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Night Watch (Lukyanenko novel)

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The Night Watch
Original Night Watch book cover
AuthorSergei Lukyanenko
Original titleНочной дозор
TranslatorAndrew Bromfield
LanguageRussian
SeriesThe Night Watch tetralogy
GenreHorror/Fantasy novel
PublisherAST (Russian edition), William Heinemann (UK edition), Miramax (USA edition)
Publication date
1998 (original Russian edition),
Publication placeRussia
Published in English
July 6, 2006 (UK Hardback, Paperback editions)
26 July 2006 (USA Paperback Edition)
Media typePrint (Hardback and Paperback)
Pages336 (USA edition)
ISBN[[Special:BookSources/ISBN+5-237-01511-5+%28Russian+1st+edition%29+%3C%2Fbr%3E+ISBN+0-434-01609-8%2FISBN+0-434-01412-5+%28UK+Hardback%2FPaperback%29+%3C%2Fbr%3E+ISBN+1-4013-5979-5+%28USA+Edition%29 |ISBN 5-237-01511-5 (Russian 1st edition)
ISBN 0-434-01609-8/ISBN 0-434-01412-5 (UK Hardback/Paperback)
ISBN 1-4013-5979-5 (USA Edition)]] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
Followed byDay Watch 

The Night Watch (Russian: Ночной дозор, Nochnoy Dozor) is a fantasy novel by a popular Russian writer Sergey Lukyanenko published in 1998 (1st ed ISBN 5-237-01511-5). In 2004, it was made into a blockbuster film by Timur Bekmambetov. Also, in 2005 Nival Interactive released both the computer game, based on the book, and also the second part of the movie.

The story revolves around a confrontation between two opposing supernatural groups: the Night Watch, an organisation that seeks to improve the world - but isn't totally perfect and selfless either - and the Day Watch, which selfishly seeks to gain by exploiting humanity.

The novel is first in a tetralogy that continues with Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor, Дневной дозор), Twilight Watch (Sumerechnyy Dozor, Сумеречный дозор) and Final Watch (Posledniy Dozor, Последний дозор).

Background

In the story's worldline there exists a magical realm that exists beneath the surface of all things which is referred to as Gloom (or Twilight in other translations). The actions in the novels centers around a group of people referred to as the Others - human beings who tapped into the Gloom and gained supernormal abilities. The Gloom doesn't offer its gifts freely; it feeds off the strength of those Others who enter it. If sufficiently weakened, they are consumed, never to return to the ordinary world. It also forces those entering it for the first time to choose between the Light and the Dark side in a process called initiation. Such a choice is usually final.

This division had always existed between the Others. Those of the Light believed it was their duty to help the weak and the helpless. Those of the Dark shunned all obligations. They did what they wanted, regardless of morals, and consequences. For many millennia, the two sides fought a vicious battle. Both were willing to use any means that would lead them to victory. Eventually they realized that if they continued their battle, neither side would survive. The leaders of both sides forged the Grand Treaty - a set of laws to govern the way the Others used their powers. The Light Others created the Night Watch, to ensure that the Dark Others would not violate the Treaty. The Dark Others created the Day Watch, to ensure that the Light Others would not violate the Treaty. The Inquisition, a group composed of both Dark and Light Others donning grey mantles, was created to ensure that neither side became too powerful.

The Others can use the feelings and emotions of humans surrounding them to recharge their powers, if they spend them too quickly. The Dark Others use negative emotions like pain and anger, the Light Others use positive emotions, like joy. When Dark Ones feed on pain or anger, pain or anger becomes stronger. When Light Ones feed on joy or happiness, the feelings become weaker.

Since then, the Night Watch and the Day Watch kept their eyes on each other, diligently policing every violation of the treaty. The old leaders continued to plot, using humanity and the Others as their pawns. Only time will tell which side will prevail.

(Trivial note for people curious about Russian: some would translate 'Sumrak' as twilight, but it actually refers to a state very close to darkness, not to the in between time between day and night, which is 'Sumerki'. The Gloom is therefore a better translation. However, the preferred translation appears to be Dusk Watch)

The Gloom

Properties

The Gloom, although a realm of existence beneath the human or ordinary world and therefore not sentient, indiscriminately absorbs energy from whomsoever enters it. Whenever an Other enters the Gloom it starts to drain his or her strength. The only way to survive in the Gloom is to slowly feed it energy. The skill required to stay (or even enter) in the Gloom for an extended period of time is acquired through formal training. Others who lack this skill yet still manage to enter the Gloom are at an increased risk of being completely drained of their life and energy.

There have been reports of magicians who have been lost to the Gloom either because they exhausted their energy in battle (within the Gloom), due to having no choice or carelessness. Novices have also been lost to the Gloom because they have allowed it to take much more energy than they should; they lack the skill to "feed" the Gloom.

The length of time that an Other can stay in the Gloom depends on their level of power and their level of skill. However, even magicians whom are quite powerful, adept at entering the Gloom, and feeding it, cannot stay in there indefinetely.

"Regular" laws of physics, that is, the laws of physics present in the ordinary (human) world do not apply in the Gloom, however, there are parallels and similarities.

Emotions have colour in the Gloom. Similar to reading a person's aura, the colours present in or around an Other in the Gloom can be read in order to know how they are feeling. Others also have colour in the Gloom along with the magic that they manifest.

The Gloom is what imbues the Others with most of their magical powers. It is also responsible for giving them their unnaturally (in human terms) long life. Due to the Twilight, Others can live to be hundreds, possibly even thousands, of years old.

Levels

The Gloom itself is divided into several levels. Each level is harder to get to and accessible only to more and more powerful Others; this is due in large part to the fact that the Gloom drains energy much more quickly and greedily in deeper levels. In order to access the lower levels of the Gloom, an Other must step through their shadow at each successive level.

At the first level the Gloom is a grey, or sepia-toned, version of the human world wherein time runs much slower than in the human world; this means that you can do more in the Gloom in less time than it would take in the human world. In this level remnants of the human world still exist and can still be seen. For instance, humans can still be seen but they are sepia-toned and are moving at a much slower rate which is due to the time difference between the two realms.

The second level (which is the deepest level travelled into in Night Watch, although it is not the deepest level mentioned) is even less like the human world and all buildings and people disappear. It is described as being darker, and having a consistency that is comparable to clouds.

Inhabitants

The Gloom is accessible only to Others (both living and dead), particular magical objects, and certain animals. Others access the Gloom by raising their shadow, increasing its volume and density, then stepping through it.

As mentioned before, particular magical objects can enter the Gloom. However, it is not so much that they can enter the Gloom so much as they exist on multiple levels of reality. For example, a copper amulet in the human world may be seen existing in the Gloom as a small ball of fire.

Night Watch has hinted that animals do not always follow the same rules as humans or Others when it comes to the Gloom. In the first book of Night Watch entitled Story One: Destiny, Anton explains that "For cats there is no [human] world or Twilight -- they live in all the worlds at once."

There is only one natural inhabitant in the Gloom that is introduced in Night Watch. It is a dark blue moss that grows along along many surfaces of the sepia-toned human world in the first level of the Gloom. It feeds off of the emotional energy of Others who enter into the Gloom and of the humans in the ordinary world. There is a theory mentioned that states that large colonies of dark blue moss can unbalance the human psyche and cause psychosis but it hasn't been proven.

Mysteries

The Gloom is still largely an unknown. This may be due to the fact that there are very few truly powerful magicians who can successfully navigate its levels. Night Watch mentions that that the deepest levels have been navigated by Zabulon (see character descriptions below) but at the cost of great energy expenditure even to him.

When an Other dies, is killed, or dematerialised (executed) their 'soul' or 'essence' is passed into the Twilight where it remains for all eternity. Since Others are 'born' in the Twilight it would only make sense for them to return there upon their death but the reason for this is never stated in Night Watch. They become spectral-like figures, cloudy silhouettes of their former physical selves. It remains a mystery whether or not they retain any memory or feeling as they hardly communicate with living Others who enter the Twilight.

Characters:

Spoiler Warning: Some of these character bios may contain inadvertant spoilers.

Light Others

  • Anton Gorodetsky (Light Mage) - the main character of the novel (most of the novel is written in the first-person from his point of view), a reluctant member of Night Watch, in the beginning of the first book, preferred mundane, technical jobs to actual field work. The events of the series forced him to step up and become a full-fledged operative. They also made him considerably more cynical about the cause of Light Others. His favorite past-time is listening to randomly arranged custom mini-discs. He is a second-level mage. Posesses a Desert Eagle with silver bullets for protection from vampires and werewolves.
  • Boris Ignatyevich/Geser (Grand Light Mage) - an ancient mage of Tibetan descent who taught a number of heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he has had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chose to remain a regional director of the Moscow division. Gesser is a battle-hardened tactician who's been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he doesn't hesitate to put them in harm's way for the sake of greater good. His mage level is Beyond Classification (i.e. doesn't fit into the 1-7 scale).
  • Svetlana (Grand Light Sorceress) - a young doctor who is not aware of her powers at the beginning, a victim of a plot by Zavulon to kill her before she joins the Night Watch. She enters into a relationship with Anton which comes under strain as Svetlana's powers continue to increase exponentially.
  • Olga (Grand Light Sorceress) - an old friend and an occasional lover of Geser who was turned into an owl for breaking obligations she had to the Light. She was allowed to change back to her human form during wartime, for half an hour every day. Thanks to Geser's manipulations, she was restored to her human form and regained her powers by the end of Night Watch.
  • Semyon (Light Mage) - a crusty, experienced mage with a wryly cynical outlook on the world. Unlike many of his fellow mages, he is a capable fighter even without his magic.
  • Tiger Cub/Katya (Shifter-Mage) - a young, playful mage with a penchant for jewels and amulets. She is highly regarded both by Dark and Light Others. It has been said that she could charm anyone. As the name implies, she shapeshifts to tiger as her preferred animal form. She has a large house riddled with secret passages and guarded by dogs trained to attack Others (usually, animals are afraid of Others). She can be rather impulsive, which got her in trouble on several occasions.
  • Bear (Shifter-Mage) - a reclusive, quiet mage known for his calculated, brutal tactics. It has been continuously speculated that he was originally a Dark Other, despite the well-known fact that once the choice is made, the Others can't change sides. His preferred animal form is a large polar bear. He is frequently partnered with Tiger Cub.
  • Ignat (Light Incubus/Succubus) - a self-absorbed mage with "[the] face of a Hollywood actor and [the] body of a Greek god". He prides himself on being able to bed any woman (or man, he doesn't care). As a result, he takes failure very hard.
  • Garik (Light Mage) - a shy mage infamous for his bad luck with women.
  • Igor (Light Mage) - an idealistic mid-level mage. Despite his youthful appearance, he was born in the late 1920s. He is dedicated to the cause of Light Others, though his refusal to compromise his principles has occasionally caused problems.

Dark Others

  • Zavulon (Grand Dark Mage) - an ancient schemer about the same age as Geser. His true form has taken on demonic characteristics because he had spent a great deal of time in the Gloom.
  • Alyssa Donnikova (Dark Witch) - a young witch with a penchant for mischief and discreet mind manipulation. She was Zavulon's lover until the end of the book.
  • Kostya Saushkin (High Vampire) - a young, idealistic vampire whom Anton befriended shortly after becoming the Other. However, Anton's actions during the first part Night Watch drove a wedge between them. He was bitten by his father after he was born, and has resented being a vampire ever since. His goal is to study biology and find a cure for vampirism.

Unaffiliated

  • Maxim (Inquisitor) - a middle-class Light Other whose powers emerged before Night Watch could find him. Feeling compelled to seek out evil, he hunted and killed low-level Dark Others. Upon discovering the truth about the Others, he joined the Inquisition.
  • Yegor - a shy, seemingly ordinary young boy. He was ambushed by a pair of renegade vampires in the beginning of Night Watch. Yegor is a very rare case, having a 'clean slate'. His aura shows his fate to be undetermined. In the second book of Night Watch, it is revealed that Yegor has chosen the side of the Dark. However, at the very end of the novel his destiny is partially re-written and he joins the side of the Light. His mage level is very low (6 or 7).

See also

  • Face of the Dark Palmira - A novel set in the same fictional universe as the Watch trilogy. It was written by Sergey Lukyaninko's "Day Watch" co-author Vladimir Vasilyev. The novel took place between Part 1 and Part 2 of Dusk Watch. It made reference to the events in Dusk Watch, while Dusk Watch made references to it.
  • The Other among Others - a long story by Vitaly Kaplan set in the same fictional universe as the Watch tetralogy. It explores the role of religion in the lives of Others.
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