paperback, 368 pages
Published Jan. 8, 2019 by Harper Perennial.
This second Night Vale novel shook off some of the conventions of its podcast origins and was a more cohesive and engaging story because of that. The pleasantly weird characters and the absurd places meshed well, creating one of the most accessible and fun expressions of Night Vale.
I don't know, now that I've listened to all of the podcast, and the first two books, I really am not sold on the possibility of Night Vale as a long-form story. The first WTNV book was uneven but had its charming moments (and Easter eggs / references for the podcast audience) as it struggled to impose some kind of narrative and causality on Night Vale. This second book seems to have over-corrected by trying overly hard to be accessible to people who know nothing about WTNV, thus excising most of what made the first novel bearable.
Also, there are weird continuity errors between this and the podcast (most notably in Carlos' personality and memories of the otherworld, and the nature of the Smiling God). The characters don't have much interiority or personal arcs and a lot of the book just dragggggggggs and is really repetitive. Entire chapters could have …
I don't know, now that I've listened to all of the podcast, and the first two books, I really am not sold on the possibility of Night Vale as a long-form story. The first WTNV book was uneven but had its charming moments (and Easter eggs / references for the podcast audience) as it struggled to impose some kind of narrative and causality on Night Vale. This second book seems to have over-corrected by trying overly hard to be accessible to people who know nothing about WTNV, thus excising most of what made the first novel bearable.
Also, there are weird continuity errors between this and the podcast (most notably in Carlos' personality and memories of the otherworld, and the nature of the Smiling God). The characters don't have much interiority or personal arcs and a lot of the book just dragggggggggs and is really repetitive. Entire chapters could have been removed without affecting the story at all. Honestly this would have made a better WTNV podcast episode. I truly love a lot of Joseph Fink's shorter writing, but I think he's floundering trying to translate that into a long-form medium. [Spouse and I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Cecil, which worked well for the first novel but I think made this one wear out its welcome.]
I enjoyed this novel. It's set in the same world as the 'Welcome to Night Vale' podcast, but the story is self-contained and you need no real knowledge of the podcast to be able to follow this book. However, I suspect it makes the whole thing more enjoyable - I've been listening to WtNV for some time now, and again and again I found myself smiling at hints at events / bits from the podcast. If the book is your first encounter with Night Vale, not trying too hard to make sense of everything will probably increase your enjoyment of the novel - just run along with it and see where it takes you. Weird and fun!
It's like A Series of Unfortunate Events as written by William Kotzwinkle.
Best I can tell the events in the novel seem to coincide with the podcast at episode 111 - Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA (August 2017) .
The creators of the popular and surreal podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, now have written a novel of the same name. Full of contradictions and tangents, don’t go into the dog park, the prose has the same quality as the podcast and I found myself reading in Cecil’s voice.
Speaking of Cecil, you’ll be happy to know Night Vale Community Radio has its place in the book, with Jackie and Diane’s story interspersed with broadcasts from our favourite presenter. Did he mention Carlos is his boyfriend? You won't get much additional information about him, or the history of Night Vale, but there's plenty of familiar references.
With the podcast, they don’t really need to worry about plot and they are short enough to hold your attention with the weirdness. If you were picking up the book without being a fan of the podcast, you might feel you are waiting a …
The creators of the popular and surreal podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, now have written a novel of the same name. Full of contradictions and tangents, don’t go into the dog park, the prose has the same quality as the podcast and I found myself reading in Cecil’s voice.
Speaking of Cecil, you’ll be happy to know Night Vale Community Radio has its place in the book, with Jackie and Diane’s story interspersed with broadcasts from our favourite presenter. Did he mention Carlos is his boyfriend? You won't get much additional information about him, or the history of Night Vale, but there's plenty of familiar references.
With the podcast, they don’t really need to worry about plot and they are short enough to hold your attention with the weirdness. If you were picking up the book without being a fan of the podcast, you might feel you are waiting a bit too long for the main story arc to pick up. I found myself getting Diane and Jackie mixed up in the early parts as their characters aren’t that distinct.
The plot is really just there to hang off the wonderful weirdness of Night Vale and some quite poignant passages. I enjoyed the non-sequiturs myself, but I’d probably suggest trying the podcast first, then the book if it’s your kind of thing.
Review copy provided by publisher.
