401 pages
English language
Published April 9, 2015
This was exactly the novel I expected coming from the creators of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. It has all the weird, surreal elements anyone who loves the podcast would expect and feels like a long form podcast episode. Some more novelty would have been welcome, but there is a comforting familiarity to any visit to that very strange town of Night Vale.
I haven't listened to the podcast this is based on but I don't think it mattered. It's an entertaining book filled with weirdness and silliness, but with a real story underneath. It was good? But I don't think it will leave much of an impression on me.
Based on a podcast, but close enough. I LOVED this book. I was reading it at night exclusively, before falling asleep. The first night after I finished it, I was so bummed out that I was done with it that I almost picked it up again. What a great, fun, silly, fantastic story. LOVED IT. And the podcast, which is saying a lot as I have no patience for podcasts.
Very enjoyable, stand-alone story in the world of Welcome to Night Vale.
The story was interesting and funny at times, but I found the pacing to be jarring. A lot of character development happens in the first 75% of the book with very little forward momentum with regard to plot. Then, once the characters are fully developed, the plot moves a breakneck speed, rushing to conclude.
Admittedly, I don't listen to the podcast, but I found the trope of "list of normal thing, normal thing, crazy thing, normal thing" to get formulaic and predictable.
I liked it for what it was. Of note, I listened to the audiobook and found it to be superbly acted, as you might imagine since it is the cast from the podcast.
"Weird at last. Weird at last. God almighty, weird at last. Welcome to Night Vale."
Yaaay, Night Vale. I love this city. I didn't mind meeting other characters than Cecil and Carlos, even though I would have loved just staying with those two lovebirds.
But I love the whole concept of Night Vale, so more angles to the familiar town were actually quite informative. Not helpful or, Glow Cloud beware, explaining anything useful, but interesting nonetheless.
What especially struck me was the different perception of all the "accidents" that happen in Night Vale. What is normal to Cecil is apparently still strange to some Night Vale citizens. Cecil is obviously an unreliable narrator, but the extent of it baffled me a bit.
The story itself had some lengths and inconsistencies (which I guess actually weren't intended, like when Jackie can't write stuff other than KING CITY but later jots down …
"Weird at last. Weird at last. God almighty, weird at last. Welcome to Night Vale."
Yaaay, Night Vale. I love this city. I didn't mind meeting other characters than Cecil and Carlos, even though I would have loved just staying with those two lovebirds.
But I love the whole concept of Night Vale, so more angles to the familiar town were actually quite informative. Not helpful or, Glow Cloud beware, explaining anything useful, but interesting nonetheless.
What especially struck me was the different perception of all the "accidents" that happen in Night Vale. What is normal to Cecil is apparently still strange to some Night Vale citizens. Cecil is obviously an unreliable narrator, but the extent of it baffled me a bit.
The story itself had some lengths and inconsistencies (which I guess actually weren't intended, like when Jackie can't write stuff other than KING CITY but later jots down some notes only to go back to not being able to write anything else). Those things, as small as they may seem, really annoy me.
Loving the podcast a lot, I'll still read the other Night Vale novel(s) coming my way.
The events in the novel coincide with the podcast at episode 76 - An Epilogue (October 2015) ; nightvale.libsyn.com/76-an-epilogue
I began listening to the Night Vale podcasts recently, but was quite rapidly hooked.
The book is different from that, obviously. It isn't Cecile talking to you, although there are "chapters" of Cecile's show.
The story was as funny/creepy/weird as ever.
I have mixed feelings on this one. There are some beautiful moments in this book, and I'm a huge fan of the podcast. But I'm not sure if the goofy strangeness of Night Vale is as effective in the book. To a certain extent the lovely weird gems feel more distraction than enhancement.
A good story, well written, and well read... but I think I prefer to take in doses of Welcome to Night Vale in smaller chunks.
Just the kind of humor I needed, I think. Faux-dark and mysterious - reminiscent of that [b:Discovering Scarfolk|20493657|Discovering Scarfolk|Richard Littler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415801874s/20493657.jpg|33482166] novel I read last year but with jokes not written by Beavis (or Butthead) or targeting, well, anyone, really. Listened to this as an audiobook, assuming the podcast origins of Night Vale called for it - was pleased with the result.
Joseph Fink has an original imagination. Seems like a brain I'd enjoy walking around in.
I mentioned earlier that this book's greatest strength and its greatest weakness were the same: its adherence to the silliness of the original podcast. Having finished the book, I stand by this. The deeper, more emotional story -- that of Josh and Diane and Jackie, and how they fit into each others' lives -- is one that works well in a dark and confusing world like Night Vale. What DOESN'T work, though, is that same story interspersed with the comical and ridiculous non sequiturs that are integral to the podcast's appeal.
3.5 stars if I could. It contains all the requisite weirdness that a proper story set in Night Vale should; that said, after reading it, I'm realizing that the podcast is so successful because it is able to spread its narrative over many episodes. A book has a much shorter timeframe to accomplish a satisfying arc. Ultimately, I'd recommend this for fans of the series, but for outsiders, I wouldn't.
If you aren't familiar with the podcast Welcome To Night Vale, here's the scoop. The story is told by Cecil, the radio announcer at the Night Vale radio station, where being an intern is a fatal position. Night Vale is a place where weird things are normal. The dog park is off limits to everyone, including dogs. The Secret Police are watching and no one believes in angels - including Old Woman Josie who happens to live with several. A scientist named Carlos moved to town to study the weirdness of Night Vale. Carlos has beautiful hair and Cecil loves him.I've only listened to about 8 of the podcasts but it is enough to get familiar with the concept. The book tries to put a plot to the strange happenings. I don't think that it succeeds very well. I enjoyed this book in brief snippets of 5 to 10 minutes …
If you aren't familiar with the podcast Welcome To Night Vale, here's the scoop. The story is told by Cecil, the radio announcer at the Night Vale radio station, where being an intern is a fatal position. Night Vale is a place where weird things are normal. The dog park is off limits to everyone, including dogs. The Secret Police are watching and no one believes in angels - including Old Woman Josie who happens to live with several. A scientist named Carlos moved to town to study the weirdness of Night Vale. Carlos has beautiful hair and Cecil loves him.I've only listened to about 8 of the podcasts but it is enough to get familiar with the concept. The book tries to put a plot to the strange happenings. I don't think that it succeeds very well. I enjoyed this book in brief snippets of 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Longer than that at one sitting and it got to be too much. This is a book that you enjoy for the absurdity of the discussion and not the greater story.
