Night Watch

Watch, Book 1

De: Sergei Lukyanenko

Narrado por: Paul Michael

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?

©2006 Sergei Lukyanenko (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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." ( The Washington Post Book World)

"[As] potent as a shot of vodka.... [A] compelling urban fantasy." ( Publishers Weekly)

" Night Watch is an epic of extraordinary power." (Quentin Tarantino)

INFINITE GAME OF CHESS

IN THE TWILIGHT
This book consists of three stories, with Anton as the main character in each. If all I had listened to would have been the first story Destiny, I would have given this five stars. Destiny is so good I almost gave the whole book five stars. To me this was the most intelligent fantasy I have ever listened to or read. This was one of the few times in my life, that I got it! This is an infinite chess game between good and evil and both sides are right and both sides are wrong. There is some action, but this is mostly a head game. You could compare this to Simon R. Green's, In The Night Side or China Mieville's The City, The City and maybe even Butcher's, Dresden's books, only this is better, more stimulating to the brain. Some have compared SL to King. Both use scary or fantastical elements to get a message across. King message is usually political, where as SL is more psychological. SL shows how doing good can lead to evil and vise versa. That good and evil is not a black and white issue. The second story, Among HIs Own Kind, is good, but not as good as Destiny. I would give the second story four stars.

AN EXPERIENCED KAMIKAZE
The third story, All for our Kind, is bad. Anton becomes a big whiney baby. Even the characters in the story complain about his whining. The plot does not develop until half way through the story and then it is not enough to save the story.

I would suggest buying the book, but only for the first two thirds. The first story is worth your credit. If you are not enjoying the third story, quit the book. Don't be one of those who have to finish every book they start. I used to be that way, until I realized that I was only punishing myself, which was stupid.

MY FRIEND AND ENEMY
I think I will try the next book in the series, even though it goes against my rules. If I don't give the first book five stars, I don't go on to the next. If he can repeat the genius of Destiny, it will be worth it.

Paul Michael is a very good narrator and if you listen closely, he sounds an awful lot like Rod Serling. Even if you don't agree, you have to agree his talent makes this book a better listen then a read.

Brilliantly executed moral ambiguity

Shelve this one with The Incrementalists and the Count of Monte Cristo. Characters are decent, stories are well self-contained, but it's the situations that really gleam here.

Moving, Dark, Expansive

Where does Night Watch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Number 1

Who was your favorite character and why?

Olga, as she is mysterious & strong.

What does Paul Michael bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A view point out side of my own psychologically referenced from listening to a person's live voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Watches

Any additional comments?

This is the greatest experience I have had in a long time.

I haven't listened to an audiobook in over 12 years.

I needed something other than music at work & this worked perfectly.

This story line is currently my favorite film, yet the world in the book is so much more revealing than the film.

Vampires are nominal

This is obvious the beginning of a series of the Light and the Dark.
While not completely predictable, you need to swallow to many non-sequiturs to tie the loose needs together. The narrator was actually pretty good with the voices, Russians accents were OK but it was distracting to have the protagonist think in an American dialect. I think I'll skip the sequel.

decent

great narrating, the accents could get a bit over the top, but they were consistent

Russian Vampires

Any additional comments?

It's an old book but good story a little date but still good. witches, Vampires, and other human based creatures some work for the light some for the darkness. This shows plans within plans politics and law enforcement in this world hidden in our world.

Great audiobook presentation, story was frustrating.

I can see how people enjoyed this book but it is a title that feels like nothing happens until everything hinges on a couple moments that come out of nowhere. I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequels

The narrator put me to sleep.

It was monotonous, wordy, and heavy. Difficult to follow and anticlimactic. It didn't hold my interest, but the story was an interesting concept.

Unusual. Interesting new bits for vampire lore...

Not one big story, but three novellas. I wish that had been mentioned right off the bat. It makes a difference in story, character, etc. development. Story line is unusual and somewhat interesting with (surprisingly) deep (and interesting) philosophical musings for so little (real) character development. Cops and robbers but not really. From a Russian angle no less. Entertaining. A big plus: a story with vampires (witches and warlocks, etc.) that is NOT a thinly disguised torid romance. LOL.

Modern Moscow makes a terrific setting

Modern Moscow makes a terrific setting for an urban fantasy novel and Anton is a likable hero. Paul Michael is perfect for the role of a tough but sensitive Muscovite (and is now my second favorite audiobook reader). While the writing, the setting, the characters, and most of the plot are enjoyable, there are a couple of related problems that kept The Night Watch from being the completely engrossing story it had the potential to be. We get much of the story from Anton???s point of view and, while this made me really understand and like his character, it also means that we spend a huge amount of time listening to Anton trying to figure out what???s going on. He???ll brood for a while, then have an epiphany and give us an explanation (not always logical or believable) that he???s sure is right, but then suddenly he???ll be wrong and some other strange (illogical or unbelievable) explanation will be given, which may or may not be correct. I chuckled toward the end when Anton says: "I didn???t know. As always, I didn???t have enough information for analysis. I could have come up with thirty-three different explanations, all contradicting each other." And I think he does come up with 33 different explanations, all contradicting each other. It gets really confusing and it interrupts the action but, worse, when we find out what???s really going on, it???s not nearly as exciting as it could have been. Most of the plot climaxes just fizzle when we find out the truth. Related to this is the fact that I never quite believed in Sergei Lukyanenko???s world. In his interior monologues, Anton goes on at length about light and dark, destiny and fate ??? I???m not sure that it all made sense. I also didn???t understand some of the choices Anton made, especially at the end. Perhaps this will be cleared up in sequels. Still, I enjoyed spending time in Moscow with Anton and enemies, even if I was confused about the plot.