It Devours!

November 27, 2017
Listeners of Welcome to Night Vale will enjoy the familiarity of actor Baldwin, who provides the voice of the podcast, in the audio edition of Fink and Cranor’s second standalone novel based on the podcast. The book opens as scientist Nilanjana Sikdar starts to investigate the source of a rumbling in the desert town of Night Vale. Nilanjana suspects that the creepy Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God has something to do with the bizarre noise even as she starts to develop an attraction to Darryl Ramirez, a member of the church. As the rumbling gets louder, buildings are destroyed and people start disappearing. Baldwin continues to be a clean, crisp narrator for the Night Vale universe, but he doesn’t differentiate much between many of the main characters, who in the podcast are voiced by other actors. Furthermore, the production misses an opportunity—the rumbling that is so central to the plot is only spoken of, rather than heard on the audio track. Nevertheless, the quirky story of Night Vale as told in Baldwin’s friendly voice is enough to carry the audiobook for new listeners or fans of the podcast. A Harper Perennial hardcover.

August 14, 2017
Fink and Cranor’s thought-provoking second novel tied in to the paranormal podcast Welcome to Night Vale (also the title of the first book) examines how religion and science work in a town that doesn’t make sense. Nilanjana Sikdar has the difficult job of being a scientist in Night Vale. After head scientist Carlos gives her a secret assignment to investigate a rumbling in the desert, Nilanjana meets Darryl Ramirez, a member of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and asks him out on a date. During her investigation, she becomes convinced that the Joyous Congregation has something to do with the rumbling. Nilanjana and Darryl, along with their scientist and worshipper friends, must work together to figure out what is threatening the town and stop it. They neatly sidestep clichés and instead become wholly three-dimensional characters. The relationship between science and religion is satisfyingly explored with humor and insight. Readers need not be familiar with the podcast or the previous book to enjoy this work, but fans will appreciate the cameos from well-known Night Vale residents. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

Starred review from August 15, 2017
A scientist and a man of faith must find common ground to save a friendly desert community in the American Southwest.Just kidding--of course we're back in the weird town of Night Vale, where all the conspiracies you've ever heard of are true. For interlopers who haven't yet experienced Welcome to Night Vale, it started as a podcast mimicking a bizarre community radio broadcast, later became a live touring production, and lives on in a first novel by Fink and Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale, 2015, etc.). This sequel will be a delight for fans but also features a funny but nuanced story about the chasm between faith and science. Our lead character is Nilanjana Sikdar, a levelheaded scientist from Indiana who has come to work with head scientist Carlos, husband to Cecil Palmer, the voice of Night Vale. But strange things start happening when first Larry Leroy's house and later Big Rico's Pizza fall into giant sinkholes. On the trail of a suspect known as "the Wordsmith," Nilanjana meets Darryl Ramirez, a good-natured proselytizer for the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, a faith that believes redemption comes from being devoured by...something. The book includes whimsical pamphlets designed by Jessica Hayworth explaining the faith. While the new story is light on our friend Cecil--whose romance with Carlos is quietly breathtaking--readers spend more time with Carlos, whose story answers some lingering questions about this strange otherworld. As the Smiling God grows more dangerous, the fundamental conflict between Darryl's faith and Nilanjana's science threatens to tear the town asunder. With cameos from minor characters and the same fanciful sense of humor, the authors deliver not only a love letter to fans, but also a compelling drama that shows people coming together in a world that feels like it's coming apart--which isn't the worst message to broadcast these days. A confident supernatural comedy from writers who can turn from laughter to tears on a dime.

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August 1, 2017
From the creators of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast (and the novel that shares its name) comes this very clever horror-mystery-sf tale. Nilanjana works for Carlos, a scientist in Night Vale; science, art, computer ownership, and other matters of sociocultural life are tightly controlled by the draconian city council, so being a scientistor, in Nilanjana's case, a scientist's assistantis a bit of a dicey career choice. Even dicier is Nilanjana's latest assignment: to find out what's up with some mysterious goings-on in the desert. Could the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, a religious group that could be more than that, somehow be involved? With a gripping mystery, a very smartly built world (a place similar to our own world but at the same time distinctly other), and a cast of offbeat characters, this novel is a welcome addition to any library's sf shelf. Familiarity with the podcast, or with the previous novel, is helpful but certainly not required.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)