It Devours!

I have been listening to the Night Vale podcast and was excited to see the existence of novels about the weirdest little town in the desert. Fink and Craynor are talented writers for both types of media. It Devours had wonderful storytelling and characterization. Not to mention humor. I love books that can combine humor with science fiction and fantasy but not have it take away from the impact of the story. This one works so well; the humor ranges from silly to smart to touching at any given moment.

You don't need to listen to the podcast to know what's going on. It might help a bit though, in order to buy into the idea of Night Vale and what it's like. It's a weird place. The usual rules of logic and even basic things like, say, laws of nature don't necessarily apply here. You have to approach the weirdness with an open mind to enjoy the book.

As advertised, it is indeed a book about the conflict between religious devotion and looking to science for all of life's answers. I think the deck is stacked a bit toward science in this conflict but that might be my own bias as I'm not surrounded by a lot of religious people. Also, this is a story of a scientist, Nilanjana, who investigates a church/cult known as “the joyous congregation.” Through her point of view, the congregation does seem insane.

But the characters who are believers in the “smiling god” are also well developed and good intentioned in their own way. They point out that there is value in not knowing everything and in the search for meaning rather than facts.

“Scientists act like they have it all figured out,” Jamillah was saying, red-faced, “but no matter how many facts you learn, nothing in your knowledge can tell you what it means. You know but you don't know why. Your knowledge is a hollow edifice.”

Ultimately it is science and religion together, or at least two character groups representing each side of the argument, who get together to solve the Monster problem that is the novel's central plot. This is probably the best and most fun scene of the book. There is a spirit of cooperation and working together. One of the important things that Darryl, Nilanjana's love interest who represents the devoted side of the conflict, gets out of his church is family, a purpose in life, and people who care about him and to care about.

“What use is the truth in a world where we die either way? Isn't it better to live happy until that last moment, believing the story you are living, shoulder to shoulder with others who believe and live that same story? Why flounder in the void when there is no need to do so? The story ends the same way, no matter how you chose to perceive it. Why not choose to perceive it as meaningful?”

It Devours is a novel that has everything, action, comedy, romance, weird monsters, and a lot of food for thought.