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breakaway71's review against another edition
3.0
Whew, this is a tough one for me. It took me a long time to get through this book, not because it was bad - it's not! - but it is so incredibly obvious when you're reading that you're reading in a language it was not intended to be read in. The vernacular, the way words are strung together, even the way the story flows... As someone who's been studying the Russian language for a year now, it made perfect sense to me why things were written as they were, and I think the translator did an amazing job in one sense - it felt like a Russian novel, it wasn't Americanized at all, and I have a lot of respect for that. But from a literary perspective and as someone used to reading stories in a certain way, it was more difficult than I expected.
The story itself has a lot of potential. I think the plot felt too big for how the author wrote it, but again, I'm almost definitely losing something in translation, and it's hard to make that judgment with any sort of confidence.
Overall, I liked it. And I'm glad to have read it. If nothing else, the feel you get for Russia, even from an urban fantasy perspective, is utterly fascinating. But I don't think it's a series I feel up to tackling more of, or maybe not until (and if ever) I'm capable of reading it in its original language.
The story itself has a lot of potential. I think the plot felt too big for how the author wrote it, but again, I'm almost definitely losing something in translation, and it's hard to make that judgment with any sort of confidence.
Overall, I liked it. And I'm glad to have read it. If nothing else, the feel you get for Russia, even from an urban fantasy perspective, is utterly fascinating. But I don't think it's a series I feel up to tackling more of, or maybe not until (and if ever) I'm capable of reading it in its original language.
johnnasrad's review against another edition
3.0
I think this book suffered from the fact that I listened to it.
The narrator had a very "Russian" style of speaking that made the whole story feel flat.
I eventually was just more interested in other books on my TBR.
The narrator had a very "Russian" style of speaking that made the whole story feel flat.
I eventually was just more interested in other books on my TBR.
mark_b's review against another edition
3.5
Night Watch is a parallel reality story about Anton Gorodetsky, a member of the Night Watch, based in Moscow. The Night Watch, and the corresponding organization, Day Watch, represent good versus evil, respectively; or as described in the book, light versus darkness. In many ways Night Watch, with its wizards, witches, magicians, vampires and shape shifters, is a noir version of the Harry Potter stories, with fewer children. The book is structured as three short stories involving the same central characters. If Night Watch has a central theme, it’s the symmetry or balance between good and evil, light and dark, joy and sadness. I enjoyed reading Night Watch, but not so much that I’m going to tackle the sequels.
aj96's review against another edition
2.0
I was interested in this book and really wanted to read it, but I started it with a resistant attitude towards it. Maybe because of the popularity of vampires and the ensuing vampire fatigue, although having finished the book vampires are only a minor part of the story.
The book is divided into three stories which was fine but unnecessary since all three have the same protagonist and are continuous although with different subplots. There were problems that lasted throughout the entire book. One was the excessive use of exclamation points. I don't know if this was the fault of the author or the translator, but there were way too many. I get it, the book is exciting! Another problem I had with the book was the insertion of song lyrics into the plot. Again, possibly a problem of translation but these lyrics were basically nonsense to me, yet are presented as so meaningful.
I liked the first story in the book. I thought there were some interesting and creative ideas, such as vortexes appearing over people's heads when they are cursed by others (not Others). I thought the concept of the two watches and their interactions and balance was interesting as well. However, I wanted more back story on how these watches came to be and how the treaty was put in place. That would have been a more interesting story than this one.
With stories two and three, I found the premise to be getting old. There was too much of Anton thinking about the difference between Light and Dark, and Good and Evil. And yeah the lines are blurred. It just rambled on too much. And SPOILER:
I had to force myself to finish the book, but it ended with a twist that makes me want to read the sequel(s) just to follow up with it. But from reading the description of the next book in the series, I don't know if it picks up where this story leaves off.
The book is divided into three stories which was fine but unnecessary since all three have the same protagonist and are continuous although with different subplots. There were problems that lasted throughout the entire book. One was the excessive use of exclamation points. I don't know if this was the fault of the author or the translator, but there were way too many. I get it, the book is exciting! Another problem I had with the book was the insertion of song lyrics into the plot. Again, possibly a problem of translation but these lyrics were basically nonsense to me, yet are presented as so meaningful.
I liked the first story in the book. I thought there were some interesting and creative ideas, such as vortexes appearing over people's heads when they are cursed by others (not Others). I thought the concept of the two watches and their interactions and balance was interesting as well. However, I wanted more back story on how these watches came to be and how the treaty was put in place. That would have been a more interesting story than this one.
With stories two and three, I found the premise to be getting old. There was too much of Anton thinking about the difference between Light and Dark, and Good and Evil. And yeah the lines are blurred. It just rambled on too much. And SPOILER:
Spoiler
it turns out that the plot of all three stories were setups by the Night Watch to test or trick Anton. But it's stated multiple times that he's just a middle-grade magician so why waste the watch's time and resources to create these elaborate plots for him?I had to force myself to finish the book, but it ended with a twist that makes me want to read the sequel(s) just to follow up with it. But from reading the description of the next book in the series, I don't know if it picks up where this story leaves off.
bookworm66's review against another edition
5.0
Great book. Vampires, witches and otherworlds, set in modern day Moscow.
absbia777's review against another edition
3.0
While the concept is interesting, I simply couldn't keep myself following it. Perhaps it's lost in translation or it's just simply a boring book. Either way, the interest just wasn't completely there.
glitch1221's review against another edition
5.0
Though several friends recommended this book to me, I resisted for a long time. I thought the basic premise, of paranormal Others bound to either the Light or the Darkness, who form opposing Watches that monitor each others activities seemed a bit formulaic and hackneyed. I expected it to be very black and white in its depiction of the struggle between the two forces.
I couldn't have been more wrong. What I found was three stories of Anton, a conflicted Light Magician, as he is manipulated in the byzantine machinations of the Light side Night Watch against their eternal enemies of the Dark side Day Watch. There is nothing black and white about these stories. Instead, the entire book is suffused with a sense of grey, of shadow and literal Twilight. Nothing is as it seems. Moral uncertainty and ethical dilemmas abound.
The true heart of this novel is its exploration of the edge between Light and Darkness. We see how doing Good can cause great Evil, how doing Evil can some times produce good, and we explore the cost of fighting the Darkness, and wonder why we should bother fighting it at all. No answers are given, per se, though the stories themselves build to satisfying conclusions. Instead, the questions remain after you're done, opening the reader to new avenues of thought.
Both entertaining and thought provoking. An excellent read.
I couldn't have been more wrong. What I found was three stories of Anton, a conflicted Light Magician, as he is manipulated in the byzantine machinations of the Light side Night Watch against their eternal enemies of the Dark side Day Watch. There is nothing black and white about these stories. Instead, the entire book is suffused with a sense of grey, of shadow and literal Twilight. Nothing is as it seems. Moral uncertainty and ethical dilemmas abound.
The true heart of this novel is its exploration of the edge between Light and Darkness. We see how doing Good can cause great Evil, how doing Evil can some times produce good, and we explore the cost of fighting the Darkness, and wonder why we should bother fighting it at all. No answers are given, per se, though the stories themselves build to satisfying conclusions. Instead, the questions remain after you're done, opening the reader to new avenues of thought.
Both entertaining and thought provoking. An excellent read.
sarahinred's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoying this book so far. Keeps you interested and engaged.
s_l's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
overtly's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0