Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.
Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.
Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it.
"A friendly desert town where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while everyone pretends to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale."
Welcome to Night Vale is based on the absurd and bizarre podcast of the same name created and written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. It is a podcast that I've been listening to since 2015 (and I'm still so woefully behind), and it's so weird. Trust me, that's the highest compliment you can give Night Vale. I didn't read the summary of this book before reading it, so I went in thinking it would be more of a guidebook to the small desert town.
While this book wasn't what I expected content-wise, it was still a really interesting, funny book that I think would work really well as an episode of the podcast. I think it is a lot more enjoyable if you have listened to, and are a fan of the podcast itself as there are many in-jokes and references and characters that wouldn't make much sense without context. It's very hard to explain Night Vale to someone who hasn't listened to it or even heard of it. I remember trying to explain it to my brother and his now-wife a few summers ago, and my explanation of the podcast didn't do it justice. I don't think I sold them on it.
This book, like the podcast, has a really absurd, almost abject sense of humour. It read the way I imagine the podcast scripts would read (they have published the scripts in book form, which I may get just to have). The story works well, and it adds context to more minor characters, who come to the forefront in this book. Of course, we still get Cecil and Carlos in this book, and the way they utilize Cecil's role as the voice of Night Vale is really clever. We get more context on characters such as John Peters - you know, the farmer? as well as Old Woman Josie and the Man in the Tan Jacket. The main characters are well-developed and it's great to see them more fleshed out, and see who they are besides a mention on Cecil's broadcasts. The story is really compelling and funny in most parts. I see this as being more of a companion to the podcast rather than it's own thing.
The podcast has this odd charm to it that is hard to replicate in a convincing way, and the novelization of it recreates the charm and humour really well. It isn't quite as charming or odd as the podcast (nothing can replicate that), but it's pretty close. This book admits to all the surrealism that happens in the small desert community in such a Night Vale-ian way, it's great.
Welcome to Night Vale is a great book companion to an outstanding podcast. It replicates the oddness and humour just right. None of the jokes or references outstay their welcome. This book is well-written and has great usually side characters at the forefront. There's another novelization coming out in October of 2017 (three months from when I'm writing this) which I will read. I think this book works better if you have heard the podcast, but it also lends itself to people who haven't heard the podcast yet and can work as a stepping stone into the podcast. This is just a taste of what the podcast is like, because there's no way you can replicate hours upon hours of content (approximately 75 episodes had aired when this book was first published). I'm going to give Welcome to Night Vale the novel a 4/5, and Welcome to Night Vale the podcast a 5/5. I highly recommend either or both, especially if you're into surrealist, abject, and weird humour.
"And as always, listeners, good night, Night Vale. Good night."
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