Night Watch
Sergei Lukyanenko
464 pp. Miramax. $13.95
Pub. Date: 7/26/2006
ISBN-13: 978-1401359799
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Ever feel like there’s a big, black cloud hanging over your head, following you around? You try hard. Things go wrong. You try even harder. And things get worse. Like life’s clamped down on your nipples with an iron grip, purple-nurpling you into submission, belly up, throat exposed.
Now magnify this. About a thousand times. And imagine an enormous vortex of impending death and evil hanging over your head, rising high into the sky, black as a crow’s belly, clearly visible for miles around. But this isn’t life’s doing. This is a curse cast upon you by a powerful wizard with murderous intent. And when this curse comes to fruition, things go boom. Like nuclear cloud boom, taking half of
Enter the Night Watch. The good guys. Though good’s a relative term here. The Night Watch is charged with keeping evil supernatural elements in check, a police force governing the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night. Got a rogue vampire sucking down folks like a five year old downs Slurpees? Call the Night Watch. Got a dark wizard trying to get his evil on—maniacal laugh and all? Call the Night Watch (and maybe a vocal coach depending on the quality of the laugh). Impending vortex of doom hanging over your head? Yep, the Night Watch. Call them.
But good needs a foe, and for the Night Watch, evil’s champion is the Day Watch. Like Dr. Evil is to Austin Powers, and good taste is to Paris Hilton movies, the Day Watch is to the Night Watch, eternal combatants. The Day Watch polices those supernatural folks looking to do good. A treaty between the groups brokers an uneasy peace. Evil and good are allowed to co-exist, but in balance. And with restrictions. An act of goodness must be met with a similar act of evil. For every response, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It’s good versus evil with
This duality between good and evil is central to Sergei Lukyanenko’s “Night Watch.” Lukyanenko continuously asks questions throughout the novel about the nature of good and evil, how they relate to each other, while deeply exploring the answers. Questions about how perspective can often change whether an act is viewed as good or evil. A man steals bread. The injured merchant believes the theft evil. The man’s starving family likely perceives the action differently. Which is true? Is either true?
This exploration of the relativism of good and evil reveals the novel’s Russian roots. Typical of Russian literature, “Night Watch” is deeply thoughtful, philosophical, and strident in its pursuit of answers. It’s “Crime and Punishment” meets urban fantasy, easily making it the most intelligent urban fantasy novel I’ve read.
The narrative structure of the novel is interesting. Lukyanenko partitions “Night Watch” into three distinct sections, each detailing an incident in the protagonist Anton’s life. Gaps in time—usually a season—separate each section. The interconnection between the stories is only teased out near the end. But it’s vastly effective and engaging, dragging the reader along by the scruff of their neck. Always reading one more page.
Translated from the original Russian by Andrew Bromfield, “Night Watch” reads rough in spots, but that’s to be expected considering the inherent difficulties in translating. Bromfield does an admirable job though, especially with material that’s so deeply philosophical.
Last Word:
“Night Watch” raises the stakes for all other books in the urban fantasy genre by not only entertaining the reader but making them ask the Big Questions. Questions about the relative nature of good and evil, and how one finds truth in these circumstances. Questions about love and fate. Lukyanenko imbues the novel with a fierce intelligence. But also with a tender heart. And this combination makes “Night Watch” feel real, vital, and rewarding. An urban fantasy fortune cookie with wisdom buried within. Precious wisdom not to be missed.
Final Grade: 81 out of 100
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2 comments:
"Night Watch" was a great read but I barely made it 50 pages into the sequel...
At first i didnt really understand it too much.. but i went on to read the sequel and i started grasping the idea of it. I have finished reading them all now.. and i rate this series as one of my most favorite. To really appreciate these novels, you much read all four novels. you will not regret it.
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