[A] fantastic American debut... potent as a shot of vodka.
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
Others. They walk among us. Observing.
Set in contemporary Moscow, where shape shifters, vampires, and street-sorcerers linger in the shadows, Night Watch is the first book of the hyper-imaginative fantasy pentalogy from best-selling Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko.
This epic saga chronicles the eternal war of the “Others,” an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who must swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. The agents of the Dark – the Night Watch – oversee nocturnal activity, while the agents of the Light keep watch over the day. For a thousand years both sides have maintained a precarious balance of power, but an ancient prophecy has decreed that a supreme Other will one day emerge, threatening to tip the scales. Now, that day has arrived. When a mid-level Night Watch agent named Anton stumbles upon a cursed young woman – an uninitiated Other with magnificent potential – both sides prepare for a battle that could lay waste to the entire city, possible the world. With language that throbs like darkly humorous hard-rock lyrics about blood and power, freedom and responsibility, Night Watch is a chilling, cutting-edge thriller, a pulse-pounding ride of fusion fiction that will leave you breathless for the next instalment.
SERGEI LUKYANENKO was born in Kazakhstan and educated as a psychiatrist. He began publishing science fiction in the 1980s and has published over twenty-five books. The three volumes of the Night Watch series have sold more than two million copies worldwide.
ANDREW BROMFIELD is a founding editor of the Russian literature journal Glas. He is best known for his acclaimed translations of Victor Pelevin and Boris Akunin, and his work has been short listed for numerous translation prizes.