Twilight Watch
Twilight Watch (Dusk Watch) is a fantasy novel by Sergei Lukyanenko, first published in Russia in 2004 and released in English in 2007. It’s the third book in the World of Watches series, following Night Watch and Day Watch and preceding Last Watch.
The novel is made up of three shorter stories—Nobody’s Time, Nobody’s Space, and Nobody’s Power. Most chapters are told in the first person by Anton Gorodetsky, a Light Mage who works for the Night Watch; the exceptions are the prologues, which are in third person and occur outside Anton’s view. The world contains Humans who can cross into the Twilight, a shadowy realm where magic comes from, and two groups of Others: Light and Dark. They live under the Great Treaty and are watched by the Night Watch and the Day Watch, with the Inquisition ensuring balance between the sides.
Plot summary: Anton is assigned by Gesser, the Night Watch chief, to investigate strange warning letters sent to both Watches and the Inquisition. In the letters, a powerful Light Other promises to turn a human into an Other. The human is Gesser’s son, and the promise threatens the delicate balance between the sides. Anton teams up with Kostya Saushkin, a Day Watch vampire, Edgar and Vitezislav from the Inquisition, and others to uncover the truth. Their search leads to Assol, a wealthy Moscow district, and to a mysterious witch named Arina, who is connected to the legendary Book of Fuaran—a supposed source for turning a human into an Other.
A key discovery is that Nadya, Anton’s daughter with his wife Svetlana, is a Zero Other, a rare kind whose power comes from absorbing magic rather than emitting it. Nadya’s existence raises the stakes for everyone involved. The story expands with werewolves, Arina’s past actions, and the mystery of Fuaran as characters race to prevent a catastrophe.
The conflict culminates at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Kostya reveals a plan to use Fuaran to turn all humans into Others and then open a portal to the International Space Station so he can unleash this power there. Anton learns that in space, an Other cannot use magic, making Kostya vulnerable. With the help of Gesar, Zabulon, and Edgar, Anton drains Kostya’s energy and creates a protective shield around himself. Kostya steps through the portal into orbit, where his magic cannot work; his orbit decays, and he and the Fuaran book are destroyed.
In the aftermath, the Day Watch is reduced to one Higher Level Magician, while the Night Watch has four. Nadya, Svetlana, Arina, and other Others remain in play, hinting at further conflicts in the ongoing saga. Twilight Watch was also slated to be adapted into a film, following the earlier installments in the series.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:29 (CET).