Welcome to Night Vale

I listened to about 50 episodes of the show several years ago and loved them. But this was 400 pages of ruthless meandering.

You can control the pacing of a radio show in a way that is impossible to do in a novel. So, cramming strange images together consecutively did nothing but make me want to put the book down and have a nap. Some of it is clever and interesting, but you're unable to appreciate those bits when they're drowned out by a million other “weird for the sake of being weird” things.

I found myself skimming over paragraphs because of all the bizarre interjections that I can only assume were supposed to be funny. Instead, they just distracted me from the non-story.

This book is great for people who want a manual about the intricacies of Night Vale which, now that I think about it, would have been a cool idea in place of this.

Anyway, if you need me, I'll be waiting for the bus in the rain.

Honestly nothing about this book hit right. Everything was weird, which was kind of the point, but that made the things that were weird to the characters not have any impact to me. The tone had this problem as well. Many things were simply said to be funny, so then when I was meant to take the text very seriously it didn't hit right. 

You can't have both and this book trued and missed anyway. Not to mention the ending explained nothing of why Jackie suddenly was able to age. This had nothing to do with all the Troy and King City stuff. It was all very unsatisfying. 

I really have no idea what to say about this. It's essentially an absurdist interconnected short story collection? It's a little lot off the wall and some of it doesn't quite make sense, but I'm pretty sure those parts aren't supposed to make sense. It's also full of one-liners that skewer the very core of the human condition, and also jokes. It's entertaining, entertainingly infuriating, and a little bit just infuriating.

I don't know what to write in this review. I don't even know if I'm allowed to write anything at all.

Welcome to Night Vale is a novel about a town, but it's also a novel about people. It's also about hooded figures, a glowing cloud, a vague yet menacing government agency, and the Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home. It's about everything and nothing, and it's absolutely amazing.

I'm not a listener of the podcast, but now I'm thinking of becoming one. Would Cecil understand that I am deeply in love with Carlos? I think he would. Of all people, Cecil would.

I have been a Nightvale fan since almost the very beginning, and I knew I would enjoy this. What I didn't know is how it would be so fantastic as to be an instant favorite. On its own, apart from the show even it is just simply a brilliant work of scifi-horror with heart. The writers used this new medium to do all the best things of the show (be hilarious, creepy, and profound) and expand it to have that much more emotion and meaning. This book was profound. It is a splash of insight. Mostly it is full of emotion. The level of emotions this story made me feel took me by surprise in a good way. I can't overstate how much I loved this. I hope they write many, many more

3.5. I really enjoyed sections of the book, but other areas felt pretty slow. The podcast has more straight humor (and God, the narration is the best), but there were still plenty of moments I laughed out loud while reading the book. I was also really happy with the characterization - two main female characters forming an actual friendship? Why do I have to even say that I'm impressed? :/

Very enjoyable to read, though not as tightly structured as It Devours, the next book in the series.

The writing style, combining poetry, philosophy, and humor in the narrative is the standout element. The characters are also very engaging and relatable. I cared about Diane in particular, as I am currently a mother of a teenager and thought the authors really nailed all the emotions and the struggles.

The plot itself meandered quite a bit in the middle. Lots of time spent for the protagonists getting nowhere and having fruitless conversations. That was frustrating. Then, towards the end, it got good. So good that I was chilled to the bone at one point and to shake myself back to reality!

The thing I wonder about is how interesting this book is to those that didn't listen to the podcast. For me, the podcast was an acquired taste. The satire wore thin, in the sense that I got the point of it, however clever it was, and I needed the plot to pick up and attachment to characters to develop in order to remain interested.

The storyline in the novel is entirely discrete from the podcast. You don't “need” it to follow along. The characters featured here are background citizens of the town relative to the podcast. The novel does a pretty good job of conveying the weird, X-files-y town, with the expected absurd humor and surreal imagery. However, some of the things referred to might be more fun for those who are already familiar with Night Vale.

If you haven't listened to the podcast, but you are up for something offbeat and different, this is certainly worth a try and maybe a good introduction if you're curious about the overall series.

Night Vale is a town where just about anything can happen. It is a magical town that simply people do not leave or cannot leave. There are strange rules there. This is based on a podcast that I already enjoyed so I was aware of the strangeness of the stories. A mystery man shows up and gives people a piece of paper with the name of “King City “ on it. Two main people Jackie and Diane try to figure out what it means and then try to get out of Night Vale to go to King City.

I stopped listening to WtNV a few years ago, and this book reminded me why. It's a bit like Monty Python: some of the over-the-top-ness is brilliant, and some of it is just firmly in silly territory.

Unlike the podcast, though, it's easier to skim ahead to less-silly parts.

I did enjoy this beyond the silliness though. It was fantastic to have a story about The Man in the Tan Jacket, and I did have a lot of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. If you're a fan of WtNV I don't know why you haven't already read this.

Welcome to Night Vale is as unique in book form as it is in podcast form. If you're a fan of the show and it's cast of weird and quirky characters, then you'll love this.

The authors have done a great job at translating the show's humor into words and sentences and paragraphs and chapters, and thereby into a fully formed and engrossing book.

All hail the Glow Cloud!

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.

I love the podcast, so I definitely wanted to listen to this in audiobook format. In retrospect... I don't know, I think maybe that's not necessary. It was a little jarring that the whole book was narrated by Cecil but only very limited parts were actually Cecil's POV? I think I would have preferred a full-cast narrator, or at least like, one lady to read for Jackie and Diane? But WHATEVER. (* there are a few other guest voices on the audio book in small parts on the radio show excerpts, but it's like 98% Cecil.)

I liked Jackie and Diane and the other new characters a lot. I kept trying to remember the Man in the Tan Jacket bits from the podcast and I legitimately couldn't??

I think the surreal tone of Night Vale worked soo well for a coming of age story–the shapeshifting and the ALWAYS being 19 and the NEVER being 19. It reminds me somewhat of Lemony Snicket, a perfect mixture of black comedy and weirdness and totally fucking poignant lines.

I think there was a challenge getting used to a long-form Night Vale story for both me as a reader/listener and Fink/Cranor as writers? Normally on the podcast these kind of time travel/dimensional things resolve themselves pretty quickly due to the format and so I think, because I was used to that, this dragged a bit at times? Also I zoned out a little bit sometimes because I listened while driving on long, boring roads.

I think this could probably stand alone to someone who hadn't listened to the podcast before, and also is pretty rewarding for someone who has listened to the podcast.

Also, I ordered this for teen because I know some teens here like the podcast and I saw that one of the main characters was 19 (although, it turns out, that is a complicated concept). I don't think it's a YA novel but I think it has appeal for a truly wide range of ages, and also is not inappropriate for teens.

I loved it. That's it for the review. Now for my answer to the question, “Should I read this if I don't listen to the podcast?” I say, Sure, go ahead. If you are the sort who would love Cecil's broadcasts, then you will love this book podcast-unheard. If not, then not. The book will not spoil the podcast, and frankly, listening to the first episode will confuse you just as much as the book will.

As for those who complain that the book has no plot, I finally figured out that they read a different book than I, Something other than Welcome to Night Vale, so I can not comment. I am sad that they read such a plotless book, whatever it was, and I think some Goodreads librarian should figure out exactly what that book is and then separate out the reviews for the two different books so as not to cause confusion. This book, Welcome to Night Vale, has lots of plot, lots of story, lots of purposeful consecutive action, but even more it has real humans in great human distress trying to deal with all the mess life throws at them. Read the book to find out how they handle things.

Like the podcast, this book was strange. But what else can you expect from Night Vale? The flip flop of perspectives was jarring at first, but once they came together it all made sense (well, as much sense as Night Vale can make). The only thing I wanted more of was Cecil. Other than that, this book was fantastic.