There are two fictional towns I know so much about that I want to live there: Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, and Night Vale. The latter is a town of mystery. The city council are creatures of unimaginable power. The dog park is not for dogs, and the black-hooded sentients inside can devour you. The Glow Cloud is simply right above (All hail the mighty Glow Cloud!). And, meanwhile, Hiram McDaniels, the five-headed dragon, is still on the loose. Night Vale is pretty much your run-of-the-mill town.
It Devours, by Joeseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, looks at the religious side of Night Vale, the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. Followers of the Smiling God believe it will come to our Earth and devour their sins – but could the Smiling God be even more of a reality than even they understand? Nilanjana Sikdar, a newer scientist in the town, thinks so. In fact, her being an outsider may be the very thing that helps put the pieces together when everything in the town seems normal.
After discovering a giant sinkhole where Larry Leroy’s house used to be, Lead Scientist Carlos (beautiful husband of local Night Vale celebrity, community radio host Cecil Palmer) asks Nilanajana to investigate the mysterious earthquakes happening off schedule that are interfering with his experiments. It is obvious to him that the city council is purposely interfering with his experiments with the House that Doesn’t Exist, but he can’t figure out why they would try to stop him. As she studies the sinkholes and traces their path, Nilanjana realizes they might not necessarily be from the city council. They might be more linked to the church that worships the one things which could create such a hole: a giant centipede.
Like their previous book, aptly called Welcome to Night Vale, It Devours takes the narrative of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast and focuses on one set of characters—the church and their rivals, the scientists. The story flows better than the previous book as well, though falters several times in the beginning when interruptions of side stories are introduced, such as the hand-drawn religious tract. Nonetheless, these small interjections provide a basis for the scientific research happening throughout the book.
If you enjoy the Night Vale podcast, I highly recommend checking out this continuation of the series. Both version are great, however after listening to the audiobook, I much prefer hearing Cecil read the story, even if he isn’t the main character.