It Devours!

by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
347 pgs  (Welcome to Night Vale series #2)

It Devours! is the second book to take place in Night Vale, the fictionalized desert town made popular in the long-running podcast Welcome to Night Vale. It's a town that's a little reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, but the version of it, had it been created by Stephen King instead. Ghosts, aliens, and mysterious government agents are commonplace in Night Vale, and if there's a conspiracy theory that has ever been thought of, chances are, it's true in Night Vale.

The stories that take place in Night Vale, both those told in the podcasts, and those in the two books so far, are not driven by any particular plot, most of the time. In fact, the plot is really secondary to the atmosphere and feel of the story. That's not to say there isn't a plot, there is, but the story meanders around the plot and only seems to come back around to it occasionally. Surprisingly, that's a big part of the appeal for me. Much in the same way I enjoyed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I found myself simply enjoying the journey, and not necessarily the destination.

As far as the plot goes though, here's a small taste: There's a mysterious void that keeps "appearing" in random places in Night Vale, which swallows up whole buildings and anyone who happened to be inside of them at the time. The local religion, The Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and local scientists are at odds to try to explain what the void is and to understand where and when it will appear next.

I enjoyed It Devours!. It's a fun story that had me smiling often. I've only listened to a handful of the podcasts so far, and to be honest, I think the types of stories Fink and Cranor come up with for the town are better suited for that format, but the books offer an interesting and more in-depth visit to this small desert town where the possibilities are endless.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆