Book review: "Welcome to Night Vale"

[rocky41_7]

Title: Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel
Authors: Jeffrey Cranor, Joseph Fink
Genre: Fantasy, surrealist/absurdist

Now that I don’t have a commute, I really had to create time to finish my latest audiobook, but it was worth it. Today I finished Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel, the first book put out by the team behind the Welcome to Night Vale fiction podcast and set in the same universe (as is likely apparent by the title). This book was written by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink.

First, I don’t believe you need familiarity with the podcast to enjoy the novel. Nor do you need to read the novel if you’re a podcast listener; it builds on what listeners may know, but also centers incredibly peripheral characters from the show (local PTA mom Diane Crayton and pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro), so if you’re a podcast only fan, you’re not missing any crucial story information by forgoing the book. If you’re not a listener of the podcast, I think as long as you go in understanding that the core of Night Vale is the absurd and the surreal, you’ll be okay.

This was a fun book! I was curious to see how the Night Vale Presents team would manage a longform story in the world of Night Vale (podcast episodes are about 25 minutes and almost always self-contained), and I think they did a solid job! The book can be a bit slow, especially in the beginning; the drip of information it feeds you about the mysteries at the center of the story is indeed a drip. But it wasn’t so slow I found it tiresome, and the typical Night Vale weirdness and eccentricity kept me listening even where I wasn’t sure where this story was going (if anywhere).
 

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[Promo] October Review-a-Thon 2025

[quillpunk]

We are getting closer and closer to October (where is the time going?!) and the [Sign-Up Post] October Review-a-Thon 2025 post is of course still up. Sign-ups will not close until Oct 31, LOL.

This event took place last October, too, and the rules are the same. I'm super excited to see what reviews will be posted!

(It's a low-commitment event: you can drop your sign up at any time, and if you don't manage to post a review on your claimed day(s), there are zero (0) consequences. Just have fun at your desired comfort level!)