New Watch: Book Five (Night Watch, 5)

I have always enjoyed Lukyanenko’s stories, finding his unique take on underlying motivation as a driving factor in his magical system to be refreshing. His background as a psychiatrist makes this a perfect choice for him. I think this installment makes the promise of further possible applications of these ideas in the final installment concerning the Twilight itself. I wish both language and fame barriers allowed for me to discuss some of his ideas about psychology presented in these books with him directly, as I am about to be pursuing my doctorate in psychology.If you enjoyed the previous books in the Night Watch series I think you will enjoy this one as well. We have a continuing evolution of Anton as he takes on a more leadership oriented role, as well as a lot of fun interaction between him and Arina, one of the Moore interesting relationships I feel. The author is good about incorporating developments in culture and technology in the real world into his fictional world which is progressing at roughly the same time. We see new technology being used throughout, and even socio-political events and changes being incorporated. Though I would’ve liked to see some more of Russian internal politics discussed or examined within the context of the story, as it mostly focused on political upheavals in the United States and elsewhere. Perhaps there are social reasons for this, as I know expressing political criticism of the government in Russia in media is still actively discouraged under the current regime. The usual hallmarks of Anton’s musical choices are of course still ther, helping anchor us in a familiar world.Overall I would say this entry in the series is less action oriented, which may disappoint some readers, and definitely takes a more contemplative tone with a more mystery focused story.A criticism I saw from other reviewers was that this (and the next book, which I haven’t yet finished) have the world facing a disaster that only Anton can save it from ala some dues ex machina with him as the quintessential god in the machine. I feel that is an inaccurate judgement, as at the climax of this story it is not Anton as some special character that saves the world, but a decision to make a personal sacrifice that any number of characters in this world placed in the same situation would have ability to make.The book did a feel a bit more...brief...than previous entries, which is less a criticism and more a desire for more of the author’s writing. Hopefully given the international success of this series (though the movie adaptations were pretty terrible) will help get some of the rest of his voluminous body of work translated into English as I would dearly like to read the rest of it.

It is far from a bad book. It's definitely worth your time, but only if you really liked the earlier volumes in the series. The main problem was that I felt New Watch was written just to continue the series, not tell a compelling story.Filtered through the lens of the supernatural, there are the usual fascinating descriptions of contemporary Russian culture and meditations on its past: things we've come to expect from the Watch series. Discussions on the ethics of power and the place Others should or shouldn't have in human society? They're there, too. But by now, the author's gone to the well a little too often on the philosophical issues, and the water's getting muddy.Some characters return, like Olga, Semyon, and Gesar, but they lack the bite they had from the previous novels. They're mostly window dressing. A new character, a human policeman (polizei) is introduced, but Lukyanenko doesn't do a lot with him. Throughout, the only two characters of real importance are Anton the protagonist and Arina the sometimes antagonist. There is a third character, the Tiger, but I can't describe him/her without giving anything important away, so I won't.Concepts like the nature of the Twilight and the purpose of Prophets are discussed, but the explanations behind them seem too forced, too superficial. They needed fleshing out. Anton has to go overseas in order to learn basic, fundamental things that the Russian Others should have known all along. An infidelity subplot is hinted at, but goes nowhere and leaves one wondering why it was introduced.There are flashes of brilliance here and there, like Anton's precognitive flash and some neat magic tricks, but they're overwhelmed by an underwhelming ending that hinges on two unfortunate elements: a plot device brought in on the last couple of pages, and a handshake agreement that makes little sense.Did you like the other books in the series? Then buy this one. Just don't get your hopes up.

I want to start by saying this series of books comprise my favorite books I've read. Never once before or after have I read through books so quickly as when I was reading this series.That said, New Watch would probably be my least favorite of the five books. I'd give all four of the previous books 5-stars, and this probably 4-4.5 stars. However, as homage to the series, I gave it 5 stars with the hope that new readers might pick it up based on the newest entrants popularity. Not to say it wasn't good, because it was. It just didn't have the same thrilling story line as the first four. I will say it went a direction I didn't expect, and was an original plot.As I expected, the entire book is first person through the eyes of Anton Gorodetsky. He's still fairly new to the Higher Magician status. He finds himself at the center of a big mystery that seems to puzzle even Gesar. He also runs into an old acquaintance, with whom he spends most of the book trying to learn a great prophecy.***Slight spoilers ahead, but no plot/story spoiling******Slight spoilers ahead, but no plot/story spoiling***One thing that disappointed me somewhat was the lack of Day Watch presence in this book. I really enjoyed the constant struggle between the Watches, and you don't really get any of that in New Watch.

Although I was wondering where Lukyanenko was going to take the Others in this book I had hoped it would be entertaining. Unfortunately the touches of political and social commentary about the state of the world and the former USSR which provided a welcome leaven to the previous books in this fantasy expanded into pages in this one. These digressions not only seemed self- indulgent but also killed the narrative stone dead, robbing the book of page turning quality.All this padding plus rather perfunctory characterisation meant this book was neither an engaging read or up to the standard of the previous books in the series. It certainly bore all the hallmarks of being unedited and written in a hurry. It also was rather mystifying ( and not in a good way. ) The author builds up an engaging and sympathetic new human character who ends up doing nothing of importance in the plot. And who are the New Watch anyway ?I came away with the feeling that this was half a book with a fifteen page resolution hastily tacked on to meet a deadline. I retain enough fondness for the series to see if "The Sixth Watch" turns out to be the other half of this one but found "The New Watch" disappointing, thin stuff.

Apathy, pure apathy is all that I felt when finishing this book. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t like it, I just felt *nothing*.It seems that the further you get into this series, the less there is devoted to any actual story, while more and more is used to go on about the state of Russia today.While this is actually interesting in it’s own right, the reason I picked up the book in the first place was for the story!! I didn’t want Sergei Lukyanenko’s own personal criteque on the Russian way of life. I don’t particularly care how short changed they feel verses the western world, I just wanted to escape in a fantasy universe.Just how many pages did he dedicate to that plane journey with Arina?? How relevant was any of it to the story??Whatever happened to writing from the point of view of other characters? This really worked in the first two books. Zabulon seemed genuinely scary - in the later books it seems that he is around just to help everyone…Oh and the constant quoting of songs throughout, it irked me in the previous books, but I'd *REALLY* had enough of it here.I won’t be reading any more of these for a while…

A superb book. I wouldn't have thought that Mr. Lukyanenko could add anything to this story line - but he has! Excellent insight into the nature of the Twilight world and where all this magical power is coming from, the introduction of a slightly spooky new actor in the power balance between Light and Dark that integrates seamlessly, and some lovely insights into the characters that we've grown to love over the previous four books. I'd love to take Anton out for dinner in the Old Arbat, drink vodka and hear his stories.Great book, well worth a read.

All of the books in this series are simply fantastic. I was having withdrawal symptoms from reading Game of Thrones and Stephen Kings Dark Tower Series. I wasn't sure I would enjoy what I thought was a horror genre. How wrong was I? Firstly, the books are not a horror genre. They are beautifully translated and keep you captured throughout. I love the way Sergei Lukyanenko tells three little stories to solve a bigger mystery.

This is rather different from Lukyaneko's previous books, less of an adventure perhaps, and at first I was a little disappointed, but once I got into the story, I found the exposition of the twilight world fascinating. Lukyenko's underlying moral sense is more to the foreground in this story which may not please all readers. I hope this is not the last book in series. I will add to this review later on, when I have reread the book.