Product Description

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 world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to the Dark or the Light. Three years have passed since the events of The Day Watch. Svetlana has left the Night Watch to raise her and Anton's daughter Nadya, now a precocious two-year-old. With mother and daughter spending the summer on a dacha not far from Moscow, Anton is working on uneventfully, dreaming of a holiday, when his boss Gesar asks him in for a private meeting. Gesar has received an anonymous note, stating that an Other has revealed the full truth about their kind to a human, and now intends to do the impossible: convert that human into an Other. Even more worryingly, the note has been sent to Zebulon and to the Inquisition's offices in Berne - and only the highest-level mages and sorcerers know the address. So the Inquisition has ordered the Night Watch to cooperate with the Day Watch and unmask the culprit. Anton will be the Night Watch representative, while the Day Watch is sending Kostya Saushkin, once Anton's teenage neighbour and idealistic friend, now a High Vampire and, at the age of twenty, the youngest in Europe...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #188499 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Telegraph
`[a] dazzling fantasy'

From the Inside Flap
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 world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to the Dark or the Light.

Its high summer in Moscow, and with wife Svetlana and daughter Nadya still away, spending the summer on a dacha not far from Moscow, Night Watch Agent Anton Gorodetsky is trying to enjoy the last day of his holidays. But when a call comes in from Gesar – his Boss and Night Watch top dog – requesting a private meeting, it quickly becomes clear he’s going to have to go back to work early…

Gesar has received an anonymous note, stating that an Other has revealed the full truth about their kind to a human, and now intends to do the supposedly impossible: convert that human into an Other. Even more worryingly, the note has been sent to Zabulon head of the Day Watch, and to the Inquisition’s offices in Berne – and only the very highest-level Others know the address. So the Inquisition has ordered the Night Watch to cooperate with the Day Watch and unmask the culprit. Anton will be the Night Watch representative, while the Day Watch is sending Kostya Saushkin, once Anton’s teenage neighbour and idealistic friend, now a Higher Vampire and, at the age of twenty, the youngest in Europe...

Set in a vividly realised post Soviet Moscow, where vampires operate under license and Good and Evil exist in a Cold War like balance of power, The Twilight Watch is a page-turning fantasy thriller in the allegorical, darkly comic tradition of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, an international bestseller as strikingly original as Anne Rice or Philip Pullman.

From the Back Cover
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 world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to the Dark or the Light.

Its high summer in Moscow, and with wife Svetlana and daughter Nadya still away, spending the summer on a dacha not far from Moscow, Night Watch Agent Anton Gorodetsky is trying to enjoy the last day of his holidays. But when a call comes in from Gesar – his Boss and Night Watch top dog – requesting a private meeting, it quickly becomes clear he’s going to have to go back to work early…

Gesar has received an anonymous note, stating that an Other has revealed the full truth about their kind to a human, and now intends to do the supposedly impossible: convert that human into an Other. Even more worryingly, the note has been sent to Zabulon head of the Day Watch, and to the Inquisition’s offices in Berne – and only the very highest-level Others know the address. So the Inquisition has ordered the Night Watch to cooperate with the Day Watch and unmask the culprit. Anton will be the Night Watch representative, while the Day Watch is sending Kostya Saushkin, once Anton’s teenage neighbour and idealistic friend, now a Higher Vampire and, at the age of twenty, the youngest in Europe...

Set in a vividly realised post Soviet Moscow, where vampires operate under license and Good and Evil exist in a Cold War like balance of power, The Twilight Watch is a page-turning fantasy thriller in the allegorical, darkly comic tradition of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, an international bestseller as strikingly original as Anne Rice or Philip Pullman.

Customer Reviews

Third in the series, doesn't disappoint
I caught 'Night Watch' when it came out on film in the UK, because ... well, it was Russian, fantasy and modern day setting.

I was stunned by the quality of the work, especially given the rather limited budget they had available.

So I picked up Night Watch when I saw it available.

Twilight Watch is the third in the series. I've loved every page so far, and this one remains on good solid form. It follows the usual format, of 3 stories in one book, that seem only peripherally linked. But it remains a fascinated and compelling setting, with characters that are interesting and complicated, but at the same time have a rough human edge to them.

A glorious book, and a very worthwhile read. But catch Night Watch and Day Watch first - whilst this one does actually stand alone fairly well, it's worth getting some of the history in place beforehand.

Marvellous original Russian fantasy
I agree with the previous reviewers -- read the other two books first. I found this one first without knowing about the others and it was more enjoyable to revisit after the first two. The fantasy world is original, the stories have pace and are full of intrigue like a political novel, the characters, both Light and Dark, interesting, and the dialogue often funny. Each novel has three stories, each of which starts as a separate story but is in fact complexly intertwined with the previous history.
What gave these novels the edge for me is the setting of modern Russia, with its post-Soviet background, the new and the old still side by side, the Moscow street names, the run down trains... Now I understand something about the proper Russian way to drink vodka and why only Russians can do it right.
The camaraderie between the characters -- more with the Light ones -- is satisfying, the way they manage to have fun even though they're engaged in a permanent secret war with the other side, the occasional uneasy fraternizing with the enemy, all contribute to the enjoyment.
By the way, the blurb "Harry Potter, Russian style" on the book covers does not cut it at all, in my view. If you like fantasy and are looking for something original, dark but not dirty, and which may cause you to search your own heart for the good & evil that is there, then I think you'll be well served.

Russian Dark Fantasy
So dark it's dancing with horror.

I would recommend reading this after the other two in the series, Night Watch and Day Watch and if you've read them a while ago refreshing your memory.

The story starts with Anton and an attempt to find out who revealed the existence of the Others to regular humans. After Anton has finished with this he joins his wife and child, who are on holiday and from there on in things get very involved and messy. The lines between good and bad are blurred and confused and Anton isn't usre of who to trust, who to believe and what way he should go.

It's interesting and the unfolding of the mythology of the Other world is quite well handled. I've enjoyed the series, I've found it interesting to have a darker view of the world, to contrast with a lot of the Vampire Romances I've been reading recently.