It Devours!

Someone once told me that if I enjoyed the "John Dies At The End" series, then I would love Welcome To Night Vale. They were so right!

This books was great. Night Vale is such a mess, but in the best way. You just want to see what's going to happen next. And everything that happens is more insane and convoluted than the last thing.

This was all about the Smiling God, the other world that Carlos was once trapped in for 10 years, and oddly, Carlos losing his shit.

I loved everything about this. I listened to the audiobook as I read, and of course Cecil did an amazing job narrating.

Pits start opening up in Night Vale and surrounds - sometimes swallowing buildings, people and all. Nilanjana Sikdar, scientist (her wardrobe includes casual and work labcoats) begins to investigate, and even when she thinks she's found out what's causing the mayhem, things turn out to be different yet again.

I really enjoyed this Night Vale sequel. It's very well written - grammatically, stylistically and in terms of plot and characters. The characterization is done very well, and there are frequent instances of honesty and care that come through. Given that this series is based on a short podcast, the writing, plotting and characterization is amazing.

Needless to say, the oddness of Night Vale is all there - surveillance helicopters show more are rife, the cappuccinos come with metal shavings,Lusia (Nilanjana's colleague) is experimenting with being disappointed in potatoes, and there are six options for public toilets. show less

Mysterious pits are appearing throughout the desert town of Night Vale. At first they were out in the desert, but when one pit takes the home of Larry Leroy (and Larry Leroy), the scientists get involved. Lead scientist Carlos believes the pits are warnings from the City Council to stop his research into the desert otherworld (an alternate dimension accessible from the House That Does Not Exist). He assigns Nilanjana to investigate the pits and a possible connection with The Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. What she finds is a test of faith, love, and science.
Filled with monsters both human and inhuman, this book leans into the horror genre with a heavy dash of humor and weirdness. It Devours sits at the cross-section of Twin show more Peaks, Eureka, and The X-Files. The plot is tight and always a surprise as it twists and turns. The characters (both old and new) are wonderful, giving fans of the podcast and new readers alike the opportunity to dig deep into Night Vale lore. The great thing about this book is that you don’t need to have any familiarity with either the “Welcome to Night Vale” podcast or the previous book of the same name. You can dive right in and sail away on this crazy ship. Cecil Baldwin, who narrates the podcast, also narrates the audiobook, so I recommend reading the book in audio format. show less

If you like the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, then you'll definitely like this book. Like the first novel, It Devours! doesn't require a knowledge of the podcast - though having one will definitely enrich your experience tenfold. Nonetheless, this book is totally accessible to all newcomers to Night Vale. As a novel, it's even better than the first one - and I thought the first one was pretty darn good, to begin with. While the first one answered a lingering question about a particular character (The Man in the Tan Jacket), It Devours! ends up exploring an unanswered question about the very lore of the podcast itself: What is the Smiling God and what happened to Carlos while he was in the Desert Otherworld? Those two questions end up show more being at the center of this book. And, thankfully, the answers to those questions do not disappoint. In fact, the answers open up new questions altogether.

While Nilanjana is most definitely the main character of the novel, followed closely by Darryl, Carlos plays a large part, too, being the catalyst that launches Nilanjana into solving the mystery that's at the center of the novel. Ever since Carlos returned from the Desert Otherworld, he's been running tests from his lab to try and understand the House That Doesn't Exist (It looks like it should exist, it's positioned between two other houses, but it's actually a portal to the Desert Otherworld). The thing is, every time he runs a test, the ground violently shakes somewhere in Night Vale, throwing off his results. Add to that City Council threatening him if he doesn't cease his investigation and we've got a very frustrated Carlos. Subsequently, he asks Nilanjana to help him investigate what's causing the rumbling in the desert so he can get his investigation of the House That Doesn't Exist back on track.

Nilanjana's investigation leads her deep into the desert to Darryl and the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. The further into the mystery she gets and the closer to Darryl she gets, the more confused Nilanjana becomes. It Devours! is a genuinely moving story with a gripping mystery that provides a respectful and interesting examination of the intersection between science and religion. What happens when a devout scientist and a devout member of a religion must team together to stop a common threat? It Devours! answers that question in typical Night Vale flare: nothing is as it seems and anything is possible. The best part is that the book is full of red herrings. Every time you think you've got a handle on what's causing everything that's happening and who's behind it, Fink and Cranor rip the carpet from under your feet and send you spiraling in an entirely new direction. But, once you find out the ultimate answer to the mystery, you realize that clues to the real answer were littered throughout the book - the way that all good mystery novels should be constructed.

There is so much in It Devours! to like. The main character is a woman of color who is also a scientist, the mystery revolves around a genuinely respectful look at religion (even if the religion being examined is a satire of American Evangelicism) that doesn't actually belittle those who believe in religion, the character development and world building is absolutely stunning, and it's a page-turning mystery in the style of old-school pulp novels. Plus there's a really wonderful parody of those infamous Chick Tracts, extremist evangelical propaganda (in comic book form) marketed to children from the late Jack Chick, illustrated by Jessica Hayworth. As The Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God is a very obvious satire of American Fundamentalist churches, it only makes sense for the Joyous Congregation to have religious tracts in the style of those written by Jack Chick. And, let me tell you, the tracts in It Devours! are 100% every bit as ridiculous as the real-life religious tracts they're satirizing.

I hesitate in revealing too much of the specifics of the novel. So much of it is just so enjoyable the first time you read it that it would be a shame for me to spoil any of the narrative tricks. Needless to say, Fink and Cranor's love of words is very much on high display here, as it is in the podcast. As is there attention to characters - especially in Nilanjana. It's amazing how fleshed out they've made her feel. She feels like a completely real person. It helps that much of the novel is from her point of view, and it's in that third-person-almost-omniscient point of view, so we frequently get to witness her thoughts. She's just a wonderful character and I'm so pleased this book follows her story. Darryl, too, is an interesting character. His blind belief in his religion proves a point of contention between him and Nilanjana and seeing the two of them navigate their way through that point of conflict is a large and enjoyable aspect of the novel and central to the solving of its mystery.

If I had one complaint about It Devours!, it would be that sometimes Fink and Cranor can get carried away with their narration. The book is styled as a mystery novel, so naturally, as the story goes on, the pacing gets faster and faster as we build to our climax. Unfortunately, Fink and Cranor tend to do this thing where they'll go off on a tangent that completely breaks the flow of the story they've set up. They're always brief tangents, but they're just long enough that the pacing is briefly broken and they have to ease you back into the mystery. It's a bit frustrating when this happens so far into the story because, at that point, you don't want anything slowing the pacing down, and it's just slightly aggravating when it happens. It's really not a major problem or anything, just a personal nitpick. On the whole, it's very much an enjoyable book, and this little nitpick is just that. It doesn't ruin the experience of the novel at all.

All in all, It Devours! is an utterly fantastic read. It's an excellent mystery, an excellent character piece, and a genuinely respectful look and critique on religion and science. It expands the world of the podcast while also answering major questions that have been raised. The characters are developed in ways that are both surprising and also respectful to who they are as characters - especially those that have already had roles in the podcast. The characters introduced in the novel are memorable and quickly earn their place in the ever-increasing roster of Night Vale characters. It Devours! is a book for everyone: it's a book for fans of the podcast, fans of science fiction, fans of conspiracy, fans of satirical looks at religion, fans of mysteries, and fans of good stories in general. show less

"Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you."

I love this author. I find the writing witty and wonderful, deep is spots but also silly and whimsical in others. I don't really follow the Podcast, I'm more of an audio book person - but I have listened to quite a few and I love them. The writing is exactly the same in both the books and the Podcast.

I also liked that this one was easier to follow even though I hadn't made it all the way through the 100 Podcasts. I liked the Nilanjana and I liked Carlos. I remember only one from the Podcast but that wasn't important. I followed the story all the way through and really enjoyed it. I hope we have more books tom come.

I thought this was a great addition to the WTNV universe. I listened to both this and the first one on audiobook to get the whole Cecil Baldwin experience (which was great, as always), but this made me want to go back and read them both in hard copy, as well, because audio isn't usually my preferred method of book consumption and I realized while listening to this that there were some really great lines of prose and I would probably catch even more while reading.

While I think the first book felt a little slow to me, this one was actually action-packed. It was also very clever, as while I foresaw one vital aspect of the climax from the very beginning of the book, I still got swept away in the story and sort of didn't realize the show more significance of the thing I had figured out. This book also tries to address some bigger issues, such as science vs religion, which I felt it handled very well and respectfully. I've seen several reviews on here commenting that WTNV is too weird to comment on serious issues like this, but in truth, the podcast actually does this a lot, and it's part of the beauty of the world.

As always with Night Vale, there were also lots of laugh-out-loud moments and extremely bizarre situations, and I loved every minute of it. show less

Welcome to Night Vale, the popular, long running podcast, has just released a second novel, It Devours! written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. This follows last year’s novel titled simply as Welcome to Night Vale. It Devours! is a thriller-esque tale set in the town of Night Vale, a small place somewhere in the mid-west where every conspiracy theory is true, monsters are real, the rules of time-space are more like guidelines, and the citizens take everything in stride, because, to them, it’s all quite normal.

Despite being a tie-in story to an already established world, It Devours is a very easy book to get into. Very little prior information on the Welcome to Night Vale universe is needed to enjoy the story. Though I’ve stated show more this priorly in regards to the first novel, I feel it is more apt to say in regards to this book. If interested in what we had to say about the first novel you can check out the review here.

The main character of the story is Nilanjana, a scientist working for Carlos in the lab. Strange holes are opening up around Night Vale, swallowing everything and leaving nothing behind. Nilanjana is sent out to investigate and soon finds herself wrapped up in events with The Church of the Smiling God and the wonderful, sweet Daryl, a member of the church. Together they must confront this new threat to Night Vale, stop the massive sinkholes, and the widespread disappearances associated with them.

This set up is perfect. Old fans know exactly where things stand in regards to other in-world happenings, while also managing to be very newcomer friendly. It’s much more ‘real world’ and ‘down to earth’ than the opening pages of the first novel. While explained, I can see some new readers having a ‘this is fun, but what is this’ attitude (and not necessarily in a good way) with the opening chapters of book one. I don’t think that’s the case at all for the second book. Of course the opening chapter doesn’t follow Nilanjana at all, but Larry Leroy, one of the many names mentioned in the podcast but whom little is really known about. In less than ten pages I had learned enough about Larry Leroy to really care about him, and cared deeply about his plight. This story sucked me in from the beginning, capturing me thoroughly.

A great deal of art is included within the book. The Church of the Smiling God hands out pamphlets quite often, something readily seen within the book. Unlike many other stories, these aren’t simply mentioned offhand or described briefly. The pamphlets are all included, a combination of text and wonderfully creepy, unsettling illustrations. The artwork is all by Jessica Hayworth who has done art for Welcome to Night Vale many times in the past. Here, her art shines. The strange, unsettling, sometimes horrifying images painted a very vivid image, and I enjoyed the artistic aspects of the novel quite a bit.

It Devours! is quite an exciting read. I began reading it almost as soon as my copy came in the mail and I didn’t put it down once. There is always something happening, some new information discovered, an enemy that must be confronted, or a problem that needed to be solved. Characters are on their feet and out in the field quite a bit.

This is one major way this book differs from the podcast especially, but the first book as well. Cecil Palmer, narrator of the podcast, is a radio host cloistered in his radio booth. Most of the action during a crisis is from reports, phone calls, and whatever Cecil can see with his own eyes. The first novel, while more directly involved in the action tended to have more of the feel of a science fiction detective novel than anything else. It Devours!, on the other hand, has a very distinct action-y streak. It’s easier to compare it (or parts of it at least) to a thriller novel. The style of the podcast works perfectly for that format, and is, no doubt, one of the reasons why it remains so popular five years on. The more direct, action packed style works just as perfectly for this book. While the podcast, by nature, doesn’t allow for something so thriller-esque, it most certainly fits the Welcome to Night Vale universe well and gives the viewer insight into what is happening all those times we’ve listened to second hand accounts of how Carlos and his team have saved the day.

Despite the shift in tone and perspective, the language and feel of the world remains distinctly Night Vail-ian. The humor is dark, but humorous nonetheless. Truths both unequivocal and disconcerting are touched upon. It’s funny. It’s strange. It’s wonderful. It’s completely engrossing. And I loved every second of it.

As one would probably expect with such a synopsis, Carlos does feature a rather major role within this book. Fans of the podcast rejoice! Carlos is a staple feature of Night Vale, being featured in the first episode of the podcast and having quite a major ongoing role. Despite this, we don’t always see a lot of him, normally hearing about his deeds from Cecil at some point during an episode. Despite all of the on-air time we might have previously seen with Carlos, it is almost always through Cecil’s rose colored glasses in some way.

One of the things I liked the most about this book is that we don’t see Carlos from Cecil’s point of view. We see him from the point of view of an objective narrator, as well as through the eyes of Nilanjana. A great deal is learned about Carlos – things which are never mentioned in the podcast and things he’s not told Cecil. This view of Carlos was quite fascinating, sometimes being in stark contrast to how Cecil speaks of him.

Something I have always greatly admired about the Welcome to Night Vale universe is the care and realistic view which the relationships between characters, romantic or otherwise, are portrayed. It Devours! is no exception to this. The relationship between Nilanjana and Daryl played out perfectly. They were both wonderful characters with a great amount of character development.

One of the major themes in this book is science and religion, their relationship with one another and society. Watching the interactions of Carlos’s lab and the scientists with the Church of the Smiling God and its members was fascinating. This aspect of the book was very good, handled very well, and will, I think, appeal to a very large audience. Interesting questions and ideas are brought up, but neither side is ever condemned or lifted onto a pedestal of its own. Instead, the merits of both science and religion are highlighted, along with one very important lesson – it is how you implement each one into your own life and your community that really counts above all else.

It Devours! is a book that will appeal to a very wide audience. Fans of the show will find a lot to sink their teeth into. While it is probably best if you have some working knowledge as to what Welcome to Night Vale is, I don’t think that a lack of knowledge will hurt. The book never leaves its readers hanging. It doesn’t leave you high and dry. Nor do readers have to necessarily read the first novel in order to enjoy the second. Both are stories set in the same world, but they have very little to no influence on one another. Not interested in or haven’t gotten around to the first Welcome to Night Vale novel? No problem. Just jump right into It Devours!.

I absolutely adored this book. It is a wonderful addition to the world of Welcome to Night Vale. If you are a fan of the show, like books with diverse casts of characters, or are a fan of weird fantasy and science fiction, pick up this book. If you don’t like the podcast this may not be the book you’re looking for.

*This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.* show less