Night Vale was my gateway drug to podcasts. The behind-the-scenes commentary is interesting but the printed words just aren't the same without Cecil Baldwin's voice acting.

Night Vale is an unusual place. You may not be able to get there, but you can listen to its stories…

Mostly Void, Partially Stars: Welcome to Night Vale Episodes, Volume 1 by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink is a book covering transcripts of the first year of the podcast. In addition, there’s art related to the stories and commentary by the creators on various inspiration and notes on the first appearances of significant characters.

The radio station in Night Vale (not to be confused with the numbers station) broadcasts a regular show on the happenings in Night Vale…mostly the present and sometimes the past (and even more rarely the future).

Learn about the various places of interest in town. Learn the hazards that might occur if you go somewhere you shouldn’t.

Get an idea of the local colorful nightlife from assorted secret organizations to the unknown hooded figures to PTA and natural happenings.

Not everyone is human in night vale, but that doesn’t mean they can’t participate in local elections or join the PTA. Night Vale is a very open minded community unless you vote incorrectly or the secret police think you are up to something.

This is a good place to start if you want to learn about a night Vale as it introduces many of the early themes of the show…and plenty of the characters that would come to shape the community.

Somehow both creepy and excited to be alive. You couldn't pay me to live in Night Vale but I love to hear about it.

"Don't worry. Don't worry. All is as it was meant to be. It was meant to be lonely and terrifying and unfair and fleeting. Don't worry."

All hail the glow cloud.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I absolutely loved this and can't wait to start on volume II. My only experience with WTNV prior to reading this was reading the actual novel that was published. This book makes me want to listen to the podcast so badly. The behind the scenes things were a great addition and the illustrations were wonderful. I would recommend this book and series. It's so freaking amazing. 5 out of 5 stars.

I have read this with absolutely zero previous experience of listening to the podcast (because I unfortunately hate listening to podcasts) and I have nonetheless enjoyed it greatly, and am very much planning to read the next books in this series and then attempt to follow the remaining episodes by listening to them like a normal human being. Godspeed.

This is the most I have ever debated with myself on a book rating, and in the end I took a coward’s way out and chose the middle option. This is a 5-star book. This is a 1-star book. I really do not know what to do with it.

On one hand: The entire first year of Welcome to Night Vale is contained in these pages. WtNV is a phenomenal podcast about a very strange desert town where every conspiracy theory ever is just another normal day. I once saw it described as “Lovecraft, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman create a SIMS town, then just leave it alone for a few years and let it evolve as it will.” That’s Night Vale. It’s weird and it’s touching and it’s glorious and it’s creepy and it is never, ever boring.

On the other hand: This book is a script collection, and though all the basic content is here, it is missing out on the lifeblood of Night Vale: the rich, soothing, voice of its narrator, community radio host Cecil Palmer. Cecil, voiced by Cecil Baldwin, is the heart and soul of Night Vale, and I absolutely cannot recommend *reading* these scripts as an introduction to the series. You have to hear it. You *have* to. And without Cecil along to guide us through our yearlong journey, one of the most vital components of the Night Vale experience is absent.

On one hand: It’s a script book! All the Night Vale scripts from year one are in one place for quick and easy reference! It’s searchable! Huzzah!

On the other hand: It’s a script book. There is very little new content being offered here. It’s searchable, but that’s about all it really has to offer. Yes, there are illustrations, one per episode in most cases, but, to be completely honest, most of Night Vale’s merch artists don’t do a lot for my personal tastes. Yes, there is an introduction prior to each script, but there’s not a lot of insight into the creative process, just some train of thought stuff you can take or leave.

And this part gets another paragraph because, honestly, this is my biggest gripe with the book. I wanted more content. I wanted thoughtful creator commentary and annotations and footnotes and running observations about the entire creative process that went into making WtNV the success that it is. I wanted to *know* things. New things. Fun things. Potentially dangerous things. And in this regard, the small previews before each episode were an abyssal disappointment. Give me something new. Something interesting. Something I can’t already get on the podcast. Give me a reason to devote my already-at-capacity shelf space to you, book.

On one hand: There’s no weather! Now, for those not in the loop, Night Vale’s “weather” forecast is a song inserted in the final third of each episode. The musical contributions range from quirky, to powerful, to waitin' for the bus in the rain in the rain, wait-waitin' for the bus in the rain. You will love the weather. You will hate it. You will be confused by it. You will spend entirely too long trying to analyze its deeper meaning. Like Cecil’s voice, the weather is an essential component of the full Night Vale experience, and its absence here (the song title and artist are given, along with a wink/wink nudge/nudge to go look it up if you want to) is very noticeable and detracts from the overall immersion.

On the other hand: There’s no weather! Come on, you know you usually give it a little bit to hook you then skip over it anyway.

So, with all that said, I shall stand firm on my decision to split the difference between my two opinions and settle on 2.5 stars, rounded down since, in Goodreads terms, 2 stars is “It was ok.” And, ultimately, that’s what this book was. Okay. Not good. Not great. Not terrible. Not even “Neat!” Just...okay. And I'm not rating the podcast (which is a solid 5-Star experience, seriously, go listen to it now). I have to keep that in mind. I am rating the book.

I won’t be picking up installment 2 of the Night Vale scripts, and, to be frank, I’m glad the copy I read of this installment is a loaner.

This is the first time I’ve really been disappointed with a component of the Night Vale experience, and that is the most disappointing part of all.