Night Watch

Watch, Book 1

By: Sergei Lukyanenko

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Critic reviews

"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)

Excellence

Any additional comments?

Where do I start on such a great story? I really knew nothing about it other than the movie of the same name from several years ago, but I gave it a shot.

I was not disappointed. Sergei Lukyanenko builds such an excellent cast of characters and an incredible world of vampires, wizards, witches and supernatural beings. I was so engrossed with this story that I found myself sitting and listening in the garage when I got home, I didn't want it to end!

Paul Michael is an excellent reader with a top-notch performance! When it ended, I promptly downloaded the next three books and am still awaiting the next chapter that was just released in the UK... but not the US.

Vampires, Werewolves, and Magicians Oh My!

First of, The Night Watch is a series of short stories all interconnected. That's can be good, bad, or indifferent. It's "modern day" Russia, but not current modern day, and it does date itself a bit with some of the devices mentioned (portable CD players etc.)

I think the weakest point of the book is how the characters interact. That is to say, I don't believe their interactions and for me it's because it's a series of short stories. I don't believe the relationship with Anton and Svetlana, or Igor.I know there's time between each of the stories, but it doesn't really make me care more about the characters. I like Anton, Boris, Olga and Igor, but I don't care about them. I feel we got to know Anton a bit, Igor quite a bit, but we only get enough to move the plot forward for Olga and Boris. I feel like I don't know Svetlana at all.

Narrator Paul Michael give a great performance. He changes characters seamlessly, his Russian accent is great, and when he's not speaking as a character uses an American dialect.

It's not a bad set of stories, but they just didn't click for me, so my wife and I will be passing on the rest of the series, but if you're interested in an urban fantasy set in Russia, this is a pretty cool setting, and there's some good stuff, but it just didn't click for me.

unexpected surprise

What did you love best about Night Watch?

This story took me a about an hour to get into. Once in, it was great. I love the narrator, who also performed on the Dan Brown novels. This book is split into three sections but pay attention, the book builds on previous events.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really love the boy and all the scenes he is in. I wish i could say more but don't want to spoil things for anyone.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have listened to it from start to finish but I wasn't able to. I listen to this while commuting.

love this series well narated and superbly writen

What made the experience of listening to Night Watch the most enjoyable?

the movies only do not do this series justice. when i read this i feel like i have been dropped inside of it in away that i have not felt since Harry Potter

Fun but hard to follow

I liked it but some times the author leaves too much unsaid which makes it hard to connect plots.

Enjoyed

It's rare to find a review that isn't governed by other thoughts of what a story should be like. So I'll try and talk just on what happened here. This isn't the first foreign book I've listened to. So the struggle of bringing myself to another country is gone. I don't think I would have ever gotten through this book had I read it. But the narrating was great and the story was interesting. And looking back at the completed story I really enjoyed it and look forward to getting into book two Daywatch.

Must!

I think I just finished my third listen... This is simply a must! The entire series is a must!

Amazing

Amazing book far greater than the film.. I can't wait to read the others!!!! Everything about this book was great!!!

Great Science Fiction/Fantasy Story

I had the opportunity to read this book in Russian a few years ago, and I loved it. Then, I purchased the DVD version of the movie (which is from only the first story in the book). While the movie is somewhat different from the story in the book, I still thought it was fantastic. I enjoyed it so much that I showed clips of it to the students in my Russian Folk Culture class. Perhaps it is my obsession with all things Russian, but I am continually drawn back to this book, so I read it again in English. The translation was very well done, and I greatly enjoyed reading the book again. The story is about a group of "others" who represent the forces of good (or light) in this world. They work at night (as part of the Night Watch) to defend humans against the evil (or dark)"others." The book and its characters have a very supernatural feel, yet those supernatural "others" seem so human and easy to relate to. This book is the first in a series of four (Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, and Last Watch), soon to be five (New Watch--or so I've read). Night Watch is divided into three short stories about the members of the Night Watch (and one agent in particular--Anton Gordetsky). Each story is self-contained; however, they all interconnect. I would highly recommend this book (and series!) to anyone who likes science fiction and fantasy--especially those who want a significantly more adult tale than those offered by many of the popular young adult series.

A moral tale with next to no morals

This book is an attempt at a moral tale while remaining dismissive of any moral sophistries the characters use to defend their side, even while acknowledging it is doing so. If that sounds a bit meta, it really is. It has an interesting fantasy veneer. but the story writing (there are three separate stories in this book) is shockingly weak and predictable and by the time you reach the third story you realize that this is pretty much the same formula of same story over and over again with only minor variations. Only get this if it is on sale.