“New Watch” by Sergei Lukyanenko

Well, this was an interesting continuation of the series, but it did not strike me as nearly as revelatory or thought-provoking as the earlier books. Maybe especially the first three.

At this point I can kind of feel the author getting tired of the series. A lot of the big ideas are already out there, so now it feels like Lukyanenko is mostly taking existing pieces of the lore, moving them around, and asking who can beat whom this time.

The whole seer thing was pretty cool, though. I also liked the Twilight starting to manifest in humanoid forms. There are still interesting additions to the world, and the book is entertaining enough on the action side.

But the mystery is mostly gone for me now.

The earlier books had this feeling that every new layer of the Twilight or every political reveal could completely change how you understood the world. Here, most of those big reveals are already behind us. What is left feels more like an action-filled “who’s stronger?” story set in familiar places with familiar rules.

And, well, I’ve already finished the last book, so I kind of know it doesn’t suddenly get much better from here.

Still, was worth a shot. I like the world enough that I don’t regret reading it, but I definitely understand why the first few books are the ones people remember.