Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel is the first novel in the Night Vale series (based off the popular podcast of the same name) written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel expands the universe of the podcast as we follow two women, Diane Crayton and Jackie Fierro, whose (already weird) lives get turned upside down when a man in a tan suit with a deerskin briefcase gives them both a piece of paper with the words "KING CITY" written on it. Their individual quests for answers will lead them on a journey that will change how they look at themselves, and at their families. Read more…
First things first, I adore this book. It's honestly everything I wanted it to be, and even more. Fink and Cranor do a great job of taking the absurdity and humor of the podcast and making it work as a novel. The novel isn't told from Cecil's point of view - like the podcast is - and that's the best decision they could have made. By changing the point of view, they've opened up the world of Night Vale more than ever. Now we have the chance to experience life as a "regular" citizen of Night Vale. And the fact that the book actually jumps between two points of view is even better, giving us a nice variety of characters and experiences.
One point of view is that of Jackie Fierro, a pawn shop owner who has been nineteen for as long as she can remember. The other point of view is Diane Crayton, a mother of a son who can change his appearance at will and desperately wants to know information about his dad. The book alternates between their points of view in nearly every chapter, and it's utilized with panache, especially when Jackie and Diane start interacting with each other. I have a soft spot for stories that will show the same event from multiple points of view.
The prose itself is reminiscent of the podcast, which itself is reminiscent of writers like Douglas Adams. Again, I think this was a smart move for Fink and Cranor to make. It can be hard making a transition from one medium of entertainment to another, especially when you're changing the entire format of the story. There was always the possibility that without Cecil as the narrator, this wouldn't have worked. But it does, partially because the prose is so reminiscent of the language used in the podcast that it feels like an extension of what fans already hear and love.
As for the story itself, Welcome to Night Vale really is one of those books that defies genres. One part brilliant whodunnit, another part emotional family drama, another part absurdist humor, the book manages to combine a whole bunch of genres that often aren't combined into this melting pot of entertaining literature. The mystery itself is interesting enough, and it's only heightened by the excellent, dynamic characters written by Fink and Cranor. The story benefits from not tying itself too heavily into things that have happened in the podcast, aside from answering one of the biggest questions in the podcast: just who is the man in the tan jacket? People who have never heard the podcast before are given enough information about the man in the tan jacket for this part of the storyline to be meaningful, but fans of the podcast will really get a lot out of this as they uncover the mystery behind this well-known and beloved character.
It's a quick and easy read, full of twists and turns and emotional moments that always end up feeling earned. No part of this book feels like a cash grab, adapting a popular property into another medium. Instead, it feels like a genuine expansion of the universe with an original, moving, and entertaining story to tell that couldn't have been told with the confines of the podcast.
Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel is an enjoyable read for anyone who is already a fan of the podcast. Part Twilight Zone, part X-Files, part This American Life, Night Vale manages to bridge all these disparate elements together into a cohesive and entertaining story that appeals to a wide audience. I recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction, absurdist humor, Douglas Adams-style books, is already a fan of the podcast, or who just likes a good whodunnit with excellently written dynamic characters.
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From the Publisher
Patrick Rothfuss talks with Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Patrick Rothfuss: What the hell? Seriously. How the hell do you pull this off as your first novel? What sort of dark forces have you aligned yourselves with, and would you mind terribly giving me their phone number?
Joseph Fink: Hey, thanks, it's very kind of you to say we're aligned with dark forces. In some ways we were developing this novel long before we even thought of writing it. While it's in the style of a community radio show, the Welcome to Night Vale podcast shares a lot more similarities with a short story or solo spoken word piece than a radio drama or play script. Told mostly from a single point of view, and with twenty or more episodes a year, we had written two novels' worth of serial podcast scripts before we started tackling the novel.
Jeffrey Cranor: Obviously there are a number of differences in style between the novel and the podcast, but we had a couple of years' head start to fully develop a universe of characters, places, laws, and the unique vibe of the town itself.
Rothfuss: Welcome to Night Vale is already one of the best radio shows/podcasts out there. What made you want to try to bring some of the story into novel form?
Fink: We both grew up loving reading. I have wanted to write a book since the first time I understood what that concept meant. When the podcast became popular (beyond all expectations), we knew immediately that a novel was the next place we wanted to take it. A novel gives us the chance to explore Night Vale as a town, to create new characters and develop old ones, and to see this universe from new perspectives that we can't do in the radio format of the podcast.
Rothfuss: While writing duos aren't unheard of, they do tend to be the exception to the rule. How does your collaboration work?
Cranor: We've been writing together for a bit more than five years, and we've developed a pretty effective system of writing solo and then exchanging and editing. Our collaboration relies on our trust in each other's abilities as writers and as friends. It's been a nice balance of meeting all expectations with a few pleasant surprises along the way.
Rothfuss: If you got to pick one superpower, what would it be?
Cranor: I'm stealing this answer from Cecil (Baldwin, the narrator of the podcast and of the novel's audiobook): I would love to be able to speak and understand all languages.
Fink: I would own a dog.
Rothfuss: Do you have any writers whom you particularly admire or try to emulate in your work?
Cranor: Two of the biggest influences when we began writing Night Vale were the playwright Will Eno and the novelist Deb Olin Unferth. They both write with clear, assertive voices. They use clean, matter-of-fact sentences that subvert whatever our expectations of normal behavior are. Both develop such rich poetry with their economic use of language.
Fink: I think the main thing we learned from them is that it is possible to take surprising turns not just in the overall plot or within a chapter but also within a single sentence, landing the language in a completely different place than the reader expected. It's that magic trick of language that I have been chasing ever since.
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Absolutely love this book
Welcome to Night Vale. It is a suburban town without the urban surrounded by desert. In many ways it is like every town. In many ways, it is unlike every town.Meet Jackie. She is 19 and has been 19 for a long time. There was a time when she never worked at Night Vale's pawn shop, but now she always works there.Meet Diane. She is a dedicated single mom involved with the PTA who has a moody 15-year-old son that shape-shifts.This book expertly pairs The Voice of Night Vale in between the stories of Jacke and Diane. You don't need to listen to the podcast to enjoy the book, but it does add to the experience reading in Cecil Palmer's voice. I put off reading this book for a while because I was worried it wouldn't live up to the podcast. It does. I have no idea what kind of magic that Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor have, but they've created a totally bizarre town and made it believable and relatable. It's a fun, thrilling, ans immersive story but there is also a message about living your life, moving forward, and not getting stuck in a rut.Here are two quotes to illustrate my point about the duality of the book if you have no experience with Night Vale:"There was the day where the small crack that's always visible in the sky suddenly opened up, and several pterodactyls flew out. Later it was revealed they were just pteranodons, and all the panic was for nothing."...and two pages later addressing the Voice of Night Vale..."Look, life is stressful. This is true everywhere. But life in Night Vale is more stressful... But when Cecil talked it was possible to let some of that go. To let go of the worries. To let go of the questions. To let go of letting or going."That last excerpt is exactly why I listen to Night Vale and why I often fall asleep to the sound of Cecil's voice. If you havent visited Night Vale in any format yet, do yourself a favor and go!
Top reviews from other countries
Fernando
Livro com defeito
Reviewed in Brazil on October 12, 2023
Fernando
Reviewed in Brazil on October 12, 2023
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