Hi everyone, this week I want share one of my favorite supernatural thrillers with you!
“The Night Watch,” written by Russian author Sergei Lukanenko, always struck me as the illegitimate lovechild of John LeCarre and H P Lovecraft. Set in modern day Moscow, this series follows the cases of Anton Gorodetsky, a Light Mage working for the Night Watch. In this universe, the supernatural forces of Light and Dark have realized that an all-out war would only result in destruction of the human race, and with them the mages who rely on them to provide the emotional and spiritual energy that powers their magic. Thus, a pact was formed, whereby each group would work to expand their influence from the shadows, seeking to control humanity but never directly interfere in the free will of human life.
Why? Because under the agreement, every act performed by one side that breaks this rule grants the opposite side the right to use an equal and opposite act to restore the balance. The books play out like a game of chess, with the Light and Dark always bending, twisting or quietly breaking the rules to try and force their opponent into an unforced error – one that will grant a strategic advantage in the larger war. If you are a Dark mage, the best way to create death and destruction is to first trick the Light into needlessly influencing the world towards prosperity and harmony, then use the right to create an equal and opposite magic to create the worst possible outcome.
For Aton, the member of the Light’s police force known as the Night Watch, this means that a seemingly simple job such as catching an unlicenced vampire or hunting a rogue werewolf killer quickly becomes a complex battle between secret power groups. More often than not, Anton realizes that the cases he is sent to investigate are not an end in themselves, but parts of greater plans by the all-powerful Gesar, Chief of Moscow’s Light Mages, and Zabulon, ruler of Moscow’s Dark creatures.
As the series goes on, Lukyanenko introduces some moral contrasts to his power groups; the reader meets vampire families who are kind, welcoming and law-abiding, Dark mages who are surprisingly even-handed and sensible, and Light mages who can be just as arrogant, calculating and cruel as any Hollywood villain. In terms of crafting a story, Luyanenko is as close to perfect as you can get; the growth of Anton from middling Night Watch member to a powerful Higher Mage is beautifully paced, and it’s a great journey watching him become as shrewd and cunning as Gesar. The carefully constructed active settling of this book creates the supernatural drama, and is always pushing the story along. The characters, even the villains, are all relatable characters and many of them undergo their own transformations as the series progresses.
What did these books teach me about writing? Just as “Revelation Space” taught me the importance of backstory, “The Night Watch” taught me the importance of greater story, of the plans within plans that a character finds themselves in. For a reader to see that a story’s world is made up of intersecting plots, schemes and journeys makes the world alive in a way that can’t be achieved by the hero being the only active character.
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