Night Watch

The Night Watch series has caused a sensation never before seen in Russia -- its popularity is frenzied and unprecedented, and driven by a truly great, epic story. In 2005 Fox Searchlight announced it had acquired the Russian film adaptation for an American release. Interest in the books here is now set to reach a fever pitch.

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

An extraordinary translation from the Russian by noted translator Andrew Bromfield, this first English language edition of Night Watch is a chilling, engrossing read certain to reward those waiting in anticipation of its arrival.

Customer Reviews:

Could not put it down

By J. B Kraft "lonestargazer" - July 15, 2006

I have been a reader of Sci-Fi and Fantasy for almost 50 years, and I can say that this is the best "first novel in a series" I have read in about ten years. In fact, I literally could not put it down, starting it at 10PM on Friday night and finishing it at 3AM on Saturday morning. Then I couldn't sleep thinking about the ideas in the book.
If you have read translated Russian fiction, you will find a familiar feel to the translation that accentuates the best of the Russian Masters. At the same time, as ideas go, the premise is an ingenious variation on a recurrent and Manichean theme -- Light versus Dark. The story is told through the perspective of Anton, a Night Watcher, who works for an Agency that (1) keeps its eyes on the forces of the Dark; (2) enforces an uneasy and temporary truce with them; (3) pursues its own inscrutable agenda in preparation for the inevitible struggle to tip the balance of humanity one way or the other. I have not enjoyed a novel on this theme... read more

Great Russian book

By W. McMillin - July 24, 2006

I have been waiting on this book for months. I am a great fan of the film and wanted to read the book it was based on. I should note that the films Night Watch and Day Watch actually come from the first two sections of this book. A world of good and evil that exists around us. A world where a single moment could tip one towards good or towards evil as we are all just an action away from being lost to the other side. A world of spells, vampires, and the gloom but more importantly a world where the line between good and evil is not always clear.
I found the translations to be clear and easy to read but with an actual flair to them. This is not some boring by numbers translation.

Original, Convoluted but Entertaining

By Peter U. Malyshev - March 15, 2006

Moscow is swept with the Night / Day / Twilight Watch mania these days. Obviously, I became intrigued with the concept and promptly picked up the book this winter not to be disappointed. The plot draws you quickly into the mystery world of the two opposites: the Light and the Dark (note that NOT the Good and the Evil). One can clearly see multiple parallels with Master and Margarita, albeit modernized and less humorous and delivered in a less literary language than Bulgakov's. The similarity is not coincidental given that both novels were written in the periods of Russian history when the lines between what is clear and what is not are not obvious and each participant in the daily living drama must make his or her own moral or judgment call. The book is very visual - you can literally see each of the episodes play out in front of you. The movie adaptation is equally good although has the same drawbacks - the storyline is a bit choppy and it is sometimes hard to follow the plot... read more