Book Review The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
May 4th 2007 09:38
This is the second volume of The Night Watch trilogy
Plot synopsis: Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Other. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to The Dark or The Light. In "The Day Watch", second book of the "Night Watch" trilogy, Alice, a young but powerful Dark Other, attends a planning meeting with her comrades in the Day Watch. The team is on a mission to apprehend an uninitiated Other, a practicing Dark witch who has so far eluded the bureaux responsible for finding and initiating unlicensed practitioners of magic. It seems a routine operation. But when they arrive, the Night Watch team has already made the arrest. A fierce battle ensues, during which Alice almost dies. Drained of her powers, she is sent to recuperate at a youth camp near the Black Sea. There she meets Igor; the chemistry between them is instant and irresistible. But then comes a shattering realisation: Igor is a Light Mage. Suddenly Alice remembers him as one of those involved in the battle that left her crippled. Now that they know, there is no alternative to a magical duel, a battle that neither of them wants to win. (net sourced)
After reading the first book The Night Watch, I approached this one with some caution as so many times in the past, I have found out that the second novel is never as good as the first. But I can honestly say that this one is as good or even better than the first. Apart from in the very beginning where I got a little confused (could be due to translation?), this is a cracking read, a real gem of a book for those who are looking for something just a bit different. All your favourite characters from the first book are there, Anton, Gesar, even Zabulon, although I was left a little shocked at the death of one of the other mid level characters.
I am very fussy when it comes to reading books and if I thought it was crap I would say so, but I can't really fault this at all, apart from wanting to read more! To write a trilogy which has vampires, werewolves, witches etc but used in a totally new angle is quite an achievement, plus a bit of politics and intrigue thrown in for good measure makes this a good buy and one that I will reread again and again.
The synopsis covers the first part of the novel, which then filters through the rest of the book as a sub plot. The rest of the book is made up of chapters which are connected to the sub plot but explain things well and move the story along at a good pace.
Kiwiwauthor Book rating = 9/10
Just looking on the net and I see that the second movie has been released so will be looking forward to that.
Hal
Plot synopsis: Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Other. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to The Dark or The Light. In "The Day Watch", second book of the "Night Watch" trilogy, Alice, a young but powerful Dark Other, attends a planning meeting with her comrades in the Day Watch. The team is on a mission to apprehend an uninitiated Other, a practicing Dark witch who has so far eluded the bureaux responsible for finding and initiating unlicensed practitioners of magic. It seems a routine operation. But when they arrive, the Night Watch team has already made the arrest. A fierce battle ensues, during which Alice almost dies. Drained of her powers, she is sent to recuperate at a youth camp near the Black Sea. There she meets Igor; the chemistry between them is instant and irresistible. But then comes a shattering realisation: Igor is a Light Mage. Suddenly Alice remembers him as one of those involved in the battle that left her crippled. Now that they know, there is no alternative to a magical duel, a battle that neither of them wants to win. (net sourced)
After reading the first book The Night Watch, I approached this one with some caution as so many times in the past, I have found out that the second novel is never as good as the first. But I can honestly say that this one is as good or even better than the first. Apart from in the very beginning where I got a little confused (could be due to translation?), this is a cracking read, a real gem of a book for those who are looking for something just a bit different. All your favourite characters from the first book are there, Anton, Gesar, even Zabulon, although I was left a little shocked at the death of one of the other mid level characters.
I am very fussy when it comes to reading books and if I thought it was crap I would say so, but I can't really fault this at all, apart from wanting to read more! To write a trilogy which has vampires, werewolves, witches etc but used in a totally new angle is quite an achievement, plus a bit of politics and intrigue thrown in for good measure makes this a good buy and one that I will reread again and again.
The synopsis covers the first part of the novel, which then filters through the rest of the book as a sub plot. The rest of the book is made up of chapters which are connected to the sub plot but explain things well and move the story along at a good pace.
Kiwiwauthor Book rating = 9/10
Just looking on the net and I see that the second movie has been released so will be looking forward to that.
Hal
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