In a word...disappointing.
I had been with the podcast from day one, an early promoter of it to anyone who would listen, and a big fan of a lot of the early "weather" musicians before they were featured on the podcast. I've been to every live show that's been through Oklahoma (though they skip it on some tours despite a creator being from here and selling out every time...strange that...). That being said, somewhere along the line I felt like even the podcast started to lose some of its magic, some of its luster. Its actually been probably two years since I've listened to an episode. I still appreciate its inclusivity, its giving voice to types of characters that wouldn't normally have it, but somewhere along the line the weirdness and self-referential nature began to feel self-indulgent, done to death.
I knew going into the book that it was set early enough in the timeline of events of that it was when I still felt the podcast was charming and delightful, and hoped the change of format (while bereft of Cecil's lovely voice) would rekindle some of my fondness for the world. Unfortunately it did quite the opposite. After one false start, I did eventually finish it.
Some things that didn't work...the Nightvale writers are used to writing for a very specific format in terms of the podcast, one that is even mirrored in the live shows. A first act, with strangeness, problems, and mysteries. The weather as an interlude. Followed by what is essentially a third act where things are already resolved and we're sort of told in brief summary what would have occurred in the second act and a bit of aftermath. A handful of multi-episode story arcs are the exception here. That works great for the format of the podcast. It doesn't work in a novel. We're given a first act where new or barely known characters are introduced as well as their problems, and at the end a very brief third act in which their problems reach resolution. But the vast majority of the book is spent on the second act...and its too much book. For characters we have no knowledge of or investment in from the pre-existing podcast, most of the book is spent on sort of recycling through their problem without any real progress. Its...boring? Which is never something I would have thought I'd say about a Nightvale story. And while the two main characters have some minimal development over the course of the story, I feel like its barely enough to qualify them as dynamic.
There's also an issue of shoe-horning in a reference to as many characters and locales as possible for podcast fans, which is probably off-putting to the reader who was not already a fan, and doing so while not telling us anything knew about most of them. Not only not telling us anything new, but not utilizing in a way that speaks to their unique nature. Yes, Old Woman Josie and the Erikas are here. Could they easily have been replaced with virtually any other existing or new character without any change to the narrative occurring? Yes. Do we learn anything new about them we didn't already know? No. So why cram in those references? One of the few places or people referenced we actually get some new information about is the library/librarians, but even that is done in such as way as to be disappointing. Part of what made Nightvale interesting is the same technique that helps make horror effective: when we don't know exactly what something is or looks like, its left to the reader's imagination and is all the more effective. But when you describe something in too much detail, give it too much form and shape, it loses some of its horror. Like Lovecraft said, the greatest fear is fear of the unknown. Now that I know what the library is, its not so interesting or frightening.
A similar complaint, with all the many and varied personalities inhabiting Night Vale already, that I'm sure fans would have loved to know more about...why invent a couple of totally unknown characters to make the protagonists of the very first novel? Its an...odd...creative choice.
Overall, not a great book, either as a one time huge fan of WtNV (I still have the the original scout buttons and badges from the first run), or as a fan of horror/fantasy/weird fiction in general. I realize the fan community will disproportionaly rate this 5*s regardless of its merits as a book, but if you happen to make it to this review, definitely give this one a hard pass.