Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel

LoveReading Says

This is a novel that grew from a cult Podcast; Welcome to Night Vale. You don’t need to know the Podcast (I didn’t) to enjoy the book (I did, very much). Night Vale is like any small town in America. Or at least like any small town as seen by Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury. Or even by Thomas Pynchon or Stephen King in their more whimsical moments. We have the features of everyday life but we also have aliens, conspiracies, secrets and mysteries drawn from the woozy histories of every bit of off-beat American pop-culture you can think off.

Always 19 Jackie Fierro and Diane Crayton are our main protagonists and they are as strong and endearing a pair as you could wish for to fight for your town against strangenesses and darknesses small and huge. Fink and Cranor are immensely knowing and they fling a lot at you but they are in control: much of the wild wonder comes in enticing brief references that add colour and delight without having to derail the story. This is like the X-Files or Stranger Things but not quite as dark. It’s a delight and I spent most of the book with a sappy grin on my face. It’s feel good but in a properly surreal way. What’s not to love? ~ Simon Spanton

Simon Spanton

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