Last Watch

Last Watch (2009) Sergei Lukyanenko 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.

Published by Mirimax Books

Rating: 9/10

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