A masterfully unpredictable read that will have you in genuine stitches or scratching your head in disbelief. I find it so easy to get lost in this superbly alternative reality where nothing works the way it should be as everyone just moves forwards or backwards or any which way the world takes them. The Welcome to Night Vale podcast is a revelation and the novels are a fascinating extension of that world turning it into 3D realm where everyone has their own narrative where events are fleshed out and explored in new and exotic ways. Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cramor are some strange dudes but I love how their minds work and their unique vision of Night Vale is a wondrous, mind-bending and fascinating location. But it is pleasantly random with its own hilarious charm and impossible physics. The Night Vale community is hands down one of the weirdest places you will ever visit in radio or literature format. Nilanjana and Darryl must search for common ground between their very different world views as they are faced with the Congregation’s darkest and most terrible secret. Caught between her beliefs in the ultimate power of science and her growing attraction to Darryl, she begins to suspect the Congregation is planning a ritual that could threaten the lives of everyone in town. This investigation leads her to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and to Darryl, one of its most committed members. But all of that is put into question when Carlos gives her a special assignment investigating a mysterious rumbling in the desert wasteland outside of town. Working for Carlos, the town’s top scientist, she relies on fact and logic as her guiding principles. Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider to the town of Night Vale. For newcomers, good luck with your first time in Night Vale 😀 Book Synopsis Don’t panic though, there is enough of Night Vale’s classic surrealism and oddity to go around, just in a slightly more digestible form. I do think this was an improvement on the previous novel as it was developed more expertly, drawing in the reader with curiosity and intrigue instead of going straight for the absurdity. IT DEVOURS! was a definite success, I had such a great time in Night Vale yet again. It is an acquired taste though so I recommend checking out episode one of the podcast first before approaching the books. It has a brilliant cult following and has been interpreted in radio, book and stage-show format all around the world. Welcome To Night Vale is a wondrously bizarre concept created by some incredible minds. Summed up in a word: Extraordinary First Impressions Genre: Alternative Reality/Science-Fiction (And a little bit of everything else) Sent to me by Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review.

Jeffrey cranor and joseph fink