The Night Watch

Last week I was asked if I was into the supernatural and things that go bump in the night. Not in so many words of course, but as I read between the lines, that was the general question.

Wondering if the pentagram, chakra and dragonfly combination hanging around my neck had given me away, which it would to someone who know a bit about that side of life, I lifted my left eyebrow curiously and asked why they were interested.

“I have this book I think you’d really like.”

“I take it this book is about the underworld then?”

“Yeah, Kind Of. Not as Dark as that, but yeah. I think you’d like it”

“Do you think you know me well enough to make that call?”

“I think I know enough” said with a sly smile.

I’m not generally the sort of person who wears their entire personality on their sleeve for the purpose of self preservation, so I considered this a bold call, and a correct one. It surprised me. I really didn’t think they knew me that well, it’s not like we are the sort of friends who hang out together outside of work. Perhaps they are just a good judge of character. Perhaps they are slightly more perceptive than I give them credit for.

I was handed The Night Watch, by Russian author Sergi Lukyanenko. Originally penned in Russian and recently translated into English, critics have compared it to J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter series. The only comparison I can see between the two is the subject matter, and that, to me, is where the similarities stop. I can say quite confidently that it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Lukyanenko writes with much more maturity and practical application of the supernatural. It takes a different perspective on magic and it’s altogether a much more believable one. Light and Dark, good and Evil, maintaining the balance and the personal struggles that come with the path that is chosen for you, or more so, the path you choose. It much of the sort of things that those of us who wish were slightly super human could do. Harnessing energy; manipulating the conscious mind; slipping in and out of shadows; and maintaining the balance, not necessarily ‘for the greater good’.

Good can not exist without Evil, Evil can not exist without good. Everyone wants the upper hand, and then there are the those who fight to keep the balance even, and us mere mortals are none the wiser.

The Night Watch is the first in a series of three books, so now I’m on the hunt for The Day Watch and The Twilight Watch.

www.amazon.com here I come.