Night Watch [Paperback]

Sergei Lukyanenko (Author), Andrew Bromfield (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2006

The Night Watch series has caused a sensation never before seen in Russia -- its popularity is frenzied and unprecedented, and driven by a truly great, epic story. In 2005 Fox Searchlight announced it had acquired the Russian film adaptation for an American release. Interest in the books here is now set to reach a fever pitch.

Set in modern day Moscow, Night Watch is a world as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov. Living among us are the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce. But an ancient prophecy decrees that one supreme "Other" will rise up and tip the balance, plunging the world into a catastrophic war between the Dark and the Light. When a young boy with extraordinary powers emerges, fulfilling the first half of the prophecy, will the forces of the Light be able to keep the Dark from corrupting the boy and destroying the world?

An extraordinary translation from the Russian by noted translator Andrew Bromfield, this first English language edition of Night Watch is a chilling, engrossing read certain to reward those waiting in anticipation of its arrival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in contemporary Moscow, Lukyanenko's fantastic American debut—the first in a series about an epic struggle between good and evil—charts the adventures of a race of supernaturally gifted Others, who serve either the Light or Dark Side. The Others slip in and out of an eerie parallel world where they coexist in an uneasy peace that a terrible revolution may soon disrupt. Philosophical Anton Gorodetsky, an earnest Night Watch agent, falls in love with 24-year-old Svetlana Nazarova, a troubled young doctor under a Dark Magician's curse. While Anton endeavors to undo the curse, he discovers Egor, a gifted boy unwilling to choose between his Light or Dark abilities. As humankind's fate hangs in the balance, Anton is forced to re-examine his allegiance, and Svetlana is drawn deeper into the exotic, vivid universe of dueling magicians, shape-shifters, witches and vampires. Potent as a shot of vodka, this compelling urban fantasy was adapted to a Russian blockbuster movie in 2004. (July)
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Review

“Night Watch is an epic of extraordinary power.”
—Quentin Tarantino

“Star Wars meets the Vampires in Moscow . . . it bursts with a sick, carnivorous glee in its fiendish games.”
—The New York Times

“The Night Watch is inventive, sardonic and imbued with a surprising sense that, for this author and his audience, much of this stuff is new-minted.” —The Independent (UK)

A “sceptical, intelligent thriller.”–Telegraph (UK)

“Fascinating. . . . [The] excellent translation by Andrew Bromfield keeps the pace moving. . . . One of the most original and readable supernatural fictions in some time.”–Scotland on Sunday

“Brace yourself for Harry Potter in Gorky Park. . . . The novel contains some captivating scenes and all kinds of marvelous, inventive detail: The vampires’ seduction of a teenage boy is bone-chilling; every time Lukyanenko described the Other-worldly Twilight, I felt lured into it; and the fantastical powers exercised by Anton and his colleagues range from delightful to awesome.”– Ron Charles, The Washington Post Book World

“Lukyanenko is great at rolling out new concepts for the reader to savour.”–The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“[As] potent as a shot of vodka. . . . [A] compelling urban fantasy.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This modern day mythical fantasy is Anne Rice on an epic scale, a hugely imagined world. A chiller thriller from cold of Russia, this one's been selling like hot cakes around the world.” —Sunday Sport
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 455 pages
• Publisher: Miramax Books / Hyperion; 1st edition (July 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401359795
• ISBN-13: 978-1401359799
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Short Stories

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down, July 15, 2006

By 

J. B Kraft "lonestargazer" (Palestine, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Night Watch (Paperback)

I have been a reader of Sci-Fi and Fantasy for almost 50 years, and I can say that this is the best "first novel in a series" I have read in about ten years. In fact, I literally could not put it down, starting it at 10PM on Friday night and finishing it at 3AM on Saturday morning. Then I couldn't sleep thinking about the ideas in the book.
If you have read translated Russian fiction, you will find a familiar feel to the translation that accentuates the best of the Russian Masters. At the same time, as ideas go, the premise is an ingenious variation on a recurrent and Manichean theme -- Light versus Dark. The story is told through the perspective of Anton, a Night Watcher, who works for an Agency that (1) keeps its eyes on the forces of the Dark; (2) enforces an uneasy and temporary truce with them; (3) pursues its own inscrutable agenda in preparation for the inevitible struggle to tip the balance of humanity one way or the other. I have not enjoyed a novel on this theme one-tenth as much since the late Roger Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows", which I thought superb. Yet, Night Watch is even better and more nuanced.

While long (about 500 pp), it is deliciously detailed but fast paced. The characters are wonderfully drawn as we discover new things about them through Anton's eyes, and he becomes increasingly ambivalent about the "party line." I agree that only a contemporary Russian could tell this story as effectively, given the recent history of that country. You will be constantly surprised and entertained as you deduce the real rules that govern this Earth and see the characters develop.

This was a great read, and I can't wait for the next installment. Because the novel is told in the first person point-of-view, I have some skepticism of how well this can be turned into a movie, and still convey the complex ideas and character development -- especially that going on in Anton.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Russian book, July 24, 2006

By 

W. McMillin (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Night Watch (Paperback)

I have been waiting on this book for months. I am a great fan of the film and wanted to read the book it was based on. I should note that the films Night Watch and Day Watch actually come from the first two sections of this book. A world of good and evil that exists around us. A world where a single moment could tip one towards good or towards evil as we are all just an action away from being lost to the other side. A world of spells, vampires, and the gloom but more importantly a world where the line between good and evil is not always clear.
I found the translations to be clear and easy to read but with an actual flair to them. This is not some boring by numbers translation.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Original, Convoluted but Entertaining, March 15, 2006

By 

Peter U. Malyshev (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Watch (Paperback)

Moscow is swept with the Night / Day / Twilight Watch mania these days. Obviously, I became intrigued with the concept and promptly picked up the book this winter not to be disappointed. The plot draws you quickly into the mystery world of the two opposites: the Light and the Dark (note that NOT the Good and the Evil). One can clearly see multiple parallels with Master and Margarita, albeit modernized and less humorous and delivered in a less literary language than Bulgakov's. The similarity is not coincidental given that both novels were written in the periods of Russian history when the lines between what is clear and what is not are not obvious and each participant in the daily living drama must make his or her own moral or judgment call. The book is very visual - you can literally see each of the episodes play out in front of you. The movie adaptation is equally good although has the same drawbacks - the storyline is a bit choppy and it is sometimes hard to follow the plot. Overall, both the book and the movie are worthwhile endeavors.