Night Watch

Stardate 02-09-2007



Darth Spencer's post has been approved for distribution as conductive to the cause of Light.

-The Night Watch

Darth Spencer's post has been approved for distribution as conductive to the cause of Darkness.

-The Day Watch

They walk among us, and we have no idea who they are. They are the guardians of Light and Dark. They are vampires, warewolves, wizzards, witches, shape shifters, and those with other supernatural powers. They are called, "The Others," and they are at war.

In order to maintain a balance of power, the choice is given to all Others as to which side they will join. Each Other must choose his or her own path; the rules of war dictate that before they choose, they cannot be negativly or positivly influenced by either side. Both sides lay in wait for the prophisied chosen one of unthinkable power to come forth, join one side, tip the balance and destroy the other side.

This book, Night Watch, by Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko, is about the agents of Light, the Night Watch, who are the guardians of Light. They police the night and make sure the Dark Others obey the rules. It is also about the Day Watch, the agents of Darkness who patrol the day to make sure that the Light Others also obey the rules.

This fantasy novel takes place in modern Moscow and is the first in a four book series. The others in the series are Day Watch, Dusk Watch, and Final Watch. Night Watch centers around Anton, and mid-level Night Watch agent. There are three parts to the book and each is set up as some sort of mystery where Anton needs to figure out what is going on. Along the way, the reader learns more about the history of the Others and the rules that help maintane the balance. I personaly would have enjoyed a bit more about the history, but I guess there are still three more books in the series.

I first heard about Night Watch from a movie trailer that I saw on Quick Time about 8 months ago. I looked into it and found out that the movie was based off of this first book. As it turns out, this series is just huge in Russia. The Night Watch movie has been Russias highest grossing non-foreign film. The movie is now out on DVD, but I do not highly recommend it. I rented it with my Blockbuster Online account and it is wierd. They've turned the movie into a horror/thriller rather then sticking to what the book truely is, which is fantasy. I've read that Miramax is planning to follow up the Russian release with an American version. Lets hope its better. If your interested, you can follow this link which will lead to the movies web page and you can watch the trailer.

I do however, recommend this book. Its a good story and a fun read. It has original ideas and unexpected twists. I'll be honest that its not the best writing in the world, but its not bad eitehr. The translation and language can be a little awkward at times. According to Amazon.com, the next two books in the series are slated for American release in March and then again in July. I think that my fellow nerds will enjoy this book.