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. Set in modern day Moscow, Night Watch is a world as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov.

Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are the Others. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy parallel world existing in parallel to our own, each Other owes allegiance either to the Dark or the Light. The "Night Watch", first book in the "Night Watch" trilogy, follows Anton, a young Other owing allegiance to the Light. As a Night Watch agent he must patrol the streets and metro of the city, protecting ordinary people from the vampires and magicians of the Dark. When he comes across Svetlana, a young woman under a powerful curse, and saves an unfledged Other, Egor, from vampires, he becomes involved in events that threaten the uneasy truce, and the whole city...

Reviews

"Set in contemporary Moscow, Lukyanenko's fantastic American debut-the first in a series about an epic struggle between good and evil-charts the adventures of a race of supernaturally gifted Others, who serve either the Light or Dark Side. The Others slip in and out of an eerie parallel world where they coexist in an uneasy peace that a terrible revolution may soon disrupt. Philosophical Anton Gorodetsky, an earnest Night Watch agent, falls in love with 24-year-old Svetlana Nazarova, a troubled young doctor under a Dark Magician's curse. While Anton endeavors to undo the curse, he discovers Egor, a gifted boy unwilling to choose between his Light or Dark abilities. As humankind's fate hangs in the balance, Anton is forced to re-examine his allegiance, and Svetlana is drawn deeper into the exotic, vivid universe of dueling magicians, shape-shifters, witches and vampires. Potent as a shot of vodka, this compelling urban fantasy was adapted to a Russian blockbuster movie in 2004." Publishers Weekly

‘So good that the film feels like a trailer for it’ Time Out

“Magical. . . modern, new and distinctly creepy. . . . Inventive [and] sardonic.” Independent (UK)

“Brace yourself for Harry Potter in Gorky Park. . . . The novel contains some captivating scenes and all kinds of marvelous, inventive detail: The vampires’ seduction of a teenage boy is bone-chilling; . . . and the fantastical powers exercised by Anton and his colleagues range from delightful to awesome.” The Washington Post Book World

‘JK Rowling, Russian style…arguably Russia’s richest and most famous literary talent of the moment… [a] cracking read, owing more to Rowling or Philip Pullman than it does to the horror genre…surprisingly readable and addictive…it relies on suspense and psychological drama and a good dose of humour - rather than blood and guts’ Daily Telegraph

"Night Watch is an epic of extraordinary power." -- Quentin Tarantino

"Urban and sleek . . . a promising entry into what could be a modern horror epic." -- Entertainment Weekly

Author Biography

Sergei Lukyanenko is a prolific writer, author of over 25 books. The three volumes of the Night Watch Trilogy have sold over two million hardcovers between them. Night Watch has been adapted into a hugely successful film, which outgrossed The Return of the King and the latest Harry Potter in Russia, and has been distributed round the world.