hot milk drawers?” There are many brilliant little asides, though, such as,

He had to have his phone with him. It was illegal for any person to not carry at all times some sort of device by which the World Government could track their location. Most people opted for a cell phone because it could also do useful things like make phone calls and attract birds. A few holdouts still preferred the old tracking collars, bulky and impossible to take off though they were.

If you enjoy the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, you will obviously enjoy this book. It complements the podcast without transcending it. If you have never heard of the Night Vale but enjoy surreal mundanity and vaguely existential musing, you will also appreciate it.

In addition, the pattern of flies on the end papers is very appealing. show less

Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel is the first novel in the Night Vale series (based off the popular podcast of the same name) written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel expands the universe of the podcast as we follow two women, Diane Crayton and Jackie Fierro, whose (already weird) lives get turned upside down when a man in a tan suit with a deerskin briefcase gives them both a piece of paper with the words "KING CITY" written on it. Their individual quests for answers will lead them on a journey that will change how they look at themselves, and at their families.

First things first, I adore this book. It's honestly everything I wanted it to be, and even more. Fink and Cranor do a great job of taking the show more absurdity and humor of the podcast and making it work as a novel. The novel isn't told from Cecil's point of view - like the podcast is - and that's the best decision they could have made. By changing the point of view, they've opened up the world of Night Vale more than ever. Now we have the chance to experience life as a "regular" citizen of Night Vale. And the fact that the book actually jumps between two points of view is even better, giving us a nice variety of characters and experiences.

One point of view is that of Jackie Fierro, a pawn shop owner who has been nineteen for as long as she can remember. The other point of view is Diane Crayton, a mother of a son who can change his appearance at will and desperately wants to know information about his dad. The book alternates between their points of view in nearly every chapter, and it's utilized with panache, especially when Jackie and Diane start interacting with each other. I have a soft spot for stories that will show the same event from multiple points of view.

The prose itself is reminiscent of the podcast, which itself is reminiscent of writers like Douglas Adams. Again, I think this was a smart move for Fink and Cranor to make. It can be hard making a transition from one medium of entertainment to another, especially when you're changing the entire format of the story. There was always the possibility that without Cecil as the narrator, this wouldn't have worked. But it does, partially because the prose is so reminiscent of the language used in the podcast that it feels like an extension of what fans already hear and love.

As for the story itself, Welcome to Night Vale really is one of those books that defies genres. One part brilliant whodunnit, another part emotional family drama, another part absurdist humor, the book manages to combine a whole bunch of genres that often aren't combined into this melting pot of entertaining literature. The mystery itself is interesting enough, and it's only heightened by the excellent, dynamic characters written by Fink and Cranor. The story benefits from not tying itself too heavily into things that have happened in the podcast, aside from answering one of the biggest questions in the podcast: just who is the man in the tan jacket? People who have never heard the podcast before are given enough information about the man in the tan jacket for this part of the storyline to be meaningful, but fans of the podcast will really get a lot out of this as they uncover the mystery behind this well-known and beloved character.

It's a quick and easy read, full of twists and turns and emotional moments that always end up feeling earned. No part of this book feels like a cash grab, adapting a popular property into another medium. Instead, it feels like a genuine expansion of the universe with an original, moving, and entertaining story to tell that couldn't have been told with the confines of the podcast.

Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel is an enjoyable read for anyone who is already a fan of the podcast. Part Twilight Zone, part X-Files, part This American Life, Night Vale manages to bridge all these disparate elements together into a cohesive and entertaining story that appeals to a wide audience. I recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction, absurdist humor, Douglas Adams-style books, is already a fan of the podcast, or who just likes a good whodunnit with excellently written dynamic characters. show less