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. ( )

I quite enjoy this series overall. And this one was fascinating in that I felt it actually opened up the world of the Day Watch and Night Watch.

But I also felt there were quite a few times when it completely veered from the story into long philosophical discussions about Russia, about some theoretical situations and generally seemed to lose the thread.

But when Lukyanenko got back to the story? It rocked. And I loved the ending. ( )

I'm getting slightly uncomfortable with the throw away sexist lines through out the series and there was far too much philosophy about various society's in the world but apart from this there is something about this authors writing which keeps me coming back for more of this world and it was also I find it funny what a Russian author thought of British traits in this novel ( )

Here's the fifth volume in Lukyanenko's Watch series about the precarious truce between Light and Dark Others and the various goings on related to it in contemporary Moscow. Now, if you don't already know what the Others and the Watches are, you could get away with starting here; there is enough re-capitulation of the basic scenario, but you would be a lot better off starting at the beginning with the Night Watch, where we are introduced to Anton.

Anton is a Light Magician, tasked with ensuring that the people (and creatures) of the Dark do not break the rules of a truce that ended a magical war, as part of the Night Watch. A balancing force, the Day Watch is staffed by Dark Magicians to ensure the Light abide by their side of the bargain.

When we first met him, Anton was young, naive, morally conflicted and somewhat idealistic - but five books later he is fifteen years older, much more experienced and teaching the newbies the ropes - when he is not getting dragged into complicated international intrigues that threaten the status quo for all Others, that is...

The things that stand out here are much the same as in previous books - that is not all the "urban fantasy" trappings but the character of Anton and the contemporary Russian voice of the author.

Taking the latter first, we get a Russian perspective not only on modern Moscow, but on London and Taipei as well. I find this interesting - what does a Russian find remarkable about London and Britain in general? How does that differ from native views and from the views of other foreign visitors? And such Russian views are quite rare - not much contemporary Russian fiction gets translated and published here.

Then - Anton. He's been through a lot and gets put through more here - and it's interesting to see him being contrasted with the new young members of the Watch who are going through similar moral and motivational crises to those he endured in his youth. Which is the main reason why I think it's better to start at the beginning of the series rather than jump in here.

The story itself develops slowly for the first two thirds but the final act makes up for that with a mystery that I only guessed the least important part of and a denouement that was satisfyingly unpredictable. ( )

I love all these books for their sense of the fantastic and magical but in a bleak urban Russia. No new ground broken with this 4th or 5th in the series, but what the hell, good stuff. ( )