It Devours!

By: Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor

Narrated by: Cecil Baldwin

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the authors of the New York Times best-selling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the international podcast of the same name comes a mystery exploring the intersections of faith and science, the growing relationship between two young people who want desperately to trust each other, and the terrifying, toothy power of the Smiling God.

Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider to the town of Night Vale. Working for Carlos, the town's top scientist, she relies on fact and logic as her guiding principles. 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. This investigation leads her to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God and to Darryl, one of its most committed members. 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. Nilanjana and Darryl must search for common ground between their very different worldviews as they are faced with the congregation's darkest and most terrible secret.

©2017 Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

"[Narrator Cecil] Baldwin is in full command of the story - he knows these characters and this town, where secret police, killer librarians, and sentient patches of haze are part of everyday life. Even newcomers will find that Baldwin's conviction helps them believe in the strange world authors Fink and Cranor have created." (AudioFile)

dragged on

i feel miserable giving a WtNV product bad review. Story is excellent but buried under situational rubble that doesn't advance worldbuilding, plot or character. I did manage to finish it. And now I know more about nightvale's lore. That makes the purchase worth it in my eyes. Just... Be ready to a lot of filler, ok?
Voice is perfection itself as always.

Night Vale only by name

It started off with the familiar feel of Night Vale and I enjoyed it in the beginning but as the story progressed the characters just felt less and less like they had been already developed in the series and that felt the same way with the town. It just felt changed and it ended up feeling like a more so normal town than the town I love that is Night Vale.

Love Nightvale but..

The book is just okay. The story is entertaining, but doesn't really hold my attention. The writers and Cecil and the rest of the cast do an amazing job with the podcast, but for some reason it doesn't quite hold up in book format.

That being said, I did enjoy hearing more about the scientists and Josh updates and the Church of the Smiling God.

Just for fans

I really don't think that this was a story good enogh to be a full book. Yes, it has some funny moments, but unless you are already a fan of the brand you will be a little bored

Love it so much!

I just loved this book. Cecil Baldwin had such a mellow voice, I listened to it for hours without realizing how much time had passed. That’s a compliment to the story as well. I was so completely engrossed that several hours had passed of me just sitting there and listening, and I can’t usually sit still that long. By the end I was truly invested in the characters, their growth and complexity, and just how masterfully the world was crafted. If you love the podcast, you know you’ll love the book too.

Not what I'm used to or love

I will first say that I love the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, and highly recommend it to everyone who might enjoy it.
That being said, it doesn't translate well to a novel form in my opinion.

The story is drawn out too far.
The characters are uninteresting.
I almost didn't finish it, I stopped with an hour or two left for a few weeks with no motivation to continue. Eventually I finished it.
It DD not hold my interest as a huge fan of their other work. I didn't like the other novel either, but the podcast is gold.

The narration though, is awesome. I love Cecil Baldwin!

Disappointing, forced, and full of Tropes

I really enjoy WTNV the first book and the podcast so when I heard they had a second book coming out I pre-ordered it immediately. But unlike the first book which was rich with complex characters and character development and offered greater insight into the world of WTNV, this book was just so forced and one-dimensional with its characters and plot. It's like the creators took the WTNV twitter feed, picked out their most famous quotes and tried to make a book around great one liners. No characters could be summed up as CW drama TV-show tropes.
You have a spunky protagonist who isn't from around the area and thus doesn't follow the rules.
You have the love interest who's essentially the puppy dog that always means well even if he's doing something bad.
You have a church filled with corrupt leaders and misconstruing the religion.
You have the mentor who is hard set in his ways and will stop at nothing to save the ones he loves.
And you have a common problem/enemy that loosely ties the story together.

I was beyond disappointed and had to force myself to listen to the end. This is not WTNV's best work and if this is your first exposure to the series, I suggest going and listening/reading the first book Welcome to Night Vale.
If you're a long time WTNV fan I highly suggest skipping this work. It is just disappointingly bad. There is no subtlety or depth to this book. It's just tropes mixed with a simple and predictable plot layered with blatant didactic messages of "science and religions are not inherently good or bad they're just tools for how to approach life. And if someone is using that tool for bad ulterior motives it is up to you to stand up to them".

While everything about the story is bad, I still have to give props to the narration and performance of the text. Cecil's narration is the only decent thing about this book.

I love NightVale

I absolutely love this bizarre little town that Joseph and Jeffrey have created. I've been listening to the podcast since it's first season and I love the characters and feel like a part if this little town. I love to read actual books but being a listener of the podcast it would never feel right if I didn't hear the story in Cecil's voice. I was so happy to see that Diane, Josh and Jackie were back in this book. I loved not knowing what form Josh would be in and that Diane always knew her son whatever form he took. The relationship between Darryl and Nils felt real and fluid. I have to admit that I squealed upon hearing Carlos in this book. Besides old woman Josie, Carlos and Cecil are my favorite characters. I really enjoyed this book and all the characters and I'm so happy to get more insight into this little town dear to my heart.

Great book for Nightvale fans!

Similar to the first "Welcome to Nightvale" tie-in book, it's not impossible for someone who hasn't listened to the podcast to follow but they'll miss out on a lot of small details. It Devours! mostly focuses on themes of belief, pitting logic against irrationality in its central concept of science vs. religion. There's loveable characters and a few laugh-out-loud jokes, but occasionally gets a little bit too hammy with delivering its soapbox messages. It's a good, well-written story and I'm glad I read it.

Amazing, AS ALWAYS!

Jeffrey and Joseph hit it out of the park again by delivering a fun and interesting story! Diverse, thoughtful, and just plain hilarious! And of course, Cecil’s performance is impeccable! His voice always puts my heart to rest. Love it!