Book Review The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
March 28th 2007 08:08
Hi everyone
I have just finished reading this book and thought I would post a review although first review is sourced from www.bookgasm.com
Set in a post-Communist Russia that’s become the nexus of an uneasy truce between the forces of Light and Darkness, NIGHT WATCH revolves around a low-level agent of the Light, Anton Gorodetsky, who at the novel’s onset patrols the night, making sure evil beings don’t get up to too much no good.
Lukyanenko has created an awesome world here, in which vampires need licenses to hunt humans, where fairy godmothers need a permit to grant good luck, and a simple “damn it” has a concrete, measurable effect on reality. Unlike so many fantasy worlds that only seem real when the main characters are in the immediate vicinity, the Russia of NIGHT WATCH is vibrant, and every one of the huge cast of characters has complex motivations that match their incredible abilities.
And for Anton, whose power is far outstripped by his desire to see the world become a better place, these motivations prove to be heartbreaking and utterly human.
Much like BLAZING SADDLES‘ magnificent, straight Mongo, Anton is just a pawn in the game of life, and he’s constantly set up by forces beyond his comprehension to fulfill a destiny that seems to be common knowledge for everyone but himself. In NIGHT WATCH’s first section, which is from whence the plot of the movie came, he’s tasked with stopping a curse of Hiroshima-like proportions from raining down evil upon the globe, while at the same time keeping a young boy safe from a vengeful vampire.
The second part of the book, which partially corresponds with the second movie (but not so much with the second book, though both are titled DAY WATCH so as to confuse everyone), has Anton being set up for the murders of random servants of Darkness, and by the third act, we start to see the web that has begun to form around Anton as his fate begins to resolve itself.
Unfortunately, the book loses some steam after the first half, and I have no way of knowing if this is the fault of the writer or the translator. While the first section crackles with wit and cunning insight into contemporary Russia and the state of the world, the language becomes bland as borscht as the book reaches it climactic showdown.
That said, I’ve still got my fingers crossed for the forthcoming DAY WATCH (the book; I’ve seen the film already, and it’s better than the first, but still just a hair beyond coherence), because the world introduced in NIGHT WATCH is too intriguing to forget, especially at night. –Ryun Patterson at www.bookgasm.com (net sourced)
Hopefully this gives you an idea what the story is about? Myself I really enjoyed this book, I found the writing style fresh and innovative on which is an old idea, the plotting is well paced and the characters and places draw you into the story line. There are many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing and most of them not obvious either, although I would agree with the above review and that after 3/4 way through, I found that the story pace had slowed quite considerably which made it a bit hard to stay focused on what was happening and at times I found myself quick reading to try and get back to a faster paced part.
But overall I liked this book, a breath of fresh air in the fantasy/horror gene and one that I will read again in the future no problem. I believe that this is the first in a series of three so will look out for the next one to read.
There is also a movie of the same name which I saw about six months ago, which I will watch again and review but from what I recall it wasn't too bad although having read the book, I realise that alot of things in the book weren't in the movie, but thats generally the way with movies etc.
So go out and buy/borrow this book and enjoy a damm good read!
Hal
I have just finished reading this book and thought I would post a review although first review is sourced from www.bookgasm.com
Set in a post-Communist Russia that’s become the nexus of an uneasy truce between the forces of Light and Darkness, NIGHT WATCH revolves around a low-level agent of the Light, Anton Gorodetsky, who at the novel’s onset patrols the night, making sure evil beings don’t get up to too much no good.
Lukyanenko has created an awesome world here, in which vampires need licenses to hunt humans, where fairy godmothers need a permit to grant good luck, and a simple “damn it” has a concrete, measurable effect on reality. Unlike so many fantasy worlds that only seem real when the main characters are in the immediate vicinity, the Russia of NIGHT WATCH is vibrant, and every one of the huge cast of characters has complex motivations that match their incredible abilities.
And for Anton, whose power is far outstripped by his desire to see the world become a better place, these motivations prove to be heartbreaking and utterly human.
Much like BLAZING SADDLES‘ magnificent, straight Mongo, Anton is just a pawn in the game of life, and he’s constantly set up by forces beyond his comprehension to fulfill a destiny that seems to be common knowledge for everyone but himself. In NIGHT WATCH’s first section, which is from whence the plot of the movie came, he’s tasked with stopping a curse of Hiroshima-like proportions from raining down evil upon the globe, while at the same time keeping a young boy safe from a vengeful vampire.
The second part of the book, which partially corresponds with the second movie (but not so much with the second book, though both are titled DAY WATCH so as to confuse everyone), has Anton being set up for the murders of random servants of Darkness, and by the third act, we start to see the web that has begun to form around Anton as his fate begins to resolve itself.
Unfortunately, the book loses some steam after the first half, and I have no way of knowing if this is the fault of the writer or the translator. While the first section crackles with wit and cunning insight into contemporary Russia and the state of the world, the language becomes bland as borscht as the book reaches it climactic showdown.
That said, I’ve still got my fingers crossed for the forthcoming DAY WATCH (the book; I’ve seen the film already, and it’s better than the first, but still just a hair beyond coherence), because the world introduced in NIGHT WATCH is too intriguing to forget, especially at night. –Ryun Patterson at www.bookgasm.com (net sourced)
Hopefully this gives you an idea what the story is about? Myself I really enjoyed this book, I found the writing style fresh and innovative on which is an old idea, the plotting is well paced and the characters and places draw you into the story line. There are many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing and most of them not obvious either, although I would agree with the above review and that after 3/4 way through, I found that the story pace had slowed quite considerably which made it a bit hard to stay focused on what was happening and at times I found myself quick reading to try and get back to a faster paced part.
But overall I liked this book, a breath of fresh air in the fantasy/horror gene and one that I will read again in the future no problem. I believe that this is the first in a series of three so will look out for the next one to read.
There is also a movie of the same name which I saw about six months ago, which I will watch again and review but from what I recall it wasn't too bad although having read the book, I realise that alot of things in the book weren't in the movie, but thats generally the way with movies etc.
So go out and buy/borrow this book and enjoy a damm good read!
Hal
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Comment by Anonymous
Thanks for posting my review of NIGHT WATCH! The folks who run the site I write for have one request though: you're more than welcome to post this review, but please include a link to www.bookgasm.com, because we need as many hits as we can get!
Thanks,
Ryun Patterson
Comment by www.kiwiauthor.com
Thanks for that and will do regarding the link, feel free to pass on my blog details too.
Cheers
Hal