Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
Second Book in the Night Watch Series
Publisher: Miramax; 1st edition (March 21, 2007), Paperback: 453 pages, Language: English, ISBN-10: 1401360203, ISBN-13: 978-1401360207

This is a highly entertaining modern fantasy novel that is written in an unique manner. The main protagonist is Anton Gorodetsky, a light magician, who is a member of the Night Watch and as such it is his job to solve problems that occur in the supernatural community, although he does not really appear in the first story. This book looks deeply at the relationship between the Night Watch and the Day Watch and shows what happens when there is not a balance in the level of power between the two groups.

This is the second book written in the Night Watch Series or Watch Series. Sergei Lukyanenko has written numerous short stories, book series and novels. All his books were originally written in Russian and several including this series have been translated to English as well as several other languages. This book is in the contemporary fantasy genre since it takes place in modern times but still involves supernatural beings known as Others. These “Others” include Witches, Magicians, Enchantress/Sorceress, Vampires, Werewolves, etc. The book is told in three different stories each one seemingly stand alone, yet tied to each other and in combination completing a larger story. These stories are told using the third person narrative, mostly from Anton’s point of view but also from the view of other characters in the book.

The first story is concerning a dark witch and a light mage who have both lost their powers, they meet at a children’s camp where they are both recuperating and while neither has any powers they fall in love, with some interesting consequences. The next story introduces a mysterious new character who seems to be growing in power in an unusual manner. Anton is also involved with the individual and the Day Watch’s top boss is trying to manipulate Anton, through all of this there are some interesting scenes and discoveries. The final story is an investigation by the inquistors (the Day Watch and the Night Watch police*) into the first two stories and ultimately shows the relationship between them  and shows some interesting conclusions.

This is the best book in the series. An enjoyable book with the introduction of a number of new interesting concepts.This story again shows the power struggle between both the Night Watch and the Day Watch with both sides trying to manipulate people and events to swing power their way as much as possible.  It also shows that the Others are trying to ensure that the power between both sides stays about equal to ensure that balance is maintained in the world.

The world that Mr. Lukyanenko has created is intriguing and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.  This is a stand alone book that comes to a satisfying, if somewhat sad conclusion. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading contemporary fantasy with a likeable male protagonist.  The best things about this series are the uniqueness of the story concept, plot structure and the characters.

*See my blog on the Night Watch series

To Purchase: “Day Watch” from Amazon, click here or on picture above