“Last Watch” by Sergei Lukyanenko

I liked this one.

The whole premise was fun: forces that are normally at odds with each other suddenly working together as the antagonists, while everyone else is trying to figure out who is actually behind the whole thing and what they want.

I also really liked seeing modern weapons and normal human technology used against magic. These books spend so much time establishing how powerful the Others are that it is always satisfying when someone remembers that humans have guns, explosives, surveillance, and all the other toys we invented without needing the Twilight at all.

And speaking of the Twilight, we finally get more information about how it actually works. The reveal about the deepest layers was one of the more interesting pieces of lore in the series so far, and the ending actually felt pretty satisfying rather than just opening ten more mysteries.

There is still the usual Watch stuff: investigations, powerful people hiding information, Light and Dark reluctantly cooperating, and everyone having approximately seventeen secret plans at once.

But it works.

Overall, another good entry. At this point I’m pretty invested in the world, so I’ll keep working my way through the saga.