Welcome to Night Vale (Welcome to Night Vale, #1) in Do Better: SFF without Sexual Violence

Nov 24, 2015 Astralnature rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-worlds-3, urban-fantasy

Honestly, I am confused about my inability to decide how much I liked this book. I LOVE the podcast, (though honestly I'm feeling probably too overwhelmed and like the older stuff better right now) but this book frustrated me. I listened to the audiobook (which probably made it better because DUH!) and found myself enjoying quite a few things. But mostly, I felt frustrated and disappointed. I'm very empathetic when reading, so I spent most of the book mad at Josh, tired of Jackie's immaturity, a ...more

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Nov 07, 2015 Alan rated it really liked it

Full disclosure that I'm a huge fan of the podcast and have been looking forward to the book for a while.

One of the things that struck me is that after the first chapter (which is very strong), I struggled with whether the book would be at all interesting or accessible for new readers/non-listeners. As anyone familiar with Night Vale will tell you, the setting is weird and wonderful and wild, but there's an awful lot of internal consistency that you learn gradually via the podcast. Much of this Full disclosure that I'm a huge fan of the podcast and have been looking forward to the book for a while.

One of the things that struck me is that after the first chapter (which is very strong), I struggled with whether the book would be at all interesting or accessible for new readers/non-listeners. As anyone familiar with Night Vale will tell you, the setting is weird and wonderful and wild, but there's an awful lot of internal consistency that you learn gradually via the podcast. Much of this will come off as random to first-time visitors to the world, and in its randomness I suspect it loses some of its meaning and interest.

That said, as a fan of the show, I found the book a delight, despite some pacing issues during the first hundred pages or so.

A few reviewers have criticized the characterization of Diane and Jackie, or just generally found them dull. While it took me that one hundred pages to get into the story, I disagree with the assessment that the main characters are boring. Many fans seem to have been expecting wackier characters akin to Cecil, and Jackie and Diane are pretty decidedly un-wacky. There is consistent and rich character development throughout the novel, however, and as things ramp up at about 120 pages, I found myself getting swept up along with their narratives.

To some extent, the mystery of the man in the tan jacket promised to be more universally relevant than it ultimately turned out to be (especially after the teases in the episode just before the book's release). Rather, the story was a deeply personal and intimate one.

The strength of the writing comes through best in the spookier chapters toward the end, which somehow manage to be disturbing and off-putting (in a fun way), despite the all-encompassing and ever-present weirdness of Night Vale. I do feel the start of the novel could have used some of this atmosphere and sense of direction, as for the first little while not much is happening. Usually I'm all for a slow build, and as a fantasy reader, the establishment of setting is very important for me, but it didn't feel like either of these things was happening.

Ultimately, I very much enjoyed this book, but I do think it needed to decide whether it wanted to be a book to introduce new readers to Night Vale, or one for old hands.

Looking forward to the next! ...more

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Dec 10, 2018 Lona added it

A book, based on the Night Vale-Podcast. I never listened to it, so it's really just a rewiev about the book.

Jackie Fierro owns a pawn shop in Night Vale, a town where the rules are different from the rules of “normal” towns, in a surreal way. One day, a man visits her shop, to give something in pawn: A note, with the words “King City”. He vanishes, and nobody seems to remember him. Just the note literally sticks in Jackies hand and causes some practical problems. Meanwhile, Diane Cayton tries t ...more

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Apr 28, 2016 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi, dystopian, fiction

This was a very weird book, which is of course obvious to anyone who listens to the podcast. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments for me precisely because this town defies expectation or understanding. At the same time, I agree with many of the other reviewers who say that the weirdness got a little monotonous after a while. I felt as if the underlying story wasn't strong enough, and so while I had fun reading the book because of all the absurdity, I'm not sure it's really going to stick w ...more

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Aug 18, 2015 Becca rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-books

This was a little bit too unfocused for a novel (though it works very well for a radio show), but many of its pieces were good enough to make up for this, especially the visit to the library.

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May 08, 2020 ♥Xeni♥ rated it liked it

Shelves: ebook, fantasy, fiction, science-fiction, mystery, horror, humor, 2016-books-read

I was not as interested in finishing this book. I guess much like the podcast, it is a great premise, and an interesting story, but somewhere around 75% in it just becomes boring.

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