The Night Watch Saga - Sergei Lukyanenko

1. Night Watch
2. Day Watch
3. Twilight Watch
4. Last Watch (as yet unread)

It's taken me a while to write this review because I've been thinking a lot about how to do it.

When I read Night Watch I thought it was a well written book with a typical fantasy fiction basis.

You've got the 'good guys' (the Night Watch) and the 'bad guys' (the Day Watch). Each of the watches were formed to keep an eye on each other to balance out the good and evil in the world. The watches are made up of "Others" who have the ability to step into the Twilight - a world that parallels our own - and of course supernatural powers.

Seems pretty simple right? Wrong.

After I'd read Night Watch it occurred to me that I'd missed something. So I went back and read it again, and it turned out that I'd been right. I'd missed something huge.

These books aren't just about good and evil - they're about morality.
How do we actually know if what we're doing is good or evil? What happens if we use magic to interfere with people's lives - and especially if we think we're doing good for the benefit of all mankind?

Each book consists of several "stories" involving different people. However the major protagonists do appear throughout the saga so that all the books have a common thread.

I'd put this series in the top fifteen of my booklist.
The books are not to be read quickly, because there's a deeper meaning behind all of the stories that will probably increase your enjoyment of the books if you pay attention - I know they did for me.

The Night Watch Saga is something I'd definitely read again, but not when I'm in the mood for a less complex book.