Sergei Lukyanenko
Night Watch (2006)
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
I picked up this book a month or two ago, even though I didn't have time to read it, because I was afraid it would be one of those books that I never saw again if I didn't get it then. Having read it, I am hoping that Night Watch will be around for awhile, because this is a really excellent book.
Anton is a member of the Night Watch in Moscow--a group of Others--magicians--dedicated to the cause of the Light. Their opposite is the Day Watch--another group of Others dedicated to the Dark. There is a treaty between these two groups that has maintained a balance between the Light and the Dark for centuries, to maintain peace and order, and to keep the human population safe from those Others that prey on humans.
Night Watch contains three separate stories, Destiny, Among His Own Kind, and All for My Own Kind. Each story is a complete arc, and tells a portion of Anton's life, and his movement through the Night Watch and his progression as a magician. I liked the three separate story arcs, since they made good places to put the book down and get other things done. (Or, read Wolves before Michael did.)
I very much liked Anton. He's a member of the Night Watch, and fights for the light, yet he has doubts about what he is doing, and is conflicted as to his place in the Watch, and what he should be doing. Although he works for the Light, and is opposed to the Dark, he still worries that their path may not be the correct one. He also wonders why he--an analyst--has been pulled into field work, when his skill is working with computers.
The story was also enjoyable. I never knew precisely what Anton was going to do, yet his actions made sense within what he says and believes. There are also bits about free will, which I always find interesting. The forces of Light are analogous to--but not the same as--the forces of good, while the forces of Dark are analogous--but again not the same as--the forces of the evil. And the treaty between the two forces reminds me a bit of the treaty between Aziraphale and Crowley in Good Omens--they have to get along with their counterparts to keep the peace.
Additionally, the pace was fast and things moved along quickly, which I always like. There is detail of Moscow, which was interesting, and there are bits that probably would have made more sense to someone how knows Moscow. Kinda like how American books are always describing landmarks in New York City. As I have never been to Moscow, I have no idea whether knowing those details adds anything to the story or not, but the explanations and details were enough that I didn't really feel like I was missing anything.
If you like urban fantasy, then I highly recommend Night Watch. The characters are good, and the story is quite excellent, especially when it went in ways I wasn't expecting at all.
Rating: 9/10
Day Watch (2006)
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
The sequel to Night Watch, Day Watch contains another trio of stories about the Day and Night Watches in Moscow. The first story, Unauthorized Personnel Permitted is the story of Alisa Donnikova, a witch, and Other member of the Day watch we first came across in Night Watch. Although no longer the favorite of Zabulon, she remains proud of her work in the Day Watch. She's also pretty unlikable, which made this a difficult story to start the book. In the first several chapters, I found Alisa so unlikable I had a hard time continuing the book. However, I also really wanted to know why the events in the story had taken place, so I kept reading. And it was interesting to learn how the members of the Day Watch see life.
However, the best part was the story-telling. Despite the fact that I didn't like Alysa at the start of the story, I still ended up very interested in what happened to her.
The second story, A Stranger Among Others was even more interesting, because I didn't find Vitaly Rogoza unlikable. He was a Dark Other, but he was also fascinating, and he actions and justifications for his actions made more sense to me than Alisa's actions in the first story. We also return in at least small part to the story of Anton Gorodetsky, who was the main character or Night Watch. But the heart of the story was Vitaly Rogoza, and his discovery of who he was and what he was supposed to be doing. An excellent story.
The third story in the trilogy is Another Power. The events of "A Stranger Among Others" and Unauthorized Personnel Permitted," must be resolved by the Inquisition. Anton and Edgar are sent by the Night Watch and the Day Watch (respectively) to represent their Watches before the Inquisition. In the course of their preparations, both attempt to discover what Zabulon and Gesar have been up to, with their scheming and plotting and planning.
I think what I enjoyed most about these stories is that every time I thought I had a handle on what was happening, the story took a twist in an unexpected direction. There are so many different plans within schemes within plans, almost anything becomes possible. The stories aren't quite mysteries, although there are deaths as well as misunderstandings about the true causes of those deaths.
And as an added bonus, the story arc is completed within the three stories, and each story is complete within itself, although there are threads tying all three stories together, as well as to the first book.
Although both Night Watch and Day Watch seem to be at least loosely classified as horror, they don't fall into my classification of horror, which means that I may have a messed up understanding of the horror genre, because I didn't fund them at all horrifying. (However, Joyce Carol Oates' book Blonde gave me chills, so go figure.)
If you read Night Watch then you will definitely want to read Day Watch. If you haven't read Night Watch, but enjoy stories of the supernatural world that is supposed to exist parallel to ours, then you will definitely want to read Night Watch, and then Day Watch. And then you can wait impatiently with me for the third book, Dusk Watch, to come out.
Rating: 9/10
Twilight Watch (2007)
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
I tend to hoard books--when I buy a book I expect to be good, I'll often wait several weeks before reading it, because it's nice to have something I expected to be good in the line-up. But sometimes I'm looking forward to a book so much that I'll read it almost immediately upon receiving it. Twilight Watch ended up being one of those books. I received my copy Friday, and finished reading it Monday night.
Of course I had to move fairly quickly, otherwise Michael might have grabbed it and read it first--and I couldn't have that.
The third book in the Night Watch series, Twilight Watch takes place approximately three years after the events in Day Watch. Svetlana and Anton are married and have a daughter, Nadya. Svetlana has resigned from the Night Watch and has become a non-aligned power, resigning also her use of power and title and title as Great Enchantress. Anton remains in the Night Watch, although he continues to have serious doubts.
As with the previous two books, Twilight Watch contains three separate and interwoven stories: Nobody's Time, Nobody's Space, and Nobody's Power. Each story is complete and and of itself, but all three are tied together, and with the previous two books.
In the first story, someone has warned both the Night Watch and the Day Watch, as well as the Inquisition, that someone is attempting to turn a human being into an other. Anton joins representatives of the Day Watch and the Inquisition to search for the Other who has let out the secret, and the human who wants to become Other. His partners in this search are all people he has dealt with previously: Anton and Witezslav the Vampire for the Inquisition, and Kostya the Vampire (the boy who was his neighbor when he joined the Night Watch) for the Day Watch.
As with the previous three books, the stories continually went in unexpected directions, the past was fast and almost non-stop for the second and third stories, and the characters were all strong and well-developed. Although I occasionally had trouble keeping track of individuals when they were referred to by multiple names, individual characters stood out in my mind, and once I remembered that most characters had several names, I usually could sort them out relatively quickly.
We also learn more about the power of the others--where it comes from, how different magicians have different levels of powers, and that there are more levels of Twilight than
Another bonus was that despite the fact that the book has lots of vampires, there is no sex.
The only issue I had with the book is that although it repeatedly went in unexpected directions, there were a couple of times where I knew generally what was going to happen, even if I wasn't sure specifically how the action would happen, or who would be involved. But as there were so many things I didn't guess, it didn't bother me too much that I guessed one of the plot resolutions relatively early.
But for me one of the greatest strengths of this series is that not only is the story arc concluded within the book, but each of the three stories contains a complete story arc--you could pick up the book, read a single story, and then put the book back down. Not that you'll want to however, but you could, and I appreciate authors who can do that.
If you've read Night Watch and Day Watch, the you don't want to miss reading Twilight Watch. If you haven't read any of the Night Watch books and you like fantasy set in the modern world, then I highly recommend the Night Watch series. It's quite different from the rest of the supernatural fantasy out there right now, it's well-written, and I find it highly enjoyable. Although you should be able to pick up Twilight Watch and read it without having read the previous two books in the series, you'll probably find it more enjoyable to read the previous books first--especially since both are easily available through Amazon.
Rating: 9/10
Last Watch (2009)
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
I’d been thinking recently about rereading Sergei Lukyanenko’s Night Watch series, so when I stumbled upon Last Watch, my first thought was, “Why the hell didn’t I know this was out?!” my second thought was that this was the excuse I needed to reread the Night Watch series.
Anton Gorodetsky is a member of the Moscow Night Watch. He is a light Other–a magician–who helps maintain order and make sure the Dark Others (the Day Watch) do not violate the treaty between the watches, the treaty that maintains the balance between light and dark. Though the course of the series Anton has increased his magical powers, has gotten married, and had a child.
He has also been central to multiple fights between the Light and the Dark, between the Night Watch and the Day Watch.
Now he is being send to Edinburgh to investigate the murder of a Russian citizen–a death that looks to have been caused by a vampire. Because the father of the murdered man has assisted both the Night Watch and the Day Watch, Gesar and Zabulon both want Anton to discover the murderer, and Zabulon even provides Anton with offers of assistance–a situation that makes Anton uncomfortable to say the least.
I loved Last Watch as much as I loved the previous three books in the series. Characters from the previous three books appeared, and incidents from previous books now appear in a slightly different light.
The book was divided into three different stories, just like the previous three books. Again, all three of these books have Anton as the narrator, and we see not just the events from his point of view, but spend time in his mind, seeing quite clearly how he has changed over the years.
Anton is still a young magician, so despite his increased powers, he still makes mistakes and errors and assumptions that are incorrect, but he has learned and matured over the course of the series, and although I don’t see him ever replacing Gesar in the Moscow Night Watch, I do see him surviving for a long time.
Which is good, because he’ll need all his wisdom to raise his daughter.
Although each of the previous books in the series contained a complete story arc, Last Watch actually had the feel of the final book in the series (as if the name wasn’t a giveaway). Although I wouldn’t mind spending more time with Anton, I think I’d like more to read a new series by Sergei Lukyanenko. Of course not only does that series have to be written, but it will then have to be translated into English, so I don’t see anything coming any time soon. Too bad.
I just hope Amazon actually notifies me when a new book by Sergei Lukyanenko comes out.
If you like urban/supernatural fantasy, then you will definitely want to check out Sergei Lukyanenko’s Night Watch series. The fact that the books are set (primarily) in Moscow, in an area in which I am unfamiliar, is just icing on the cake.
Rating: 9/10
Night Watch:Night Watch (2006), Day Watch (2006), Twilight Watch (2007), Last Watch (2009)
